Foster's film offers its fair share of laughs, although most come at the expense of "easy mark" characters. Dramatically, however, the movie is only a step up from a flop.

Confetti is an excellent study of what happens when someone botches Christopher Guest's mockumentary format.

The white hats are stained dark gray as if by ashes and soot. The villains are twisted, cruel, and vile. The heroes aren't much better.

The film is at its best when it is at its most goofy, at times coming close to the laugh-aloud outrageousness of Will Ferrell's "Anchorman."

The script is smart and sneaky - by never telling the audience more than is necessary, it develops a keen sense of suspense that persists until the gritty final reel.

Haggis' dialogue is virtually without clunkers, and it is delivered with the appropriate weight by a solid cast. Braff's limp performance is countered by Barrett's emotional riveting one (although he's in more scenes than she is).

The concept of conflating a heist film with a revenge thriller would seem to have a lot of promise. The problem with Wrath of Man is that, although both aspects are apparent, neither is well-crafted.

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson bring credibility to Last Chance Harvey merely by their presence. The result is a holiday parfait.

For something like Horrible Bosses to sparkle, the actors have to shine... and shine they do.

Narrative weakness and bad horror tropes get in the way and Mama's ending disappoints.

Bleak and gripping, Galveston offers a compelling experience for those who don’t demand pure escapism and are willing to sample the darker side of cinema.

Russell is the reason to go to the theater. He will continue to hold your attention when things around him -– like the storyline -– lose steam and credibility.

For all his passion to tell this story, Heckler doesn’t seem sure of the best way to conclude it.

In short, Flash of Genius fails to make viewers care with any depth about the story it's telling.

Ends up being one of the end-year's best sources of pure entertainment. And for those who believe laughter is the best medicine, there's more than a bellyful or two to be found here.

Other films have told similar stories with greater power. Director William Olsson appears unwilling to fully commit to the darkness that a movie of this sort would need to embrace to be both ephemerally disturbing (which it is) and memorable (which it isn’t).

Poorly paced with a tendency to veer into the pretentious and littered with contrivances and dramatic short-cuts, I Origins fails to provide a single three-dimensional character or compelling relationship.

What happens when movie producers cross "Three's Company" with "Masterpiece Theater?" The result would be similar to what Touchstone Pictures has provided with Casanova, a farcical romantic comedy period piece.

The problem with War Dogs isn’t the dark humor nor is it the cynically accurate deconstruction of military procurement and corruption. The lack of dynamism and depth in the characters is what hamstrings this production.

Director Anton Fuqua has jettisoned almost everything related to the TV series except the title, the main character's name, and the bare-bones premise. Even the theme song is gone. For all intents and purposes, The Equalizer isn't so much a reboot as it is an entirely new entity.

Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit provides the best motion picture adventure for the title character since his introduction in "The Hunt for Red October."

The reason Sherlock Holmes fails at least as often as it succeeds is because more effort and attention was lavished upon the concept than upon the script. Given a worthy story, Downey's Holmes might have been memorable. Here, he's an interesting character in search of a worthwhile story.

Immaculate is at times unsettling and the ending contains a strong shock element but the movie as a whole feels a little too familiar to engage its audience.

Never pretends to be something that it isn't. Oh, there are costumes, to be sure, but that's just to facilitate the setting of the 18th century. Anyone who mistakes this for a costume drama is not aware of what kind of film they have ventured into.

Whatever its faults, Ghosts of Mississippi is certainly an involving drama. However, while I have no doubt that Reiner meant for this to be an indictment against racist attitudes and a survey of some of the successes and failures of the Civil Rights movement, it succeeds only sporadically at those goals.

Taken as a whole, it’s excruciating in ways that few would consider enjoyable.

Overall, the film is smart and engaging, and if it plays a little on our fears of the next big terrorist attack, it does so without feeling exploitative.

Without question, Extraction is the best action-oriented film released during the first third of 2020. One could argue that such a statement is damning with faint praise.

