Unlike many child-driven movies, Shyamalan trusts in the ability of a young audience to handle serious questions. There's also room for some truly funny moments, and a fine performance from Rosie O'Donnell as one of the nuns at Joshua's school. [03 Apr 1998, p.9G]

Funny Farm adds up to enjoyable but uneven summer entertainment that seconds the Green Acres credo: "Farm livin' is the life for me." [3 June 1988, p.D5]

Think "Cruel Intentions" in period costume, or better yet, Sofia Coppola's "Marie Antoinette," which managed to take its subject matter lightly and seriously at the same time.

There's plenty of action, but it's all the same.

There's a delightfully promising premise behind Halloween III -- something's wrong with the kids' masks -- but somehow Wallace gets sidetracked, and the movie wanders away. [30 Oct 1982, p.D5]

Ichaso demonstrates he's ready for the big leagues: His movie is noble and slick, technically accomplished. But it never touches the heart. [26 Feb 1994, p.G3]

Every summer movie season usually has at least one spectacular, disastrous flame-out, and although the dog days of August still loom, I doubt there will come a big-budget blockbuster worse than Cowboys and Aliens.

The conflict (in Afghanistan) makes this updated Rambo-esque thriller seem at once dated and yet relevant in ways its creators could not have envisioned.

What The Four Feathers lacks is genuine sweep or feeling or even a character worth caring about.

More than adequate performances by Grant and Caan, who play off each other with a relative degree of aplomb.

Such smooth, crisp entertainment, you barely even notice it has nothing new to say.

The unrelentingly dull Where the Money Is tests his (Newman's) legendary charisma in a way no actor could overcome.

Dragonheart is a silly, foolhardy epic, a movie so thoroughly misconceived it's as if its creators set out to make a big, expensive film few people would want to see -- and one that would frustrate those who did. [31 May 1996, p.5G]

As a director, Talkington has a good sense of pacing: The movie rarely stands still. But too much of Love and a .45 is simply poorly executed rehash. [18 Nov 1994, p.G19]

The entire Nightmare on Elm Street oeuvre has been hailed by critics as a fascinating exercise in id projection and Freudian cant, which helps explain why criticism is in low regard. A better reason to see Dream Warriors, if indeed there is one, is that it's really pretty gross and neat. [06 Mar 1987, p.D2]

A psychological thriller in serious need of both psychology and thrills, Cassandra's Dream is a wan, exceedingly minor drama by Woody Allen, who has started to recycle himself in London the way he had long been recycling his New York City pictures.

By film's end, you realize you've sat through an effective rip-off of "Meet the Parents."

Because it's Pacino, though, Simone is never quite boring.

Even with a glittering cast, this would have been a dull, hackneyed, overlong affair, but the contributions of such stalwart actors as Clint Walker and Tommy Sands insured that The Chairman of the Board's first shot in the director's chair would be his last. [17 Oct 1982, p.5]

Aside from satisfying some kind of ghoulish curiosity about how such an incident could possibly happen, there's precious little in Death of a President to justify the extremity of its central conceit.

If you're not a rabid fan of Texas hold 'em -- the poker phenomenon that swept the country a couple of years ago but is hardly cutting edge now -- you might want to step quickly away from Lucky You.

Fascinating in concept but a disaster in execution.

Demolition is so busy trying to be profound, the film doesn’t have much use for humor.

The last 40 minutes test your patience -- and intelligence -- in a way the rest of this big, dumb, crazy movie never does:

Great Balls of Fire makes the most of this abundant raw material by keeping its focus tight (barely two years in a career that has spanned 30), its characters outrageous and the conflict between Lewis and his self-righteous cousin Jimmy Swaggart unresolved. [30 June 1989, p.H5]

Lester's film is so clearly about getting even rather than about troubled youth or any other societal problem that it seems, like Death Wish II and a hundred others, a waste of that energy. [16 Nov 1982, p.B4]

Humdrum hybrid of stale sitcom characters and creaky sports cliches.

Jackpot ends up a lot like Sunny's singing: pointless and more than a little flat.