Philip Seymour Hoffman is in fine form as a man teetering on the edge.

Beneath its aw-shucks, wants-to-be-liked exterior, this is a bankrupt motion picture. It's cloying, artificial, and not the least bit romantic.

It's a depressing experience to view something like Saw IV. It's not just the soullessness that's dispiriting, but the lack of invention. When a movie does little more than repeat what its predecessors accomplished with grotesque effectiveness, it's past time to tip this corpse into its grave and bury it.

Works on its own terms, which is more than can be said of most horror films these days. If this is the kind of movie you're looking for, it delivers.

Gone Baby Gone is powerful stuff - a movie that derives its plot twists from moral conundrums rather than from narrative sleight of hand.

The film's disappointingly black-and-white approach robs characters and situations of badly needed ambiguity.

The book tore at my heart; the movie left me strangely unmoved.

Emotionally challenging and honest.

It is neither as clever nor as funny nor as inventive as the daring title might lead one to expect.

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.

Evans' goal is to do for high school baseball what "Hoosiers" did for high school basketball, but to mention both titles in one sentence is almost an insult to a picture that many rank as the first or second all-time sports film.

While "quirky" is a good descriptor for the production, Lars and the Real Girl isn't so bizarre that mainstream movie goers will reject it. This is an offbeat independent production that could become one of those big little fall surprises.

The 1972 movie was better paced and presented a superior story but this one has its own pleasures. It's an interesting failure - a film that works more successfully as a study of technique and writing than as a motion picture.

With a cast like this, one has a right to expect something amazing, so the fact that We Own the Night is merely "entertaining" might cause disappointment in some quarters.

In essence, Control is a standard order biopic of a tormented artist. What makes the film interesting, if not unique, is the style in which director Anton Corbijn has elected to present it.

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

There is an audience out there for slower, more intellectual thrillers. This is a motion picture for them to discover.

Technically and thematically, there's a lot in The Darjeeling Limited to arrest the attention. Emotionally, there's a void.

With a movie of this sort, the viewer expects to undergo something grueling and disturbing. Trade's inability to deliver that sort of visceral experience makes it unworthy of anyone's hard-earned dollars.

Feast of Love's greatest strength is that it's about people and involves universal emotions. It's not great art but it is enjoyable soap opera.

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.

The sex is REALLY hot. Not hardcore pornographic (at least by my definition of the term) but close.

Sweet and light. It's a celebration of cultural diversity and an affirmation that, despite differences in race, religion, and societal norms, people are essentially the same.

At least Jessica Alba's legion of fans will have something to smile about. If nothing else, Helfrich has shown her in the best light. If only there was something worth seeing here other than her.

Into the Wild is a beautifully made motion picture and some of the segments (especially those with Hal Holbrook and those that transpire around "the magic bus" in Alaska) are powerful.

It’s far less engaging than the recent "3:10 to Yuma" remake and concentrates more on the details than the broad picture.

The film comes across like a soap opera and there are too many characters and storylines for any one of them to grab the heart and imagination. The film isn't painful but it is disappointing.

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.