The Old Man & the Gun’s problems relate to a lack of balance. The movie is fine when it focuses on Redford – at least until the anti-climactic final act when it loses energy and momentum – but dead-in-the-water where the other actors/characters are concerned.

Wonderstruck is an evocative movie with a vaguely disappointing narrative that, although it reaches a conclusion, doesn’t justify the patience viewers must exhibit to reach that point

This is one of those middle-of-the-road art pictures that will impress some music lovers and attract a small audience, but won't really excite anyone. Copying Beethoven does not do for its title composer what Amadeus did for Mozart, and that's a shame.

The Shadow's problems have nothing to do with the basic premise; rather, they are flaws in execution. The setup promises something more invigorating than it delivers.

If there’s one thing that saves Us, it’s that, even as the movie descends into a narrative morass from which it never escapes, there are many individual scenes that, taken in isolation, pack a punch. The problem is that, once assembled into the larger whole, it doesn’t all work.

Inkheart looks good and is well acted but, in the end, it left me indifferent.

Indy's companions are weak; we don't identify with them the way we did with Marion and Sallah. There's less action and more overt comedy, and neither change works to the benefit of the story.

Maxxxine is the weakest of the three members of the X Trilogy. It’s as if West and Goth were too enamored with the character to let her fade away, so they contrived a scattershot and ultimately unsatisfying way to return her to the screen.

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.

An example of a vampire movie for the new century -- stylish, gothic, gory, and loud.

The problem with the film has little to do with the central triangle, which is engaging enough in a formula-driven way, but with the myriad uninteresting subplots that dot the cinematic landscape and have the unfortunate effect of padding the proceedings to the point of unwieldiness.

It's surprising to admit that the British comedian, known far and wide for his willingness to take risks, plays it safe in The Invention of Lying - a fault from which the movie never truly recovers.

Captain America falls into the prevalent pitfalls of origin stories. So much time and effort is expended explaining how the protagonist gains his super-powers (and exploring his initial usage of them) that there's not enough opportunity to develop a compelling storyline beyond his "baptism."

Kids will have fun, parents probably won’t be bored, but will anyone really care? Sing 2 is a product and, like many products, it exists mostly to distract and make money.

The movie is unpolished, unabashedly un-PC, and takes on as many "sacred cows" as it can uncover in a slightly-too-long 105 minutes.

This is a mixed bag - passable entertainment made palatable largely by Law, but the question of "Why?" (more than "What's it all about?") still lingers where this remake is concerned.

On a purely visual level, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets deserves mention among the most technically accomplished works of those three. But as a complete motion picture experience, it falls considerably short.

Given some of the dubious decisions made in crafting the 1987 film, there was ample opportunity to make vast improvements. Unfortunately, this Running Man fails to take advantage and, while stumbling on approach to the finish line, it trips and falls in the final moments.

The musical sequences throb with energy and this allows We Are Your Friends to maintain its trajectory when its momentum flags.

There are some problems but most are related to the uneven screenplay and not the performances of Cage or his co-star, Robin Tunney.

The movie is entertaining on a superficial level, but there's little beneath the surface.

One of the great unanswered questions in Hollywood is how Chevy Chase still gets work. Although his appeal is not as incomprehensible as that of, say, Pauly Shore, it's not obvious, either; "range" is one word no one will ever use in conjunction with Chase's acting ability.

Kristen Bell shines as Veronica, playing the character as a more mature version of her TV persona.

Escape from New York isn't really science fiction -- it's an action flick set in a futuristic setting. Epic potential for a masterful, gripping tale is abandoned in favor of cheap thrills.

While The Beta Test does a solid job of presenting Jordan as the kind of person ripe for a comeuppance and giving us a high-octane performance to go with it, the movie falls down when it comes to basic storytelling.

Instead of focusing on FDR as a president, this movie gives up half its length to tawdry soap opera.

The movie is pretty much what you might expect from a big-screen adaptation of a once-popular '60s TV series: good-natured, appealing, and sophomoric.

Despite its many strengths, Thank You for Smoking hovers around mediocrity, and its lasting impression is like a puff of smoke that is dissipated by a strong gust of wind.