The tale related here isn't all that original, but the honest presentation lends impact to a wrenching scenario.

It's not the unevenness of the comedy that kills Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins but the illegitimacy of the drama.

Mortal Kombat II falls victim to the same problems that have derailed many a game-to-movie translation: overemphasizing fan service and spectacle over a solid narrative.

A woefully underwritten motion picture that starts out as a dumb comedy before taking an ill-advised detour into mawkish sentimentality. The last 30 minutes of Bruce Almighty is so godawful that it almost sent me screaming from the theater.

Offers slim pickings for viewers, regardless of whether they're fans of Woody Allen or not. And I'm sure the French will love it.

Saw is for hard-gore horror aficionados only.

The Meg takes itself far too seriously. The only amusing elements are Jason Statham’s occasional one-liners coupled with his exasperated expressions.

Folie a Deux functions as an overlong, pretentious coda – a slog that barely advances the narrative while regurgitating elements from the first film.

Project X's first-person verisimilitude is the movie's primary strength and most damning weakness.

Watching Untogether, it’s easy to wish Forrest had elected to focus exclusively on Andrea and leave Tara as a background supporting character.

In the Rambo canon, where does this one fit? The tone is closer to "First Blood" but the body count is more "Rambo III." No matter how one dices and slices this new Rambo, the first one in 20 years, it will likely please fans of the long-in-the-tooth series.

The Break-Up is like Danny DeVito's "The War of the Roses," but without the wit, the acid, and the blacker-than-black humor.

The movie is at its best when the audience is in the dark and, because our perspective is June's and she doesn't know what the hell is going on until well into the proceedings, that's when things are the most entertaining.

The film’s predictability is offset by what Hart and Cranston bring to the proceedings.

Time Trap is a superficially entertaining science-fiction action/adventure film that might have worked better had it focused more on the “science fiction” elements and less on the halfhearted “action/adventure” ones.

Take away the performances, and all that would be left is a cheapish B-grade motion picture.

Bland and forgettable - a romantic comedy with affable characters and some funny lines, but where love never really takes flight. It fizzles when it should sizzle.

The narrative is all over the place. Character motivation is confusing. And, worst of all, the story simply isn’t interesting.

The problem with The Crossing Guard is not the premise or core theme, but the manner in which director Sean Penn breathes life into the story. This film is horribly unfocused.

The screenplay is so incredibly dumb that it’s never possible to suspend one’s disbelief sufficiently for the movie’s high points to offer more than a fleeting moment’s satisfaction.

The problem with the film is that it's frequently more tedious than funny.

A remake, done right, was not a bad idea. And, fortunately in this case, it has been accomplished with some flair. The result is a lightweight source of entertainment that maximizes humor and minimizes serious stuff.

It features a pair of well-developed characters, the plot contains some clever twists and turns, the dialogue is reasonable, and director Gary Fleder (Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead) keeps the level of tension and intrigue high. Put together, all of that adds up to a worthwhile motion picture.

Ironically for something titled The Watchers, this production lacks the basic quality of watchability.

It's rare for a feature film to attain the trifecta of entertaining, informing, and educating.

Undemanding, light, and enjoyable.

It is involving and entertaining, and features an intriguing, independent heroine.

With some of the overlong running time snipped, Judgment Night might have been palatable. As it stands, however, the best judgment I can pass on this movie is an exceedingly harsh one.

Ultimately, however, the movie is so desperate for a conventional ending that it subverts everything it was willing to try earlier.

After starting with a lackluster introduction and a by-the-numbers heist sequence, the film concludes with an upbeat and appealing final act that recalls "Big Night."

The occasional laughs provided aren't frequent enough or uproarious enough to warrant an investment of nearly two hours of a viewer's time.

Pumpkin's two greatest strengths: the majority of the film is original and engaging, and Christina Ricci turns in another fine performance. This pair of assets alone is worth the price of admission.

Chasing Liberty is not daring or adventurous, but, considering its release date (early January), it's more palatable than one might anticipate.

This is not only the least funny movie in which McCarthy has appeared but the tamest and most toothless.

Samaritan isn’t terrible but neither is it especially good. It’s a B-grade comic book movie that looks, sounds, and plays like a B-grade comic book movie.

