There are entertaining moments along the way, and some likeable characters.

The ending of Dear John feels manufactured and patently false. Seyfried tries to sell it, but you can tell that she's having a hard time believing the words coming out of her mouth.

This latest enterprise - 70-odd minutes of purposeful navel-gazing directed by Steven Soderbergh - isn't quite as searching or provocative as Gray's prior big-screen outings, "Swimming to Cambodia" and "Monster In a Box." [16 May 1997, p.L25]

More than just corny. Eclipse is boring.

A needlessly complex narrative design makes for hard-to-follow viewing, though the photography here has a satisfyingly sinister look to it. Kudos to Mark Isham for his bittersweet, jazz-inflected score, and to Oldman for his latest snapshot of a damned soul. [11 March 1994, p.L25]

An uneven story that tries too hard to be meaningful and not hard enough to be funny.

Parnassus is a cold film that delights in dancing along that fine line separating "fantastical" and "nonsensical." Then, when a movie is supposed to hit things home -- in that all-important third act -- it lands with a thud on the wrong side.

The quietly moving drama Martha Marcy May Marlene must be thought of as an "arrival" film. That is, for all that it has going for it (and, it must be said, against it), if it is remembered for anything it will be for introducing a 22-year-old newcomer named Elizabeth Olsen.

Normally a reliable screenwriter, Sayles probably gives his audience too much credit with regard to its knowledge of what is one of the lesser-known chapters in America's military history. As a result, even with its modern parallels, Amigo makes for dense, slow-going viewing.

Hollywood has made, over the years, some pretty silly films about mental illness, but "Mr. Jones" - the story of a romance between a deeply disturbed patient and his psychiatrist - surely ranks with the looniest. [12 Oct 1993, p.E8]

It's not really a Disney film. Rather, this is a product of Starz Animation. It's a key distinction, because -- well, because Starz Animation is no Disney, and it's certainly no Pixar. It proves that here.

McDonald's film never really finds its footing -- and The Eagle never takes flight.

As well-intended as it is, writer-director Max Mayer's film lacks focus.

Kiarostami is at his best in scenes when a stripped-down, ascetic lyricism resonates with the breadth and intensity of his philosophical concerns. But the film's teasing cop-out of an ending - along with the mounting frustration induced by Badii's veiled motives - ultimately make this prize-winning "Cherry" a faintly bitter-tasting fruit. [29 May 1998, p.L24]

This is even worse than a repetitive rehash. These "Fockers" are just lazy, limp -- and lame.

While this nouveau Fright Night does a reasonable job of maintaining the fun spirit of the original film, between the blood splatters and vamp stakings, it never builds on what the original had to offer -- and thus never quite makes a convincing case for its own existence.

If your definition of a good story is one that keeps you on the hook, wondering where the heck this particular journey will take you, then French Exit certainly qualifies.

In short, this version of Barrie’s classic tale — which is all about the joy of childhood and the pitfalls of adulthood — feels awfully grown up at times.

A better title: "Coco Before She Was Interesting."

An oddly inert and even old-fashioned yarn, one that sleepwalks for long stretches, defusing much of the drama of what is an undeniably fascinating true-crime story.

The result is a film with sporadic outbursts of wackiness, but one that (Oh, Fortuna's Wheel!) never gains traction from a storytelling standpoint.

An underwhelming cop yarn - a suspense tale whose occasionally arresting characters are far more satisfying than its workaday plot. [20 Apr 1993, p.D7]

Unfortunately, on the way to delivering that message, it becomes weighted down by its own dreary self-importance.

A movie that offers exactly the kind of bittersweet drama you'd expect from something called White Irish Drinkers.

You want a change-up? Here's a change-up: How about if Hollywood stops spoon-feeding us this uninspired pablum and comes up with a fresh idea or two?

"Down" is in many respects a quite modest achievement. While several of his characters are colorful enough to elicit laughs (the sweet but bland hero, I'm afraid, isn't one of them), Breathnach takes a perilously long time to generate narrative excitement and delivers only a pint-sized dramatic payoff. [3 July 1998, p.L27]

It has its scares — but it all also feels exceedingly familiar, right up to the obligatory set-up for what the studio clearly hopes will be a sequel.

If the surpassingly murky narrative logic behind "Generations" is any indication of what's to come, Paramount had better start making explanatory material available to perplexed viewers as well as confused critics. [18 Nov. 1994, p.L27]