For all its sparkling visuals, Mufasa is redundant. And that makes watching it (at least as an adult) deflating.

Of the five movies in the Despicable Me/Minions cycle, The Rise of Gru is the second-best, following the debut installment. The series has long since given up finding new avenues to explore (the way the first one and, to a degree, the second one, did), relying instead of regurgitating ideas and comedic bits. It’s almost surprising, therefore, how effectively it works.

It's an enjoyable and occasionally thought-provoking motion picture whose viewership should not be diminished by the unfortunate and inaccurate "anti-American" label.

People who are addicted to romantic comedies will find something to like about this movie, with its theme of fate brining two unhappy people together. More cynical viewers will point out that nothing in this film makes enough sense to warrant such a lofty interpretation. For the most part, I agree with the latter group. The Night We Never Met is best remembered as the movie we never attended.

Deeply flawed though it may be, Perfume is a challenging motion picture, and one whose impressions are not easily shaken.

In the final analysis, Rising Sun is yet another book-to-movie conversion that loses something in the translation. Despite the always-welcome presence of Sean Connery, the film fails to satisfy completely. There are a few too many plot holes and logical errors. Rising Sun may be solidly-paced, but not all aspects of the production are as successful.

The Commuter falls into line with Neeson’s other high-octane, low-intelligence efforts and part of the reason it works (to the degree that it works) is because of the sincerity with which the actor attacks the part.

An interesting plot element or two and a stylish visual approach can't save James Foley's The Corruptor from coming across as a run-of-the-mill cop movie.

This is a train wreck of an action film -– a stupefying attempt by the filmmakers to force-feed James Bond into the mindless "XXX" mold and throw 40 years of cinematic history down the toilet in favor of bright flashes and loud bangs.

While the legal stuff provides the film’s crowd-pleasing element, some of the foundational building blocks give The Last Vermeer a little heft, elevating it to a level where one is almost tempted to call it a quasi-art house production.

It takes the usual chases, explosions, and shoot-outs, and places them in plot that involves all sorts of computerized and electronic gadgetry. Often, as is the case here, not much attention is paid to whether the "science" is technologically feasible, but if something looks and sounds neat, why not use it?

Although guilty of soft-peddling some harrowing aspects of the experience to achieve the teen-friendly PG-13 rating, Adrift nevertheless gives a flavor of the existential experience inherent in this situation by illustrating that surviving a shipwreck is as much about mental strength as physical endurance and stamina.

A curious mix of smarts and schmaltz.

A classic example of a pedestrian motion picture being lifted out of mediocrity by an arresting lead performance. Zooey Deschanel doesn't just elevate Winter Passing; she carries it.

It’s another comedy that falls prey to two common problems: (1) predictable, uninspired humor, and (2) inept attempts to inject drama into the proceedings during the last act.

For all its attempts to weave a spell on the audience, Hearts and Souls displays an incredible lack of subtlety. Nevertheless, if you are prone to sigh rapturously at the thought of a happy ending, this may be the movie for you. It doesn't just have one of these, but five, each more cloying than the one before -- a rare treat for those who don't mind sugar shock.

Elements of Across the Universe are shockingly awful and the film lasts at least 30 minutes past the bearable stage. But if you like the Beatles and the idea of hearing about 20 covers of their work fills you with a perverse joy, this may be the movie for you.

Harsh Times occasionally echoes "Taxi Driver," Ayer's own "Training Day," and even "First Blood" in the way it examines the psychological disintegration of a character and the seduction of amorality.

For once, with How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Hollywood offers a love story that concentrates on the simple nuances of the romance rather than smothering us in an overly- melodramatic narrative featuring old boyfriends, jealousy, and hard-to-swallow misunderstandings.

Tracey Ullman is a bright spot in an otherwise sordid, murky production.

Sure, the viewer who wants to see a tightly-paced thriller with gun-play and emotionally-satisfying moments won't be disappointed, but there is a little more here than simple escapism. Although it takes a number of wrong turns, Falling Down still has the power to disturb.

