Beneath the handsome production values, the steady motor of Ron Howard's direction and the solid acting of Mel Gibson as a flashy airline tycoon whose son is abducted in Central Park, Ransom is pure poison: the kind of hang-'em-high rouser that feeds off our basest impulses and prods us into cheering the hero on as he commits grisly, retributive acts of violence.

Port Authority is never in a hurry. It often feels like it’s being lived as you watch. That won’t satisfy viewers who need a tight narrative with recognizable beats, but if you’re looking for an immersive love story that takes you places you might not know, that challenges your conception of what romance looks and feels like, Port Authority is a great place to stop.

The film's simplicity and intensity are aided by the crisp black-and-white photography of Tariel Meliava. Director Babluani's greenness shows itself in the ending, which is weak, but the film nevertheless stays with you.

Isn't an instant classic, but it bumps along agreeably.

Abominable delivers all the notes you expect from family-friendly animation these days. And, thankfully, a little bit more.

A funny and twisted movie from beginning to end, closing with an emotional payoff.

Cast adrift in this aimless movie, Ahmed seems lost. His performance is one in an unfortunate tradition of weepy Hamlets, and his problems are compounded by the fact that his weepiness is unconvincing. Each time he teared up while delivering a soliloquy, I felt that he was trying to sell me a used car.

The terseness of Hosseini's prose has been replaced by the sentimentality of the director's approach.

The problems lie not with the actors but with a glib approach that exposes the flaws of the original story.

A bonbon, not of a full-course meal. Foodies will smack their lips over many delectable shots of victuals prepared by the film's engaging protagonist, a provincial woman chosen to cook for the president of France. As a story, though, it's insubstantial - there's conflict here, but it feels perfunctory.

Three hours of overstatement and schmaltz.

An enjoyable if fairly predictable film.

A gripping story of one teen's rebellion against his peers' sadistic abuse.

Embraces its identity as a sci-fi-summer-action-blockbuster extravaganza. Along the way, it actually comes close to finding the balance that Lee was looking for.

A near-miss, but a miss all the same.

Where the movie goes wrong is that it sets itself up as a study of a pathological personality but never delivers.

Not enough can be said for how strong [Crowe] is in this film, and how welcome it is every time he appears on screen. He seems able to read people. He also seems German, complete with German gestures.

A complicated and stylish Korean thriller that will make viewers' skin crawl.

In a genre where too many films are all brawn and no brain, Fighting is a contender.

Happily, Blue Beetle comes closest to cracking the code by grounding its slam-bang sci-fi shenanigans in familia. Based on the third incarnation of a comic book character who’s been in and out of circulation — published by several different companies — since 1939, this movie’s Latin flavor feels fresh, with welcome bits of political bite and funny takes on the genre’s over-familiar conventions.

With a thriller like this, details almost don't matter. It's entertaining enough to watch it get to where it's got to go. Liotta is seedy and creepy as the obsessed cop, disintegrating before our eyes. ''The only problem I have is sleazy, low-life whores like you,'' he tells a woman he picks up. Officer Pete has some hostility issues he needs to work on. [26 June 1992, p.G1]

The Persian Version tries to pivot and fashion itself as a celebration of women’s strength across the generations, but it’s transparently something else — a daughter’s attempt to come to terms with a problematic mother. And it’s an effort in which there can be no suspense because Keshavarz’s strenuous effort to whitewash mom tells us that the movie, and the relationship, can only resolve in one way.

Segues confidently from broad humor to tense drama.

It is well-made in an old-fashioned way, and its straight-arrow lack of cynicism may be old- fashioned as well.

Though its sentiment may be lost on the very young, the movie is strictly two-hanky fare.

Haunting case study of a romantic obsession.

The film isn't half as deep as intended, but parts of it are very funny - someone actually barfs onto a stack of art books - and the parts that aren't may as well be.

The problematic result is not that The New Age is bleak -- bleak is fine. We all like bleak. The problem is that The New Age becomes static. [30 Sept 1994, p.C1]

Stylized and visually arresting, with intense sex scenes that earned the film an NC-17 rating, Ang Lee's Lust, Caution is an immersion into another time, place and mentality.

Even more ridiculous than it sounds.

The plot is somewhat pedestrian and the dialogue needs more zip. But it's amusing to watch the Bayaka poke good-natured fun at the gangly Larry, who has only their best interests at heart.

Two guys panting over the same babe leads to tedium, despite a near-record number of overheated sex scenes.

