"Steel" isn't offensively exploitative, just awkward, goofy and terminally sluggish. But then, how fast-paced could a movie be whose central character clumps around in 75 pounds of body armor? [15 Aug 1997]

By the soaring standards of Mike Leigh's career, Career Girls (which opens locally today) is a minor work. But minor-league Leigh is better than major-league most other people, especially because he possesses the most emotionally sophisticated sensibility of any contemporary filmmaker.

Basically, the film is a vehicle for the talent on board. And though the ship is creaky, it does stay afloat. [02 July 1997, p.E2]

Notwithstanding the hero's Superman similarities, Hercules isn't quite super. But it's strong enough to get the job done. [27 June 1997, p.17]

There's an air of desperation about this movie - a sense that the stars are yearning to do something so patently undemanding that it just can't miss.

What's different about this film is that it holds together better than Brooks' other movies. And in the end, it's somewhat sweeter. [17 Jan 1997, p.21]

But eventually, the soulless violence and shoddy plotting wear you out. By the end, you'll start to feel like one of the hostages. [17 Jan 1997, p.A2]

If the thunder-and-lightning sort of movie that Reiner has come up with doesn't square with the quiet power of the material, some of that power breaks through nevertheless. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that a smaller-scaled production - possibly even a documentary - would have better served this particular story. [03 Jan 1997, p.17]

In a film that could have been called Grumpy Old Prexies, Garner makes a decent replacement for Walter Matthau. Garner and Lemmon, game troopers both, do what they can to wring laughs out of material that went out with the Eisenhower administration.

Although the picture's biggest problems are the lame writing and limp direction, it doesn't help that the main role requires a comedian, which Arnold just is not. [22 Nov 1996, p.20]

Witty, sharp and, ultimately, chastening, Ridicule is a terrific movie in the sinuous tradition of Dangerous Liaisons (1988). [31 Jan 1997]

If the movie isn't a total loss that's because Jordan, Bugs (voice by Billy West) and their friends have an undeniable charm and because some of the classic gags that director Joe Pytka (a TV-commercial guy), producer Ivan Reitman (Twins, Junior) and the screenwriters have adapted from the Looney Tunes shorts are hard to spoil completely.

Get on the Bus turns out to be a better movie than Malcolm X. With the road-picture format Lee is free at last - liberated to set his own pace and follow his better instincts. [16 Oct 1996, p.E1]

Extreme Measures is far from a classic. But it begins well and sustains its suspenseful tone for about two-thirds of its length...Grant's performance is one of the best things in the movie.

If Last Man Standing is a failure, it's far from a disgrace. Its intentions seem pure; its method, precise and painstaking. You might say this movie has everything. Everything but excitement. [20 Sep 1996, p.22]

What's special about Fly Away Home is the delicate yet unsentimental way that Ballard approaches the material. Working from a straightforward script by Robert Rodat and Vince McKewin, he seems to let the story tell itself. [13 Sep 1996, p.23]

Writer-director David Koepp (Carlito's Way, Jurassic Park) certainly knows how to hold an audience's attention. [30 Aug 1996, p.15]

I must admit that, all things considered, it's not bad. In fact, I liked it almost as much as the first one, which I thought was vaguely enjoyable, if somewhat too long. [23 Aug 1996, p.17]

She's the One has fewer rough edges than The Brothers McMullen, but it also has fewer of the weird little nooks and crannies of personality that were the best things about Burns' debut film.

A production that's strong on atmosphere but weak in the plot department. Watching this often-tedious film, you begin to feel as if you've been kidnapped - which is appropriate, anyway, since the story concerns an abduction.

Failed attempts at satire aside, John Carpenter's Escape From L.A. is basically a routine action picture. [09 Aug 1996, p.22]

The movie has a lot going for it, including an array of imaginative special effects and Fox's expertly calibrated performance. [19 July 1996, p.17]

If you get stuck at Striptease, my advice is to relax and try to enjoy its occasional pleasures.

If The Hunchback of Notre Dame isn't for younger kids, it's an ambitious, often stirring film that's easy to recommend for just about anyone else. [21 June 1996, p.17]

Whether Carrey's fans will like it or not, the film is easily his best crafted piece of work to date. [14 June 1996, p.22]

If it's not the most awful thing I've ever seen, it's close enough to make me wince.

Between dragon scenes, Dragonheart falls apart. [31 May 1996, p.17]

Although the film is watchable and, at times, even borderline entertaining, it has its share of problems. Mainly, the filmmakers seem to have had trouble deciding just what kind of movie they were making. [22 May 1996, p.E1]