This might have been OK for cable, but as a night out at the movies, it feels like a bit of a cheat.

Ricochet would be utterly unremarkable (in the small universe of violent and atmospheric cop dramas that make no sense) were it not for the cast, which includes some A players. [07 Oct 1991, p.C1]

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

It's that very savagery -- not its love-can-conquer-all theme -- that makes Harrison's Flowers worth picking.

The original was good enough so that a residue of curiosity about the Freelings remains; we want to know what happened next. But a sequel is a sequel is a sequel, and this amiable movie is very much a II. [23 May 1986, p.D1]

The shrill musical score alone will keep you awake, but for a film filled with romance, zombies, mad scientists and existential quests, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is surprisingly dull. [04 Nov 1994, p.G4]

The Vanishing hooks you and doesn't let go for a good while, but it settles into formulaic, stalk-and-slash antics in its last 15 minutes. Which makes its failure hurt even more. [05 Feb 1993, p.G5]

Deadly serious, straightforward and surprisingly entertaining tragedy.

From time to time, the film is funny in a cheap sort of way. The rest of it's like the characters -- older than you'd think, older than it has to be. [28 Sep 1990, p.G5]

Only on that superficial level does this Lord of the Flies fly. [16 Mar 1990, p.G11]

It's unimaginative, crude and so derivative it hurts.

The entire movie bears the whiff of a vanity project — a modestly budgeted bone Universal Pictures threw at Diesel so he would keep starring in Fast and Furious pictures. Those movies are bank; Riddick is rank.

Simply put, it's the heartwarming story of a boy and his slingshot. [25 June 1993, p.G5]

Suffers from a fatal lack of purpose. This sleek, visually inventive but frustratingly flat movie is made up entirely of throwaway bits -- occasionally amusing, even ingenious bits. But still, they're just bits.

McGillis, though, is the film's worst enemy. Her wooden attempts to recreate Kathleen Turner circa 1981 undermine too many scenes.

Beautifully crafted, intricately plotted and obviously a labor of love. It is also a mess.

If you go in expecting a serious, no-nonsense chiller in the Alien vein, you'll come away disappointed. Despite its big-name cast and dead-serious tone, Species is a spiritual throwback to 1950s cheesy sci-fi flicks like It Came From Outer Space and It Conquered the World. [07 July 1995, p.4G]

This is certainly not a movie worth going out of your way for, but don't be surprised if you happen to come across it on cable one rainy Sunday afternoon and find yourself watching it to the end. Even Lopez pulls off a few good moments.

A tepid sort of romantic comedy, with lengthy stretches during which nothing much happens punctuated by bouts of paralyzing boredom or, on rare occasions, random but fleeting hilarity.

For an inaugural effort, Open Season ain't bad, but the studio shows far more promise with its gee-whiz visuals than it does in the story department.

This is a movie that manages to be light and funny and still transcend age, background and culture to treat with compassion our ability to behave in our own worst interests and still nurture hope for the future.

Hilarious, but it isn't much of a movie.

Beautiful to look at but aimless as a broken compass.

The movie runs short of material and loses its comic edge about halfway through, but it's still just jumpy enough to keep you interested -- though the rap-video parodies are almost indistinguishable from the real thing. [15 Mar 1993, p.C6]

Though a "summer" movie set in wintery Chicago might seem less than logical, this one does what good escapist fare should: loses you in a world with enough excitement and fun that surrender becomes easy. [27 June 1986, p.D1]

Nine isn't so much a movie as it is a collection of standalone musical numbers, strung together by the thinnest of plots.

George Burns gets to play both sides of the cosmic fence in Oh God! You Devil, which is actually Oh God! III, and it's this device alone that saves the film, which might otherwise be unbearably cute. [12 Nov 1984, p.C1]

Slight and not exactly memorable, but it moves quickly and has some surprising twists and top-notch performances all around.