Neither smart enough nor funny enough to have cross-over appeal to any other demographic.

Flipped is Rob Reiner's best film in 18 years, and includes echoes of two of his most accomplished efforts, "The Sure Thing" and "Stand By Me."

The absence of originality and inspiration isn't Mad City's only problem -- it also suffers from a shocking lack of subtlety.

It's funny as hell at times with a twisted sense of humor that one typically expects from the likes of the Coen Brothers and Quentin Tarantino.

Although the moral ambiguity of Straw Dogs has been softened in the remake, the message and the forceful way in which it is delivered remain the same.

The film is by no means perfect and its goals are undermined by a sloppy climax and conclusion but it avoids preaching while providing fodder for thought.

Joe Versus the Volcano is difficult to review because some parts are fresh, inventive, and entertaining, while others are near-misses or even complete failures. On balance, however, I readily admit liking this movie, although the second half pales in comparison to the first.

Although the film’s sci-fi elements are flimsy at best, it boasts some strong action sequences. The special effects sometimes feel a little too video-game-y but, for the most part, they get the job done.

Works not primarily because it's a strange and original brew, but because it accomplishes its goals without seeming to force things. The blending of reality with dreams, memories, and imagination is done flawlessly.

The most likely facial expression to be elicited by Mona Lisa Smile is a grimace.

The story is so obvious that a viewer could leave the theater for fifteen minutes and not be even a little lost upon his return.

This brash, glitzy, energetic entertainment has the power to hold an audience enraptured, but, at the same time, there's a sense that what we're experiencing is just candy for the eyes and ears.

The strength of the screenplay and acting provide a satisfying, although not overwhelming, two hours of romance, drama, and tragedy.

The style feels a little like that of the recently departed TV show "24," albeit without Kiefer Sutherland, the split screens, and the ticking clock.

The movie ends up feeling superficial and mechanical. Warhol is a cut-and-dried villain rather than a complex individual.

This is one of those grim movies that requires viewers to endure the experience; however, instead of providing a worthwhile payoff, it never varies from the expected trajectory and leaves the viewer as cold at the end as the emotional temperature of the key relationships.

Pretty Persuasion reminds me of a half-hour TV series that has a great pilot episode, then falls apart in subsequent installments. Movies need to grow and change to keep things interesting; this one is stagnant.

The seeds of a nice little white-knuckle thriller are evident but they never germinate properly. The end result is profoundly disappointing and can’t be saved by the few individual moments that do work.

It's a slight-but-enjoyable effort, and it features something a little on the surprising side: an optimistic ending.

When compared to today's visual standards for animated films, Hoodwinked is far below the curve.

There’s a sense that, in trying to add humor and cinema-friendly “touches” to her narrative, Gleason occasionally takes us too far from reality and, during those times, the movies loses its focus on the 16-year old protagonist, Jamie Winkle (Joey King).

The most intriguing aspects of Extraordinary Measures relate to the behind-the-scenes politicking that goes on to keep the drug development on track, although the screenplay cheats toward the end (presumably because of time constraints and a concern that too much detail might bore audiences).

Mechanical and artificial, and tells you what to think.

It has all the elements one would expect from a "so bad it's good" feature: cheesy dialogue, a script that could have been written by two chimpanzees, acting that would make a high school drama teacher cringe, and lots of tight female bodies poured into tiny bikinis. Despite all of that, however, I found Into the Blue to be a real trial.

The movie does what all good thrillers should do -- provide enough shocks and surprises to keep us guessing, and never lets up on the suspense until the end credits arrive.

Contains multiple ax murders, lesbianism, incest, a hanging, and a storm at sea -- yet, despite all of this seemingly enticing material, it's a bore.

At best, this film is strictly cable fare.

The mismatched blending of Hirschbiegel's low-key horror and the Wachowski Brothers' anything-but-low-key action sequences results in a cinematic dud.

What a waste of a talented cast! There are times when it can be depressing to see so much acting potential wasted on a script unable to elicit the best from its stars, and this is one such occasion.

A tedious, incoherent bore.

Narrative-wise, Justice League is forced to do too many things.

Here's hoping Breaking Dawn Part Two gives us more of what Part One provided in the final 30 minutes than what it forced viewers to endure to get there.

