There's not a surprising moment in the movie yet it works in spite of the stale, insipid storyline. That has a lot to do with lead actress Katherine Heigl and a little to do with the glowing embers between her and her co-star, James Marsden.

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

Tone isn't the movie's sole problem. There's something off-putting about Christopher Mitz-Plasse as the chief bad guy.

The problem with Waititi’s approach, not unlike those faced by Roberto Benigni 22 years ago when he made the divisive "Life Is Beautiful," is perfecting the tonal shifts. His difficulties in this area can create a whiplash effect that results in the overall production feeling a little “off.”

Seven Pounds works better the more the viewer feels and the less he/she thinks. On an emotional level, one could decree that the movie is satisfying. On an intellectual level, it's disappointingly shallow.

The movie is never boring or uninteresting, but I viewed it from a detached perspective, unable to become involved because I didn't really care about any of the three main characters.

Granted, one wouldn’t expect a modern-day fairy tale to be socially conscious but there’s something so overt about this materialism that it stains the overall experience.

Despite being one of the shortest theatrical releases of the year, clocking in at about 75 minutes (not counting end credits), The Happytime Murders feels overlong. That’s probably because the plot is nonsensical and pointless.

The Host is a strange little movie: part creature feature, part social commentary, and part slapstick comedy. The problem with the film is that the sum isn't greater than the parts and the pieces don't fuse in a way that's consistently pleasing or cinematically satisfying.

The movie hits its stride when it deals directly with the concert. The more peripheral Elliot is to the story, the better things become.

As much heralded, "edgy" movies go, Transamerica fails to live up to expectations.

One of my problems with Black Narcissus is that I never found the characters credible. I didn’t believe any of them and their interpersonal conflicts contrived and artificial.

As it is, this is a painless experience but lacks the qualities to make it a true pleasure.

Although engaging at times, Fingernails is ultimately frustrating.

The limp climax doesn't undo the solid humor, wicked social commentary, and delicious satire that precedes it, but it leaves an unpleasant aftertaste. In the end, Mean Girls isn't mean enough.

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.

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).

The result, while not entirely devoid of entertainment value, doesn't work as a whole.

Although I found the change of pace to be refreshing for a Neeson outing, the movie is too flawed for a full recommendation.

In large part because of a great beginning and a solid ending, this is one of the better entries into the series, at least on par with Final Destination 3 and 5 and far and away better than the others.

Affable, but, as something with more ambition, it disappoints. Herek has once again found the feel-good path to mediocrity.

Some of Poetic Justice is quite good, if unspectacular, and the dialogue has a consistent ring of truth.

The weaknesses of Beautiful Creatures ultimately outweigh the strengths but the conviction of the central relationship is good enough to keep things from becoming laughably bad, even if it all comes apart toward the end.

Made in Dagenham is a useful lesson in history and a reminder that we yet have a distance to travel to attain the goal, but the narrative is dry, safe, and predictable and, as a result, not fully satisfying.

It's an epic pretender, not an epic contender.

The only thing surprising about this lackluster animated production is that it attracted an A-list voice cast.

Levy and Jackson save the day, and the film. The Man isn't great entertainment, but it contains enough laughter-provoking material to make it worth a look.

There’s nothing in this version of Rebecca to cause it to stand out from its crowded field of predecessors but, due to the strength of the novel (to which it is reasonably faithful), it holds the viewer’s interest and will likely maintain an aura of suspense and mystery for those unfamiliar with the story.