The laughs are there, but the movie's main asset is Paltrow, mournful and always braced for the worst.

You watch with amazement their physical movements, how closely their lips match their overly precise, prerecorded dialogue, yet they're not human enough to get us past the stunt factor and lost in the drama.

There's no question she's a smart cookie, but as she herself says, "There's a thin line between smart and crazy."

This is simply too vast a task for a filmmaker as inexperienced as Estevez. Compared with, say, Robert Altman's similar but far more complex "Nashville," Bobby mostly comes off as a Hollywood public service announcement: passionate, righteous and strikingly removed from reality.

By turns brilliant and tedious, imaginative and mundane.

Yeboah is so levelheaded about his own accomplishments that the swelling score and emotional narration from Oprah Winfrey feel embarrassingly sentimental.

Due to budget constraints, the movie is necessarily rough around the edges. But directors Josh Apter and Peter Olsen have a sure grasp of how to maintain a mood that chills long after the movie is over.

Sexy, witty, energetic and gorgeous, but it is as stripped of the human element (in some of its production design, as well) as a minimalist Calvin Klein store.

Although it often feels more like a promotional tool than an objective documentary, there is no denying the emotional resonance propelling Matt Ruskin's first feature.

Stay through to the end credits, where the two child protagonists (Sabara and Vega) are shown as they were then and as they are now. Rodriguez's best achievement is in spotting the innate talent that would shine through in those two kids.

The intriguing elements never quite coalesce into a consequential whole; we leave this yuppie nightmare feeling both unsettled and unsatisfied.

Cinephiles and Billy Wilder fans get a rare opportunity to see the "slightly dirtier" European ending to the director's 1964 sex farce.

More amiably mindless summer distraction than just about anything Hollywood has to offer this season.

Linney hits a single note for her uptight character, while Walters travels the scale indiscriminately. Her outsized eccentric darts from amusing to grating. Only Grint is just right, as the boy they, and the film, can't do without.

Though Harden has the showier role, a subdued Pantoliano is the movie's real star. Sometimes, the quietest performances are the most powerful.

Half a barrel of laughs. The other half is made of slime.

Despite several attempts, we're still waiting for the drama that convincingly captures the experienc of soldiers who've fought in Iraq. Stop-Loss" isn't that film, but at the very least its efforts are honorable.

Like the average best-man toast, Debbie Isitt's amiable mockumentary has many funny moments, a few touching ones and some that fall just slightly flat.

Surprisingly sweet and smart... LaBeouf does an excellent job, and the talented Beeney is one to watch.

There’s no questioning the sincerity of the filmmakers or the urgency of the subject matter, but the clumsiness with which this harrowing story of a child soldier in Africa may wear you out long before the puzzle is put together.

The best part is during the closing credits. Dustin Hoffman does a brilliant, dead-on impression of Evans that captures the essence of the man more than all the self-serving grandiosity that preceded it.

Good or bad, it's either a must-see in your house, or not even on the radar screen.

Even Isabelle Huppert Lite is more profound than the best work of most other actresses.

The movie crams in so many of the events and characters of Thack­eray's 900-page novel that the story often seems to be moving on fast-forward, pausing here and there to introduce a character, then skipping ahead — from London to the country to Brussels and on, eventually, to India.

Both Tatum and Dewan know how to move, and their co-stars (including musicians Mario and Drew Sidora) are equally gifted.

Doesn't flinch from the serious stuff.

A temple of enlightenment posing as a movie.

Treats the poets not as creative equals but as a groundbreaking genius and a jealous, vindictive hack. Wordsworth is Salieri to Coleridge's Mozart.

There are plenty of chuckles at the expense of Dr. Phil, Shaquille O'Neal, Carmen Electra, Charlie Sheen and series stalwart Leslie Nielsen. But with no comic carryover from one skit to the next, true belly laughs are few and far between.

Most interesting are the founding mothers and fathers of this movement, who first appear amusingly nostalgic and eventually grow exceptionally bitter as they complain about the packaged and ambitious nature of artists today.

Among the unforgettable images is that of artificial limbs floating to earth on parachutes, while below, one-legged men on crutches race each other to the prizes.

Proyas creates an engaging, high-octane energy, boosted by an up-for-anything cast.

Even aside from the metaphorical aspect, this may be the first movie to give a precise sense of what drives people who self-mutilate.