A thriller with enough of the right ingredients to provide a couple hours of escapism.

A curious mix of the campy and the intelligent, of high concept and low psychology. In spite of these contradictions, or perhaps because of them, it works. This is a tense and engaging thriller.

Paced more like an action movie than a drama, and, when a pause finally occurs at the end credits, we realize that it hasn't been an altogether satisfying ride.

This isn't just typical, unchallenging Hollywood drek -- it's typical, unchallenging Hollywood drek made by people who don't care, for people who don't care.

If you like romantic movies but find Hollywood's increasingly sterile formulas to be a poisonous bore, Love Me if You Dare offers an antidote.

It's not as clever as it thinks it is, not as funny or exciting as it should be, and not as engaging as it needs to be to prevent kids from losing interest and parents from falling asleep.

This movie seems better suited as cable or video fare than for theatrical viewing.

As a movie, On Stranger Tides would have to be considered a failure. The story does not engage, the characters are stick figures, the action sequences are perfunctory, and the whole enterprise reeks of being a money-grab.

Some players will enjoy the flashes of familiarity but others will find the production to be lacking. “Cringey” might be too harsh but this is unlikely to become the next video game-to-movie classic.

There are some splendidly over-the-top performances - chiefly those of Nicole Kidman and John Cusack, both cast against type - but the biggest narrative hole lies at the center. The lead character, played by Zac Efron, is dull, uninteresting, and poorly conceived.

More of a pretender than a contender in a field that includes superior entries like "Reservoir Dogs" and "The Usual Suspects."

Action fans probably won't be offended, provided they're not expecting Berenger to be America's answer to James Bond. There are occasions when Sniper shows flashes of promise, although most of these are short-lived. The film is capable of providing a one-hundred minute diversion for anyone who has nothing better to do. The potential is here for something much better, but, unfortunately, Sniper shoots itself in the foot.

There are times when the comedian falls back on his typical shtick, but the film doesn't shy away from the darkness inherent in this kind of story, and it has a heart.

It engaged me throughout and I found the ending to be surprisingly hopeful.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age lacks the intricate plotting that characterized its predecessor. The screenplay is more action-oriented but not as smart, and some of the dialogue is downright cheesy.

The final 15 minutes are so awful that it's difficult to believe that the bulk of the film is actually decent.

Die-hard fans of Witherspoon and the romantic comedy genre will probably find enough to like in this film to make it worth a trip to the theater. Everyone else would be best served by spending their hard-earned money on something else.

Madame is populated by one-note individuals and the screenplay isn’t overly interested in building them beyond their core characteristics. As a result, lonely and bored Anne (Toni Collette) becomes unlikeable because she is defined by her vapidity and venality.

Crisply paced but undercut by hard-to-swallow plot contrivances, the movie doesn’t waste much time, taking only about an hour and a quarter to unspool.

Regardless, though it may be occasionally slow-moving and perhaps a half-hour too long, this film is put together with care and a mindfulness of quality.

Occupation accomplishes the previously unthinkable: an alien invasion film that makes "Independence Day" look smart.

Taken 2 is more of the same, except a little bigger, a little dumber, and a little less invigorating.

The inevitable twist ties things neatly together before leading to a confusing, borderline-indecipherable ending that fails to satisfy on a number of levels.

Older viewers are more likely to appreciate the film’s intentions than fully embrace the story and its characters. Kids, on the other hand, will probably enjoy the frenetic action sequences; plucky heroine; cute, talking animals; and colorful visual representations.

Even at the attractive price of “free,” it’s not worth it because watching it requires 97 minutes and that’s not time well spent.

Hall Pass isn't by any means flawless, but its ability to integrate extreme scatological humor with moments of genuine feeling is rare.

It's all about eye candy and the quick tease. It's not over fast enough.

A fast-food type of movie - it looks good in the commercials and is easy to sit through, but it doesn't offer much in the way of satisfaction.

What's sad is that Elizabethtown contains two GREAT sequences.

This new horror/romance mashup provides just enough flavor of Jane Austen’s classic to tease without satisfying.

This represesents the smartest high-budget, high-profile science fiction film to have come along in quite some time.