LaBeouf is likable and grounded, two things you need from the lead in a film like this, although his female co-stars seem to have been cast based on how well their Maxim covers would sell.

Three potent performances readily compensate for the familiar plot.

There are moments of exceptional sweetness in Faraway, So Close, and Jurgen Jurges' photography is fine, though not as indelible as Henri Alekan's work in "Wings of Desire." But the film feels both too long and too truncated, with plot twists left dangling in the wind. [04 Feb 1994, p.15]

If you love the genre, you'll likely be engaged. But if not, there's not much point.

This unique cinematic experience is a parable of greed and revenge that could take place anywhere.

By combining formulaic screenwriting and downbeat art house clichés, the ending puts a significant damper on what had been a fascinating character study.

An utterly convincing portrait of the sort of person willing to strap ordnance to himself and decimate scores of strangers in pursuit of his religious and political ideals.

The result is a newly revived spy movie franchise -- and the best big-budget action film of the summer.

Good intentions and strong thespians aside, Seidelman's writing and filmmaking are bland, obvious and uninvolving.

Although the primary plot line turns out to be a letdown, there are aspects of The Machinist that redeem it. Bale's performance is one; another is the dull, metallic look of the picture.

The movie's a solid fish-out-of-water thriller that just happens to be populated by a few folks with adamantium skeletons or poison saliva on their résumés.

Ultimately, it's a formulaic sports movie for kids that hits the expected dramatic beats.

OK, got it. It's a spy movie spoof, "Austin Powers" with more violence and less camp, a Bond parody that zeroes in on the Roger Moore era, when the sets and gadgets got bigger and the stories got dumber.

You find yourself wishing that Apatow had managed a script that was either really funny or about real people instead of this half-baked pseudo-memoir that's neither.

Not bad, no need to wake Roger Moore from his mid-morning nap and bring him out of retirement, but not special.

Starts with a flourish, staggers along for a bit and finally collapses -- even die-hard De Palma fans, will be left hungry.

Although Lloyd's performance (reminiscent in mannerism to Haley Joel Osment), sometimes drags, it's the only real defect in a surprisingly effective film that doesn't stoop to offer easy answers.

Our Idiot Brother lives in a sort of relaxed in-between place where it doesn't really bite as drama or comedy, but the movie's world-class cast and big heart push it over.

At barely an-hour-and-a-quarter in length, it's one of those very rare feature films that you wish were longer.

The actual differences between Christians and Muslims are largely arbitrary, even irrelevant, so isn't it absurd to kill each other over how each group relates to God?

So emotionally overwhelming that its aesthetics seem almost beside the point.

A unique look behind the curtain, yes, but what's behind the curtain is almost unendurable. Just know that a bad guy got his comeuppance and you don't have to join the legion of his victims by watching it.

The quality that made her an ideal fan club president makes her an endearing, if unenlightening, interviewee.

It's an ending that may alienate some viewers, but will jolt others out of their comfort zones and into an appreciation of genuinely brave storytelling.

Juice is well done and sincere and the cast of newcomers is pretty good. As the story progresses, it leaves a realistic story and settings for routine chase melodrama. Its pacifist message is inarguable, but too obvious to be exciting. [17 Jan 1992, p.AE13]

Stick around for the credits, when the real Trumbo talks about the effect of the blacklist on his daughter. It's the real thing.

With all this raw material, it's a puzzlement and an annoyance that Parker feels so obligated to interpose fantastic elements and comic action sequences and other tacky touches. As a result, while this "Earnest" is lively fun, it never quite feels sufficiently important.

Though moving, Together needed more opera to send us where great music frequently goes -- nearly over the edge.