Entertains but never quite engages.

Part chopsocky action, part romance, part hokey fantasy, Dragon will please anyone open to a well-made, if superficial, Hollywood biography, a "biopic-lite." [8 May 1993, p.G5]

Pfeiffer is the antithesis of the girl next door: You just have to look at her to know that she was born to be bad.

Evan Almighty may not be enough to make you shout ''Hallelujah,'' but it's not the cinematic equivalent of a plague, either.

Kline salvages the picture with his dynamic, utterly unpredictable performance -- the work of a highly skilled comedian thrilled by the opportunity to go nuts once again.

Green Zone is just an excuse for director Paul Greengrass to haul out his jittery hand-held camera as Miller and Co. sprint through the streets and buildings of Baghdad in pursuit of one villain or another.

Whether you'll enjoy this loud and rowdy remake of a 1974 Burt Reynolds film depends on your tolerance for three things: football, Adam Sandler and unabashed product placement.

Innocence is a gentle love story, one that touches on an issue of great sensitivity -- sexuality in old age.

My Father, the Hero is an entertaining coming-of-age comedy. [4 Feb 1994, p.G4]

Just may be the most entertainingly derivative movie of the millennium so far.

Robocop 2 is as funny as it is loud, and nearly as smart as it is gross -- though the latter quality does win out, particularly in the climactic brain-squash sequence. [22 June 1990, p.G5]

The Witches of Eastwick is a diverting, impeccably polished and excellently cast movie. But its charms fade fast, about as fast as it takes to leave the theater. [12 June 1987, p.D1]

It's a sturdy Streep vehicle. [11 Nov 1988, p.C1]

House of Wax won't give you nightmares, but it upholds teen horror traditions with flair and energy.

Croc, as played by the sinewy and appealing Paul Hogan, may be a fish out of water, but he's a formidable comic hero, a kind of Outback James Bond only less perturbable. And this sequel is actually a better film than the original, which was one of the movies' least likely success stories in 1986. [25 May 1988, p.D1]

Vaughn and Favreau are a dynamite pair, and there's enough give-and-take between them to satisfy any diehard "Swingers" fan.

You can’t shake the feeling the script is trying too hard to please, upping the drama despite the fact that what made the first film so enjoyable was its relative simplicity.

Part 1 does something that no other previous Twilight movie had achieved: This one draws you close and keeps you there.

Excels at bringing on the high-power pyrotechnics.

As slight as the picture is, though, its hero is an indelible creation.

The production values are downright dowdy. Creepshow looks more like Cheapshow. Yet the strong writing offsets the film's weaknesses. Creepshow 2 may not have the major-league excitement of The Exorcist or Aliens, but in its own right, it succeeds. The persistent screams from the audience tell you that. [13 May 1987, p.D7]

The message in Spanglish is thoughtful and astute; it's the delivery that could use some work.

Year One is not really THAT bad and not ENTIRELY without laughs.

It's a perfect role for Jolie, whose seductive looks always seem to be concealing something dangerous, even predatory, and she brings out a looseness in Pitt, who fares much better in comedic roles than when playing things straight and stoic (i.e. Troy).

When Ephron gives Ferrell and Kidman a musical number that's supposed to be sweet and uplifting, the movie feels downright creepy.

There was a fine family drama to be made here, but what we get instead is too sweet to swallow.

The movie is sloppy and scattershot, and proud of it. It wears its slipshod, anything-for-a-laugh structure like a badge of honor: Smith is nothing if not self-deprecating.

Directed by Russell Mulcahy (the Highlander movies), the movie never generates enough suspense to keep the storyline moving. The visual effects are splashed about carelessly, weakening the would-be climactic showdown. [01 Jul 1994, p.G5]