Almost two and a half hours long, and mostly consists of calm conversations. But don't be deterred, or you'll miss out on a study of character, class and changing times that puts Robert Altman's stodgy "Gosford Park" to shame.

Has all the crowd-pleasing elements moviegoers respond to: appealing hero, absorbing story, a solid group of supporting players and a big fat happy ending.

Here it is -- another double cross for which you will, and should, hand over your few grubby bucks.

Except for a few slow patches, the movie is compulsively watchable: You keep waiting to see just how sick things are going to get.

As it stands, it's cute, occasionally poignant and outrageously implausible.

It's vastly enjoyable in a low-down, scandal-mongering way.

Out of prison, Milani is still not allowed to leave Iran. Whether she will ever get the chance to make another film there is doubtful, all the more reason not to miss this one.

The movie seems almost loving toward its characters, so much so that we can't help but fall for this gang of losers.

Here's a knowing look at female friendship, spiked with raw urban humor.

What Nolan does accomplish here that we haven't seen from him before is staging a few horrifyingly effective suspense set pieces -- one of which, in particular, is likely to stay with you for a long time.

A charming little film, filled with eccentric characters and ingratiating performances.

Farmanara, the actor, brings a real poignancy to the role and, thus, to the story that seems, more than anything, the tale of a man coming to terms with his life.

The acting is superb across the board, especially from Adebimpe.

Delivers a quick buzz, lots of stuff to look at, and a totally nonnutritious joy that can only be attained with the aid of artificial flavorings and Yellow #5. In a nutshell, it's the perfect summer movie.

It's the hallmark of a classic that must be seen to be disbelieved.

Disturbing, beautifully acted movie.

Despite its lively tone and brisk editing, the project's sad epilogue -- shot two years later -- suggests that Abraham and Mohammed will be duking it out on the world's dime for some time to come.

Hard to watch, harder still to ignore.

A film whose surface charm never gets in the way of its profound seriousness about living life to the fullest -- especially when one knows it isn't going to be a terribly long one.

Delightful almost in spite of itself.

If Dubus' work always resembled some sort of literary therapy session, as has often been said, then Field's version requires grief counseling. It is, at times, that devastating.

In the end, Code Unknown is a puzzle with no obvious solution.

Rife with silliness, such as the flashbacks within flashbacks of characters who were not with one another at the time, and occasional unintentional laughs -- but it's also a good, raucous kick in the behind, which is literally all it aspires to be

Powerful, sensuous and thematically hokey transsexual adventure.

A thoroughly likable, if familiar, Woody Allen comedy -- not the most original or revealing tintype in the director's gallery, perhaps, but blessedly free of the self-conscious hand-wringing and tortured navel-gazing that impede the former Mr. Konigsberg's more sluggish efforts.

Well redeemed by its dank atmosphere and cracker-barrel performances.

It succeeds where its recent predecessor miserably fails because it demands that you suffer the dreadfulness of war from both sides. That might not make it a milestone, but it's a hell of an improvement.

Fans of convoluted narrative in the manner of Christopher Nolan and David Lynch are likely to be intrigued, although Medem has a far stronger streak of sentiment.

Thoughtful and somewhat languid adaptation of Anton Chekhov's 1904 play finds its beauty in the heady performance of Charlotte Rampling.

You'll feel fatigued watching it, but more out of empathy than boredom.

The cornerstone of this fascinating film is a peculiar but absolutely solid love story. In terms of intellectual and emotional stimulation, who could ask for more?

Combines strong feminist sensibilities with surprisingly old-fashioned melodrama.

From the start, a comprehensible, if necessarily simplified, sense of an extremely complicated moment in history.

Arteta targets Middle American ennui with wit, compassion and no shortage of ornery malaise.

Swept Israel's version of the Oscars two years ago, and though it won't do as well here, it's an accomplished debut with heart, war and sex. In the age of paranoia, it just might be the perfect date movie.

A visionary breakthrough for the young directors, a darkly alluring and largely successful attempt to crowd the territory of Roman Polanski and Dario Argento.

It's light fantasy, but lovely and astute.

If you like being scared, you should have fun. Bring a date to hold hands with.

Huppert has never looked more beautiful. Despite her severe expression and lack of makeup, her face communicates enormous character. She proves absolutely spellbinding.

Scorsese's rockudrama withstands big-screen scrutiny some 24 years after its initial release.

The pleasure is in watching veteran star Bouquet and the versatile Berling go at it -- they even seem to look alike.

A subtle mood piece in which a man's collapse is examined so rigorously that one almost hopes for a murder to come along and break the tension.

Thoroughly entertaining Home Movie carries on a grand tradition of American documentary -- seeking out the eccentrics and contrarians among us.

Audiard keeps things shaky, grim, claustrophobic, doomed. His film has the feel of documentary, as he follows Clara through the daily grind that pulverizes her. We're in her head, literally.

An extraordinary film from a born filmmaker.

Roll with any stylistic difficulties you might initially have, and prepare to be awed.

Dramatically effective, thanks in large part to Montand's impassioned performance.

It's a bewildering but deeply satisfying paradox, this constant, nearly silent collision in Tran's films of the visible world and the turbulent, unseen world.

This nicely acted study of a love that survived all manner of trauma is a must-see for Joyce fans, feminist historians great and small and admirers of the Emerald Isle.

Wisely, Run Lola Run lasts something under 80 minutes; any longer, and it would have been as exhausting and boring as a half-hour Donna Summer track.

En route, we also get a chance to examine the nature of the self and the responsibilities of science. Das Experiment has all this and more, excitingly packaged as a prison movie featuring superb performances and high emotional tension.

