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

Too much of Jason X plays it straight, and that means boredom. Murder and mayhem of this sort quickly becomes monotonous.

Unlike in many thrillers, the movie doesn't sandbag us with one last, cheap twist at the end. The Salton Sea contains its share of surprises, but none of them feels forced or artificial.

With its combination of intrigue, romance, and adventure set against a World War II backdrop, the movie has an undeniable appeal. Flaws aside, Enigma is engaging and ambitious.

It is possible to make an engaging action/adventure picture of this sort, but The Scorpion King isn't it. The movie isn't godawful, but it's far from inspired, and, as I sat through its 90 minute running length, I found my mind wandering.

Towards the end, Murder By Numbers reverts to form with cheesy clichés, plot twists, and a fair amount of unnecessary action, but that's easily the film's low point.

A huge disappointment -- the kind of motion picture that makes you actively angry at the filmmaker for subjecting you to it and stealing two hours of your life.

It's the kind of thing that Shakespeare might have written if he had undergone a frontal lobotomy.

While Changing Lanes isn't a perfect movie, it's watchable and compelling, and works on more than one level.

As disappointing as the wrap-up is, it can't erase the chilling psychological warfare that represents the majority of what precedes it.

Isn't quite good enough to elicit a purr, but it represents better-than-average movie-making that doesn't demand a dumb, distracted audience.

Has some promise as a throw-away, lighthearted romance. Unfortunately, once those elements are gone, what's left only has a running time of about 13 minutes.

The chief pleasure of High Crimes (and it's a limited one) comes from watching Morgan Freeman, who can bring a sense of integrity to even the silliest thriller.

With a cast of characters so large that Robert Altman would feel at home, Big Trouble manages to do a lot of clever little things and generate quite a few big laughs without wearing out its welcome.

While this outing will not challenge the likes of "The Natural" for the title of the best baseball movie ever made, it's a solid effort in its own right.

For those with the patience to sit through this kind of unhurried motion picture, Time Out offers a compelling character study of an individual under the kind of strain we can all relate to.

In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.

Fincher eschews quick cuts in favor of long, leisurely ones. He knows what he's doing, and the proof is in the result. The suspense in Panic Room never ebbs, and that makes for a thoroughly entertaining -- if somewhat exhausting -- 108 minutes.

The film stays true to its unpretentious origins -- it's like a comic book come to life, with an undeniable visual flair, a lot of kinetic action sequences, minimal character development, and a plot that could charitably be called "uneven".

It's often diverting and occasionally funny, but it's ultimately inconsequential.

The moment Showtime begins to take itself even remotely seriously, it loses whatever edge it might have had -- and that occurs less than 15 minutes into the proceedings. The best time for Showtime is no time.

At its heart, Harrison's Flowers is a love story, albeit a graphic and difficult one.

They center on the devilishly clever, exceedingly enjoyable interludes featuring the aforementioned rodent in situations and circumstances that recall the great animated work of the recently departed Chuck Jones.

In crafting an insider's perspective, Jaglom has done an effective job. It's too bad that nearly everything else fails.

The Time Machine is stupid -- too stupid for the impressive special effects or the competently directed action sequences to wash away the bitter taste.

The in-your-face style of We Were Soldiers results in a suspenseful, intense, and exhausting cinematic experience.

If you're desperate to give something up for Lent, make it movies like this one.

Like many genuinely awful movies, Queen of the Damned has the ingredients of a cult film.