The brilliance of Bennett's movie is that it concentrates on the characters and their interaction and never becomes a mouthpiece for one side or the other with respect to the death penalty.

The narrative is simplistic and lacking in energy, and the characters are sketched instead of fully formed.

The latest motion picture to take an intriguing premise and flush it into the septic tank.

Although there's little wrong with the first two-thirds, A History of Violence slides onto a tangential path during its final act, and this misstep reduces the production's overall effectiveness.

As an introduction to the story for someone with no previous exposure to Oliver Twist, Polanski's movie is adequate.

The material is intellectual, but the treatment is not. Proof is a stirring motion picture that challenges our views on a great many things about life, some of which we take for granted. And, by opening up the play, Madden has made it less talky and more cinematic without losing the quintessential elements that made it such a success on stage.

The movie starts cheating the audience early, and never lets up.

This movie is sloppy and disjointed - an unsatisfying melodrama built upon a shaky foundation of contrivances, coincidences, and plot holes.

As animated films go, this is easily the best of a weak year.

Thumbsucker is true to its nature, and that makes Justin's eventual transformation all the more rewarding.

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.

An Unfinished Life isn't original, but, for those who enjoy this sort of drama, it's an opportunity to remember how, in the right circumstances, on-screen characters can touch our hearts.

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

Loud, kinetic, unflinching action.

The ending seems predestined, and the overlong, tepid journey getting to that point isn't worth the price of admission.

Only for die-hard Cho fans. Everyone else will be offended, bored, or some combination of the two.

Talky and intelligent, and never takes the cheap way out. It's also something of a downer.

Dirty Deeds boasts a passably entertaining idea that is butchered in the telling.

Eternal isn't that bad. Actually, it is. But it's kind of fun, too, in a way only cheesy exploitation films can be fun.

Rude, raunchy, uproarious, yet with elements that are surprisingly sweet.

A silly script and uneven pacing.

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.

Delivers its share of cheap scares but never unlocks the door to the creepiness that would have made this is memorable movie-going experience.

The rousing success of the final 45 minutes cannot entirely counterbalance the stumbling uncertainty of the first 90 minutes.

Actually three movies in one: a wildlife film about how grizzly bears behave in their natural habitat, a character study of an eccentric environmentalist, and a chilling, voyeuristic narrative of how death stalks that man.

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.

Straight viewing could result in brain damage.

In the wasteland of August releases, this entry shines like a beacon lighting the way to a theater.