It's almost startling to see a film that believes in itself and its characters so deeply.

Glover and especially Bassett give strong performances, shaking off their Hollywood patina and losing themselves in these gritty roles.

The themes of A Home at the End of the World are all of the greeting-card variety -- home is where the heart is, family is what we make it, etc. -- and while they've been presented with great warmth and sincerity, they still come off as more than a little banal.

A stiff, unconvincing epic.

The best thing about this mildly diverting but instantly forgettable comedy is that it seems to have awakened something in Murphy that had laid dormant for much of the past two decades.

Untamed Heart veers into the contrived and the schmaltzy too often to really work the way it wants to. But Tomei and Slater rise above the material. It's their characters, and their unique, touching relationship, that you'll remember. [15 Feb 1993, p.C3]

Unlike most films about the Holocaust, which has provided artists with an infinite array of heartrending stories and tragedies, Sarah's Key doesn't spend much time recounting the horrors that Jews suffered during World War II.

OK, Mr. Jackson, you proved your point by landing the finish. Now please, no more Middle-earth, ever.

With its tongue planted so firmly in its cheek it threatens to poke through at any moment, Army of Darkness marches onto the screen, a whirlwind of madcap humor, gee-whiz special effects and nonstop action. This is the kind of movie a hyperactive 13-year-old with a $12-million budget would make...It's overdone, yes, but also irresistible. [22 Feb 1993, p.E4]

Light on plot but heavy on observation: Wang concentrates on exploring the unseen ways in which mother and daughter rely on each other.

Ultimately feels like tiny films glued together by events that often test plausibility. The idea wears thin soon, and some of the characters and their tales get lost in the unstoppable domino chain.

The film, bound to bore the socks off impatient viewers, mistakes reserve for depth and ends up hamstringing its talented cast into playing characters you never care about all that much.

Miller has crafted some intriguing, complex characters and stranded them in a muddled story that doesn't know quite what to do with them.

Go for Sisters is minor Sayles, and the movie occasionally meanders. But the characters stay with you, particularly Bernice and Fontayne, whose relationship is beautifully transformed over the course of the film.

What appears to be the thrust of the story -- the unraveling of a society -- loses out to a tame, romantic triangle subplot.

He'll be back; he's already back. But that doesn't mean the ''farewell'' wasn't worth it.

Heavy-handed and manipulative, it also proves formidably engrossing.

This is Eastwood's "Brokeback Mountain," chased by a healthy serving of "J.F.K."- style paranoia and conspiracies (Oliver Stone is going to love this movie.) But because so much of what the film says about Hoover remains speculative and unproven, J. Edgar can't fully cross all its Ts.

What goes on in Streets of Fire is not quite stupid -- it's saved from that by the remarkable love for style of its director, Walter Hill -- but the film doesn't show an intelligence to match its style, either. [04 June 1984, p.C6]

As Seeking a Friend for the End of the World crawls toward its sentimental finale, you're rooting for that asteroid to get here, quick.

This third (and, I would guess, last) installment does what few sequels do. It actually extends the story into its logical destination rather than merely recycling familiar characters and situations. It's not terrifying. It is an audacious first film. It is fully as dreadful as fans might hope. Don't miss it. [22 May 1992, p.G5]

I like Sesame Street a lot, and this is the first time that they have made a real movie, not a television show, and I think they should make another one soon. [02 Aug 1985, p.C5]

Deja Vu becomes increasingly sillier.

Although the movie doesn't exactly romanticize the period, the film still generates a twinge of pride in viewers who lived in South Florida during that time -- and lived to tell about it.

The film has fun. In a way, Creepshow is a horror for grownups. It is grownups, after all, who understand that horror stories must be fun; if they're not, then they're just horrifying, and who wants that? [15 Nov 1982, p.D3]

Mr. Holland's Opus is compulsively watchable: Eager to please and never very challenging, it's the kind of movie you might stumble across while channel surfing and watch to the end. Almost despite itself, the movie also manages to celebrate the heroism of the teaching profession with surprisingly moving power. If only it had done it with more grace and less schmaltz. [19 Jan 1996, p.4G]

Despite the lack of substance, Run All Night is far better than those clunky "Taken" movies with their timid PG-13 ratings. If you’re gonna cut Neeson loose against the mob, a bloody R is the way to go.

The Black Cauldron is the unthinkable -- a Disney animated feature to which it is inappropriate to take a 4-year-old. Admirers of complex animation will no doubt relish the careful work. But those who believe in fairies may not clap their hands. [24 July 1985, p.D6]