The script doesn't do a great job with either the spiritual or the physical trek, but the spectacular action sequences occur with enough regularity that strong writing isn't necessary to keep Waterworld afloat.

The film's ending is a little unanticipated, and, although there are a few too many surprise revelations in the last 20 minutes, they all work reasonably well to enhance, rather than diminish, the central theme.

Despite its numerous problems, Posse remains an entertaining film. Not only does it bring an innovative perspective to the western, it tells a solid story.

Loud, kinetic, unflinching action.

The result is sappy, saccharine, and predictable to the point where it's almost painful.

In fact, the title of this motion picture is quite apt -- Mimic does an excellent job of imitating not only Aliens, but several other science fiction and horror features, including such odd choices as Leviathan and The Thing. The derivative result is, as one might expect, moderately entertaining, but far from groundbreaking in its approach or execution.

Writer/director Bobcat Goldthwait has an ax to grind and, once he's done grinding it, he uses it to split some skulls. God Bless America is many things - audacious, bitingly satirical, unafraid of venturing into uncomfortable territory - but it is never subtle.

The problem with the movie, whose title compresses "religious" and "ridiculous" into a single word, isn't that it milks more than one sacred cow but that it does so with minimal subtlety and intelligence.

This is the best adult holiday film in a while.

By laminating Walls’ story with a Hollywood sheen, the narrative climaxes in an artificial and contrived manner. The penultimate scene is so obviously scripted that its inclusion is damaging. That’s too bad, because there are some effective individual scenes earlier in the proceedings.

The Crazies is imperfect but it's made with a degree of assurance that will limit fidgeting and keep most horror-lovers involved for a majority of its running length.

Iron Will's presentation of family values and reliance upon formulas are distinctive. The film has enough action to keep it from becoming boring, but there are too many flaws for this to be considered anything more grand than adequate entertainment.

The tendency for an actor in a role like this is to overact. The result is often disastrous, reducing a character into a caricature. Hugh Dancy, adopting an American accent as effectively as the mannerisms of someone on the moderate portion of the Asperger's spectrum, makes Adam believable and generally sympathetic.

In order to appreciate I'll Sleep When I'm Dead, you have to be willing to absorb unhurried film noir, and to accept that the film's version of "closure" is a little frustrating.

Although it does an adequate job of illustrating the reasons why history remembers Curie, it feels more like a Victorian/Edwardian era soap opera than the chronicle of a scientific pioneer.

Race, like "42," does a workmanlike job of bringing the lead character to life and explaining his historical importance, but it fails to transcend the genre.

At its best, Nightbitch offers a deeply honest, emotionally unsettling portrait of the darker side of parenting. Unfortunately, those moments are counterbalanced by a metaphorical story element that devolves into an exercise in campiness so tonally at variance with the core story as to create a dissonance many viewers won’t be able to overcome.

For the Watchmen fan, this may be as close to the Holy Grail as a motion picture could come. For everyone else, a sense of frustration and disappointment is not unwarranted. Watchmen is many things but it is not the Next Great Comic Book Movie or the film that will advance graphic novel adaptations to the next level.

Heartfelt, but not to the degree that it becomes cloying.

Demand for the movie is high and, although it’s not the be-all/end-all of superhero movies, its anarchic and rambunctious approach to the genre results in an entertaining hybrid of comic book action and straightforward satire.

Inept storytelling is one of Lords of Dogtown's great frustrations.

Focus is uncommonly good for a February release (damning with faint praise?) but may not clear the bar of being worthy of a trip through snow and ice to reach the multiplex. Star power, actor chemistry, and caper movie twists make for a nice diversion… but not much more.

The film is so exuberant that we don't care whether we're listening to Lou Reed's off-the-cuff comments about New York, watching Mel Gorham do a sexy dance in front of a mirror, or hearing Jim Jarmusch's ramblings on the romance of the smoking culture.

How to Eat Fried Worms belongs to a vanishing breed - live action family films.

