Johansson, fittingly, is the focus. In her face, as in the faces of Vermeer's handful of captivating subjects, the viewer intuits whole stories and worlds.

JFK drags but is undeniably fascinating. [20 Dec 1991]

Ignorance is bliss, maybe. If you don't know (and the film doesn't tell you, though the press notes do) that Diplomacy plays fast and loose with the known facts, it's a thrilling, even moving drama. But learning the truth gives an unpleasant aftertaste to a movie that's otherwise a solid piece of work.

While In Bloom offers an authentic slice of life from a particular time and place, it never gets close enough to its characters, physically or emotionally, to really hit home.

Fortunately, their story is just as compelling here, and the film's subjects display impressive adaptability, as well as a desire not to forget those they've left behind.

Westfeldt becomes irritating. That's one of the film's points, but it's made a little too well.

It's a first love story that goes beyond many simplistic notions as to why people fall for one another. If it weren't true, no one would believe it.

This is grand, inspiring entertainment of a sort that Hollywood aspires to and rarely achieves.

Creates a thoroughly curious combination of tension and eroticism.

Rather than explore and embrace the contradictions within Jobs ("he had the focus of a monk but none of the empathy" is the best he can do), Gibney puts the hammer down.

A dull, uninspiring film that combines pedestrian acting, lackluster special effects and deadly pace with a pseudo-religious theme.

It’s an eye-opening and modestly funny look at a massive business and a culture with its own signifiers and language.

If you're a gamer, another level of humor opens up, as a variety of characters make surprise appearances throughout the film.

The overall cheekiness of the film far outweighs its preachy moments. For the most part, it's a brisk, funny and engaging movie that does genuinely exciting things with little bits of string and wire and such.

As fascinating as all the film history is, the movie's core is the dynamic between a famous but distant parent and his child.

The movie's got a heart as warm as hellfire.

Candy Mountain is filmed offhandedly and is full of in-joke casting. It works far better than Alex Cox's pointless, bizarre ``Straight to Hell,'' a home movie with musicians. [01 Nov 1988, p.D06]

You'll gasp appalled and laugh outraged and possibly, watching the spectacle of a promising young lad treading desperately in a nasty sea, shed an errant tear.

The movie shifts awkwardly from slapstick firearms training sessions to tender campfire kisses to straightforward suspense (who are those mysterious trench-coated figures?). Combined with unconvincing behavior from all of its characters, that's enough to leave this a disappointing realization of a potentially fascinating idea.

Dope has energy and smarts and a heart in all the right places.

This is padded a bit but still faithful and entertaining. [11 Dec 1992, p.AE15]

This Paul Mazursky film is not a comedy but is full of humor -- and suspense about how Tonto is going to fit into and come out of the surprises along the way. [30 May 2003]

This 1983 film is well-staged, well-acted and backed by a suitably nervous Jerry Goldsmith score. [25 Sep 1998, p.36]

Thanks to a slew of engaging performances and a script that finds the sweet spot between crass and curdled, it's a winner.

It's spirited and funny and deeply entertaining, a summer movie for kids who think like adults and adults who feel like kids.

Pieces of War Horse that may charm some eyes might well bore others to tears.

In the wake of everything we've seen on TV and in movies in recent decades, it's amazing that something as harmless as language can still stupefy us. As The Aristocrats demonstrates, there is real humor in the confrontation of taboos.

Powerful, subtle, quietly terrifying film about the consequences of a widow's stab at a May-December romance.