Movie love is usually so idealized it ennobles behavior that ordinarily would be considered stalking. Enduring Love deliberately smudges the line between what is bizarre and what is simply human nature.

The cottage industry of the mockumentary has produced another pleasing trifle, the cute and smart Lisa Picard Is Famous.

It's not the best of von Trier, but the movie is shot in an unforgettable, haunting style that evokes both Bergman and the silent era.

Surely no other has done it quite like this group.

Characters do little more than run around the same track incessantly, leaving us waiting for revelations that never arrive.

Occasionally exhilarating documentary.

A movie about identity that can't quite pinpoint its own, Andrew Douglas' road-trip documentary about the Deep South does eventually meander toward audience enlightenment.

While this paranoid thriller is overly familiar, it's still plenty unsettling.

The overall effect is that of a deferential video you might find at a Mozart museum: educational, but not exactly inspiring.

There's no denying the beauty of Schwartzberg's landscapes, or the power in many of his chosen stories - from the Texas oil well fighters to the Boston father who helps his handicapped son win marathons.

A visually lavish but somewhat sterile adaptation.

If you care more about the quality of the movie than the food, language or location, there's no choice: Order Chinese.

Plays like a long TV sketch, but with an array of characters, themes, subplots and situations just clever enough to keep it moving, and to give cover to its underlying cynicism.

Angio's film is an excellent introduction, but it won't be long before you realize that his subject is too complex to be contained in a single admiring tribute. When you want to know more - and you will - you'll be glad there's somewhere else to go for a bigger picture.

A shaky but promising debut, Brian Jun's downbeat family drama is likely to make you feel a whole lot better about your own life.

The movie's key asset is young Bettany as a worthy successor to the "Clockwork Orange" tradition of McDowell. With Bettany, a star is born, even if his character is horrific.

A thin, by-the-numbers romantic comedy that nevertheless features one saving grace: Matthew Perry.

There is really nothing wrong with Peter Chelsom's Town & Country that younger stars would not have solved.

It's galling to see such a low-life canonized in a film, but it's also riveting drama.

Lingers too long on wordless, symbolic shots of the wall itself. But there's no denying the power of seeing two cultures standing so helplessly on opposite sides of a single fence.

Commits the sin of a hundred sports biographies in overselling its inherent drama.

The film's slightly awkward self-consciousness is balanced by an appealing, gently deadpan performance from Palmieri.

The movie is full of freshman mistakes, but Maggie Gyllenhaal's performance in the title role is the gutsiest thing she's done since her breakout in "Secretary," and she succeeds despite serious contradictions in the writing of her character.

Touching and saddening.

When Kikijuro goes soft, the film falls apart, with him becoming a slapstick clown, mugging shamelessly to entertain Masao and the audience.

While Fay Grim is too uneven to win Hartley many converts, it is laced with enough intelligence and wit to remind longtime fans why they were drawn to his unique vision in the first place.

Passingly enjoyable summer fluff, but if you can find a more genial, less edgy caper movie, you might want to own it as a pet.

If you get through the first hour without slitting your throat, the cautiously optimistic last third offers some intriguing options.

In performance, Earle comes across as a successor to Woody Guthrie or Johnny Cash. In this fawning portrait, however, he seems more like music's Michael Moore.

This sci-fi fantasy doesn't exactly make sense, but it sure looks cool.

In the new, personal documentaries in which you pick up a camera to help get a grip on your own life, there is a queasy line between inspiration and therapy. Mark Wexler crosses back and forth over that line.

The movie adds up to one of the smartest and most ambitious political thrillers in years. But if you find a more difficult movie to follow this year, it will be in Mandarin without subtitles.

Apocalypto exists solely as an action-adventure and a deft cinematic demonstration of man's capacity for cruelty. This is the true passion of Mel.

Daylight sets a record for implausible scenarios and lack of character development. But let's face it if you're going to be stranded in a fireball, you might as well be stranded there with Sylvester Stallone. Twenty years after "Rocky" punched him into the limelight, Stallone presents a more human-scaled character, and he's charming, even gracious. His acting range may not span Manhattan to Jersey, but he inspires confidence even in material as pre-fab as this. [6 Dec 1996, p.59]

The problem is, Shiva found so many inspirational moments that she wasn't able to edit them into proper focus. As a result, the movie jumps from scene to scene, too scattered to make a strong connection with anything, or anyone, in particular.