Clooney and Zellweger play off each other perfectly, delivering their dialogue with the rhythm of a well-choreographed dance and falling in love in the time-honored tradition of '40s romantic comedies.

The contrived storyline offers little opportunity for characters to grow and the meandering narrative trajectory and anticlimactic ending will have some viewers wondering why they bothered.

No amount of youthful charisma can alter the fact that, in the light of "Dangerous Liaisons", Cruel Intentions is a feeble and dissatisfying shadow.

A bloody fairy tale with no moral and a lot of juice.

“Dumbing down” was coined for productions like this: big, splashy, testosterone-fueled monstrosities whose sole purpose is to give a studio box office bragging rights for a few weeks.

Non-Stop plays like what might happen if Michael Bay directed a screenplay developed for Alfred Hitchcock.

Extreme Measures isn't going to be described as the "slam bang thrill ride" of the Autumn, or any other such nonsense. The film's inherent tension comes not from the shootouts and chases, but from its core ethical questions -- questions that ultimately have to be addressed, not only in movies, but in real life. "If you could cure cancer by killing one person, wouldn't you have to do it?" Obviously, there's no easy answer, and, whether you agree or disagree with the position taken by Extreme Measures, at least the film frames its response in an entertaining, and occasionally thought-provoking, package.

Eastwood has captured a peculiar yet involving slice of life.

Valkyrie, despite being a more straightforward thriller, is less gripping than "Downfall," the most recent film in which Hitler had significant screen time.

The movie is deliciously creepy even if it does exhibit some issues that keep it from being a top-notch example of "things that go bump in the night" horror.

It’s not a terrible movie but it feels like a failed attempt to infuse the Coen Brothers’ wry aesthetic into a B-movie tableau.

No one is going to remember the movie in a month, but for Mommies and Daddies seeking a night's break from their children, it's adequate entertainment.

The DUFF would make John Hughes smile. With its mixture of wit, teen friendly situations, and heart, The DUFF feels like something that might have come out of Hughes' '80s playbook.

Sylvia underwhelms.

The limp movie seems to be an attempt by an Australian to mimic a bad American romantic comedy, and, unfortunately, he succeeds admirably.

Its plot-by-numbers story doesn't offer much in the way of surprises, and it doesn't have the emotional power of a Leaving Las Vegas or the euphoric quality of The Brothers McMullen. But Sabrina is fun in its own way, and, though clearly flawed, it nevertheless offers two hours' solid diversion (the overlong running time, by the way, is one of those flaws).

While this particular film doesn't boast any radical or surprising ideas, it combines numerous familiar plot elements into a suspenseful, entertaining whole. Best of all, perhaps, is the realization that some thought went into writer/director David Twohy's script. This is not a dumb movie; in fact, with its heavy reliance upon real science, it's startlingly credible.

It has taken Warner Brothers ten years to get this property a new life and, thankfully, the results in no way resemble those of its Cold War TV compatriot. Or, to put it another way, The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (2015) is good fun, which "The Avengers" (1998) wasn't.

Not since "The Crying Game" has Jordan crafted as compelling a motion picture.

Many of the jokes are either obvious or have been exposed through pre-release marketing material. I kept waiting for the clever or insightful moment that never arrives. The bar is set pretty low for Minions.

By the time the two hour running length has expired, it's safe to say that Real Steel comes across as a legitimate crowd-pleaser.

Yes, Unknown is preposterous. That in and of itself is not a reason to avoid the movie. The problems lie in the way the absurdity is presented and the manner in which the screenplay resolves once the "truth" is revealed.

There are times when the story behind the making of a film is more interesting than the finished product. This is one of those occasions.

There's no shortage of candidates for the fatal flaw: the artificial storyline; the presence of a ridiculously cliched character; the lack of chemistry between illicit lovers. Blaming one of these problems is probably unfair. The movie's failure is likely based on a fusion of all these, and perhaps a few others.

Hereafter is a fascinating, absorbing motion picture, but will work only for those willing to surrender to the story as it unspools at its own deliberate rate.