Not only is Undercover Brother the funniest spy-thriller since "The Nude Bomb" (oh, behave), it feels like the proper sequel to "The Blues Brothers," crossing all kinds of lines between cartoonish buffoonery and genuine compassion for its characters.

This nearly perfect confection never takes its action more seriously than its comedy.

Signs blessedly displays a sense of giddy dark humor absent from Shyamalan's previous outings. It appears for much of the film he's merely having fun with the genre, goofing on its paranoid roots.

In elevating bawdy teen farce to political metaphor without squeezing the fun out, Alfonso Cuarón has pulled off a nice little miracle.

Captures David Bowie's meticulous identity quest with all the frenetic energy (read: slop) of a wildlife documentary on drugs.

A beautifully acted, carefully written meditation on one woman's grief, the enigma of imagination, the persistence of desire and -- let's face it -- the power of denial.

In the realm of B-movies about messing with nature, it's as enjoyable as "Frankenstein Unbound," and unlike, say, "A.I." it's intentionally creepy. It's also occasionally masterful.

Has a lot to offer as grand entertainment, from surprising battle sequences (plenty of terror, virtually no gore, brief and tasteful digital enhancement) to fine performances.

It's pretty safe to say that claustrophobic, gay-themed murder mysteries haven't been this much fun since "Deathtrap."

Not only an exceptional thriller, but a transcendent summer movie: It assumes, for two hours, you've brain and heart enough to stick with a film that doesn't condescend, doesn't beat you up and doesn't dumb you to death.

There's just no arguing with 12 centuries of flamenco, and, in this sensuous movie, no resisting it.

In the end, leaves you feeling both violated and startlingly informed, as if a mugger had whacked you in a dark alley.

In tampering with history, these storytellers present to us a rare and wonderful case of enlightenment beyond the accepted truth.

Surprisingly manages never to grow boring -- which proves that Rohmer still has a sense of his audience.

While you think you're watching just another in a series of British gangster films, you may suddenly realize that you're watching what is, thus far, the year's best horror movie.

The story sustains a strong, hypnotic appeal well deserving of its many awards.

Ritchie's showmanship--half macho braggadocio, half emotion-tinged bravura--slaps and tickles the viewer into submission. He takes a group of not-so-goodfellas, whose idea of fun is setting farts afire, and, against all odds, makes them lively and engaging.

Inventive and richly researched, it's worth admission just to see Der Führer bickering with Mick Fleetwood as a feisty Pablo Picasso.

If there's any justice in moviedom, this summer's feel-good hit will be an unassuming Dutch comedy called Everybody's Famous!

It's a killing comedy for people who have learned to stop worrying and love their iden-tity crisis.

The movie's essentially a series of high-speed, dizzying rocket chases that should keep the young'uns perfectly quiet.

A happily self-aware body-count flick that's as brutally funny as it is plain-old brutal. A broad slash of scary, sci-fi fun, the project leapfrogs all the Scream and Last Summer junk to carve itself a new, high-tech niche.

This is a highly original film blessed with fetching complications all its own and some hair-raising turns of plot.

Though perhaps too mainstream for the art-house crowd and too foreign for the multiplex, Born Romantic is a natural crowd-pleaser, and deserves to be more successful than its limited engagement may permit it to be.

There are a couple of technical rough spots, but this daring film challenges most widely held notions about religious conviction while providing a complex portrait of an identity crisis that's run amok and a good mind that's jumped the tracks.

The sensitive art-house viewer should be warned: Though slow-moving at first, the film ends in explosions and violent death, with a level of sadism that will undoubtedly prove too intense for some viewers.

On one level, Together is a countercultural soap opera, though played more as bittersweet comedy than as drama.

Filmed by director Lorene Machado on direct video, it's a visually primitive affair. But you're not likely to care, given the chance to witness Cho's often incisive, but never hectoring, take on life as she's lived and observed it.

The film proves unrelentingly grim -- and equally engrossing.

The film is worth seeing for Sorvino alone. The actress hasn't been this good since Woody Allen's "Mighty Aphrodite," a role that couldn't be more dissimilar.

I still think the first is the best in the series, but I'm in the minority: Number two has a stronger following among the legions of Hong Kong movie buffs.

Quick-witted, spicy Irish comedy.

As a gallery of the grotesque, however, the cinematic equivalent of a Joe Coleman painting or Adam Parfrey publication, The Salton Sea is a blast.

Pulsates with music, dance, color and laughter, but also glows with quiet moments of drama.

Enormously appealing romantic comedy-drama.

Maybe Baby is Elton's stab at romantic comedy, and it's a strong feature debut, spiffy, quick-witted and more than a little shocking in its unflinching acknowledgement of English people having sex.

Office Space's pleasures don't really depend on plot. It's pretty much what a Dilbert feature should look like.

Ustaoglu has pulled off a rare feat in this film, enlightening us about a horrible situation while never losing sight of his central tale of friendship and loyalty.

As stirring as it is slight, as effective as it is familiar.

Sharp, smart and robustly engaging film.

Smart, wry and awesome, all at once.

The director is in fine form with The Closet, an expertly acted divertissement that may well be headed for a Yank incarnation within the next few years.

The political, social, and linguistic adjustments Parker makes to this hugely entertaining Husband give it fresh relevance without betraying the original.

Perhaps the most remarkable aspect of About a Boy is how substantial it plays -- as a feel-good film with weight, a knowing comedy with dramatic depth.

Washington creates an indelibly charming and terrifying character whose volatile blend of dedication and horrible expediency keeps us off balance.

Dench is wholly extraordinary in a characterization that is frequently muted, literally and necessarily.

It's a pleasure to watch these two superb actresses circle and attack, conspire and conflict in the corporate shark tank, and it's just as profound a pleasure to behold a talented new filmmaker who's managed to succeed his first time out.