An important and interesting story, but the reform school itself never seems terribly harsh.

Amid such a strong cast hitting all the right notes, Caruso looks wan, though he's not bad enough to sink the movie. [21 Apr 1995, p.5G]

Death Sentence would be right at home as one half of "Grindhouse"'s B-movie double bill.

The best that can be said about Dead Calm is that director Phillip Noyce maintains nearly constant tension and finds a surprising number of ways to evoke menace in confined spaces. [07 Apr 1989, p.7]

Owing to a supremely engaging cast, The Client turns out to be stand-up Hollywood entertainment. Grisham's uninspired storyline can't ruin the efforts of two of the industry's best actors at the top of their form. [20 July 1994, p.E2]

It's a lot more entertaining than box office success "Scooby-Doo" and more honest, too. When Irwin plays out a scene with a reptilian, you can be sure the croc is not computer-generated.

It's cultural fast food delivered in a quick, painless package for the shrinking attention span of the MTV generation. [17 Aug 1992, p.C6]

Though far from perfect -- the film is predictable -- Satin Rouge is a refreshing view of a foreign culture.

The frustratingly uneven comedy Tropic Thunder has moments of full-on, bust-a-gut hilarity, along with long stretches where you can hear the crickets chirping in the theater.

The movie is all surface and trades on fortune-cookie wisdom.

This is an eerie, inventively mounted movie: It's a shivery fun time, filled with dark corners, deserted hallways and sudden apparitions. But it never manages to genuinely rattle you.

Swiss director and co-writer Dominique Othenin-Girard constructs his film like a carnival spook house -- something or someone shocks you every three minutes. They are familiar gimmicks, but the director adds suspenseful twists that are fun, too. [17 Oct 1989, p.C1]

Not Without My Daughter ultimately does what it's supposed to do. It makes us care, it keeps us interested (mostly), but it rarely delivers more -- despite what the producers might think. [11 Jan 1991, p.G13]

The most daring thing about Adam, the story of a young man with Asperger's syndrome, is that there isn't a scene in which someone stops to explain exactly what Asperger's IS.

Bandits isn't much more than a pleasant dawdle, one made extra-likable by Thornton and Blanchett, whose ace performances keep the film zipping along even at its most predictable.

Deadly serious, straightforward and surprisingly entertaining tragedy.

The movie is a bauble, but it's an enjoyably weird and original one, and it is anchored by Black's constantly amusing performance.

It's a gentle, occasionally smart little comedy about what happens when three furry spacemen, eager for female companionship after what seems to have been a long voyage from the planet Jhazzala, land in the backyard swimming pool of a recently jilted manicurist in Southern California's San Fernando Valley. [02 June 1989, p.DW5]

This film and Miller's vision remind us of the danger of giving in to fear.

If Dreamcatcher ultimately feels like an unwieldy pastiche, at least it's never boring.

Flight of the Navigator is a cheerfully unaccomplished little movie, a kind of E.T. for kids that recalls the Disney live-action films of a generation ago. E.T is not the only movie borrowed from here; there are echoes of Back to the Future and most of the rest of the last decade's science-fiction fantasies, though Flight of the Navigator is generous in acknowledging its sources. It's a happy knockoff. [31 July 1986, p.C5]

This is a B-movie through and through, and no less fun for that. [29 Sep 1989, p.G12]

The film's vague recycling theme strikes me as a veiled admission of recycled ideas. Maybe Zucker should have been bold and called it The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Money. [29 June 1991, p.E1]

Midler has emerged as the best funny woman on the screen. As Sandy, she makes abrasiveness appealing. But her work here can't compare with what she did in Down and Out in Beverly Hills and Ruthless People. Neither can Outrageous Fortune. [30 Jan 1987, p.D1]

It's a cute and clever good-vs-evil parable.

Sometimes engaging, sometimes amusing and ultimately surprising.

It's an understatement to say that The Ring is not your ordinary horror film. And never forget to rewind.

Parkland is wildly uneven, although compulsively watchable.