Genuinely touching and unquestionably sincere, the movie certainly has heart - but it could have used a little more game.

The movie drags in some places and throbs in others, but it looks and feels like a bigger production than it actually is. The largely unknown cast is especially strong - this may be your first chance to discover them, but it won't be the last time you see them.

Rai's acting is frustratingly passive in Provoked, and the script is laced with prison and courtroom cliches. But the movie gets most of the facts straight and the flashbacks to the wife's abuse are harrowing.

Turturro's Luzhin is a cinematic soulmate of Dustin Hoffman's Rain Man and Geoffrey Rush's David Helfgott.

A likable, if somewhat earnest, exploration of cultural identity.

While Yu's experimental approach brings valuable insight to the human condition, the interviews themselves too rarely measure up to her ambitious structure.

A perversely dark romantic comedy shot and edited in the contemporary fairy-tale style of Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Amélie." But this one has a dagger for a heart.

Ultimately, Dance is unable to connect the many threads of his rather flimsy script, leading to an abrupt and somewhat unsatisfying conclusion. But the journey is worth taking, thanks to the company of its stars.

When these proudly strutting dandies glide through a grimy basement as if they didn't have a care in the world, their joy is irresistible, and Ronde's point is made.

The direction is excellent. Frank Capra never lets his picture lag for a moment. It is never very exciting, but it moves along snappily and it is full of amusing situations.

It's a little corny and somewhat overlong, but a sweet sensibility and stirring adventure scenes make The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep a welcome gift for anyone looking to keep kids entertained over the holidays.

In any case, this is the image of the marquis we would know had he been handled by a top publicity team.

About two faces of healing.

Watching these pros in a dance of things unsaid is breathtaking, but it's a lugubrious, claustrophobic tale.

To her credit, director Martha Coolidge has crafted a fairy-tale ending that is both old-fashioned and newfangled, allowing her heroine to have it all. But despite a few magic moments, the rest of the film feels stale.

A dicey thriller visually, De Palma kicks off the movie on quite a roll, but the story craps out. [7 August 1998, p. 57]

The dialogue often sounds like arch Mamet, and John Swanbeck's direction is as spare as the hotel-room decor.

Moore is as gutsy an actress as there is today, and I'm not sure I've seen a star as dressed down for a psychological unpeeling since Jessica Lange in "Frances," in 1982, or farther back, Olivia de Havilland in 1948's "The Snake Pit." It's strong stuff.

The story, which was inspired by an Albanian novel and the Greek tragedies of Aeschylus, ends with a literary patness. But it's still a potent tale of fraternal love and the loss of innocence.

A curious entry in the current wave of raunchy youth comedies. It's refreshingly free of scatological humor, but even while aiming higher, it can't raise its focus above the belt.

The leaden bits do bring the proceedings to a screeching halt too many times, but the costumes are breathtaking, and the details (like color-coordinated martinis) are dazzling.

With any sitcom, the freshness is ultimately in the writing, and I think the jokes are better here than in Analyze This, and the actors are more comfortable together. I don't know if De Niro is softening or has lost his edge, but he now seems content mocking himself.

This is a reasonable choice for bored tweens - as long as they don't demand too much magic from their movies.

Although way too long at 146 minutes and extremely confusing in structure, the story of a lonely, picked-on eighth-grader (Hayato Ichihara) who finds refuge in the ethereal music of a Bjork-like pop singer packs a solid punch.

Unrelentingly bleak, the movie is nonetheless a riveting drama with some outstanding performances.

The flight sequences in “Top Gun” may arouse aerial buffs. Still, this movie approaches its subject in such juvenile, superficial way that it’s clear the producers were merely in a hurry to cash in on Hollywood’s new wave of Rambo-style patriotism.

There is a great movie in Werner Herzog's Vietnam saga, Rescue Dawn. Unfortunately, it's about 30 minutes long.

A slicker, faster-paced, high-tech upgrade that lifts the sprightly spirit and the main action set piece from the original while developing its own twists and a new ending that, though a bit too pat and eager to please, is a vast improvement.

In this story of suburban teenage angst, the parents are weird and often cliché to the point of incomprehension, as if seen through the prism of ... a 25-year-old.

Maggio and his stars find some unexpected truths in a familiar tale.