Tetris holds an audience’s attention until the finish, without ever quite commanding it. To some degree, Noah Pink’s screenplay deserves credit for taking an arcane business story and rendering it entertaining. But the story gets so extreme and unlikely in the movie’s last half hour that it becomes easy to separate fact from fiction.

The glossy ensemble cast is consistently interesting.

The Comfort of Strangers might look great and might seem to be heading somewhere, but ultimately the picture is just a lot of atmosphere dolling up a lot of hot air. [15 Mar 1991, p.E8]

There are stretches when this true story can be a clunky inspirational piece about a young man who overcomes class and racial barriers to excel at science, business and helping his community. At regular intervals, though, it shifts to darker crime drama with dire themes of injustice and manipulation. The two moods don’t always transition smoothly, but each complements the other as they unfold.

In a nutshell, the problem is this: If Gilroy wanted to set a horror movie in the world of art commerce, fine. No problem. It’s not a bad idea. But to do it, Gilroy needed to respect the horror genre enough to create something sophisticated. Instead he went to the horror bargain basement and pulled out the cheapest horror conventions he could find, straight out of slasher bin.

Mischievous, singular and profound.

There’s a lot in Scream VI to satisfy longtime fans, but it still feels like a step down from the last one.

Tries too hard to be even-handed.

The Bourne series ended with the last installment, and now comes a 135-minute death rattle called The Bourne Legacy. It's a peculiar movie, both over-plotted and under-plotted, encumbered by layers of detail and yet with no details invested in or developed.

The film provides an intelligently imagined future world.

The way Boynton Beach residents reach out to one another is enough to make you consider relocating to one of these communities.

The film is ultimately as much an indictment of liberal apathy as of conservative dirty dealing, and a canonization of McKinney for her continued refusal to follow any party's party line.

Reminded me of the occasional thrill of coming upon Haring's puzzling, unsigned chalk drawings in the New York subway at the turn of the 1980s, before he made a name for himself above ground.

The film presents a compelling portrait of mental illness, but looking at Bale may make audiences feel as though they're watching a documentary.

The film finally gets into gear around the midpoint and zooms to a satisfying finish.

The Wolverine shows that, while originality would be nice, a little novelty and enthusiasm in the presentation of the familiar can be quite enough.

A thinking person’s action movie - as long as you don’t think too much. Even if it has its share of preposterous moments, it crackles with nonstop tension, combat scenes and double-crosses.

A fine, fun remake of a movie that updates, transplants and reimagines the original without sacrificing its heart or goofy charm.

Saltburn is a remarkable combination of smart and stupid. Its problem is that it’s superficially smart and deeply stupid. It’s clever and amusing in 20 different ways, but when it really matters, it descends into ridiculousness.

Charmingly offbeat in the vein of early Woody Allen.

Cube falls into the dreaded trap of allegory -- aaaaaargh! -- and the clunky dialogue makes a midnight bull session seem brilliant by comparison.

Each player in this love rhombus keeps the Martin Ritt-directed affair from scatting off into period nonsense. [01 Jul 2001]

Spike Lee is too passionate and distinctive a film maker to make a lousy movie. So although Mo' Better Blues, his latest, is a misfire, there is a personality behind every camera shot. An audience is willing to go farther down the road with Lee than with another film maker, and even when, as in this case, the road leads nowhere, it's hard to resent the trip. [03 Aug 1990, p.E1]

Never fails to be engrossing. That's because Soldini brings us vivid characters, and gets all the details right.

A quiet, introspective look at how a volatile same-sex-marriage referendum played out in Maine, presents a balanced, journalistic approach to this divisive issue, but there's no doubt who leaves the biggest impression: the opponents of gay marriage.

It all gets a little unwieldy at times, but Shooting the Mafia is far from boring. We can’t take our eyes off it, just like a photo that’s out of focus, yet somehow remains arresting.

As you enjoy the movie’s gleeful outrageousness, take a moment to appreciate the strategic sophistication of some of these bits. These scenes were well planned.

The Thursday Murder Club is solid entertainment, as sweet and sugary as one of Joyce’s irresistible cakes.

Despite some cumbersome moments, the film delivers a to-the-point message about how the sins of the parents can be visited on the children.

It tries to get by on charm, and like a lot of movies, and people who make that attempt, “Kingsman” does have charm — just not enough.

Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn is more than horrible. It should not exist. Money should never have been raised for it. The screenplay should never have been filmed. Margot Robbie shouldn’t have produced it. She certainly shouldn’t have starred in it. It’s just a terrible thing to inflict on audiences, who, after all, didn’t hurt anyone and just hoped to have a nice time.

A victory lap of a comedy film taken by a star whose talent continues to propel his career, but doesn’t seem particularly hungry.

Reitman handles the ensemble cast with Robert Altman-esque assurance. “Saturday Night” is bursting with talent and ideas, is sometimes funny, sometimes groan-worthy, sometimes full of it — and even, at times, inspired. In other words, much like a typical episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

Funny People is a true brass ring effort, a reach for excellence that takes big risks. It's 146 minutes, with a story that's more European in feeling than American.

Full of vitality and music and, at the same time, is a little wobbly, meandering and too long.

As much as Fassbender, Vikander and Rachel Weisz, the feelings of isolation, despair and self-reproach deserve top billing in The Light Between Oceans.

The Portrait of a Lady is a huge disappointment. It's a deliberately arty, overly formal exercise in emotional terrorism.

Rarely has a movie ever captured the importance of a writer’s having unbroken concentration in order to work.

Instead of a balanced film that explains the zeitgeist that is the X Games, we get a cinematic postcard that's superficial and unrealized.

The result is a genre-bending yarn, an entertaining mix of period drama and flat-out farce that should please history fans.

Occasionally, this film is funny and cute. When the family's little girl narrates, it reaches a level of humor that is ironic and endearing.

What “The Grab” doesn’t do quite well is sell its argument or weave its many disparate, admirably reported discoveries into a graspable whole.

In all, it’s a relaxed portrait of a likable fellow.

Filmmakers can’t depend on funny actors to go out there cold and bring back laughs. They have to be given funny things to do.

"Hornet's Nest" isn't the best of the three (that would be the first film, "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo"), but it's the most challenging.

Neither true believers nor newcomers to the phenomenon will be disappointed.

Its one flaw occurs when the film concocts a fake conflict between the women in an attempt to add some drama. The plot device doesn't do great damage, but it is enough to keep the film from being a hands-down four-star movie.

That the movie succeeds as thoroughly as it does -- getting deeper and creepier as it goes along -- is evidence of a far-seeing creative imagination. Nolan is a compelling new talent.

A proper labor of love profiling many of the principles involved in the making of the films, peppered with a generous helping of wonderful clips.

Garlin's directing has little pacing, and many of the borderline gags could have been salvaged with some sharper editing. And there's a shocking amount of jokes and situations that just don't work.

The Devil's Advocate is a sharp, suspenseful and completely satisfying movie.

One of the great satisfactions of Spectre is that, in addition to all the stirring action, and all the timely references to a secret organization out to steal everyone’s personal information, we get to believe in Bond as a person.

Sexy and passably entertaining, with a plot that's too clever by half.

This is a small -- if rough -- gem of a film.

Comes across as a cautionary tale.

A thorough indictment of the Bush administration's focus on Iraq.

A 98-minute elucidation of a point that's accepted within three minutes.

Accomplishes the impossible, maybe the unimaginable -- it makes golf entertaining.

To put it bluntly, Wiig and McCarthy are funny, but Kate McKinnon and Leslie Jones aren’t. McKinnon, in particular, is shockingly out of place, and she helps drag down the movie.

Still, despite Olsen and the appealing breeziness of Cumberbatch, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is what it is, a superhero extravaganza with too many fight scenes. But director Sam Raimi doesn’t overplay them, and the creative visuals keep them from becoming monotonous.

Two decades after its predecessor, Disney’s “Freakier Friday” plunges back into “legacy sequel” waters — where nostalgia keeps storylines afloat and originality barely treads water.

It’s a wild ride from beginning to end, thanks to a fearless performance from Finnish actor Elmer Back, who is a perfect match for Greenaway’s mischief.

Easily could have been mildly funny and phony but instead is really funny and true to life.

Director Sidney Lumet takes another shot at New York City police corruption in his new film, but despite some solid performances, Night Falls on Manhattan fails to deliver the passion of such Lumet classics as "Serpico" and "Prince of the City."

Taking your very small child to this movie is only a slightly better idea than a trip to "The Final Destination." With that warning out of the way, this action adventure is a big treat for more mature animation and science-fiction fans and a triumph for the young director.

By the time the women pull off their climactic stunt, the film's been undone by its ungainly mix of heavy-handed comedy and melodrama.