Yet, it's watchable -- not remotely enjoyable, but watchable.

A romantic saga that dares to ask realistic questions.

Basically, this is a really good movie until the last part, where director and co-writer Darren Lynn Bousman ruins so much so fast that you'll wonder if his actions are deliberate -- or if the studio interfered.

It works as an intriguingly offbeat character study while offering Nicolas Cage a chance to show why he used to be considered one of the top actors of his generation.

A compelling, tightly made political thriller.

A rare chance to see a major cinematic work on the big screen.

One is haunting and wonderful, one is very good, and one spoils the fun.

If this documentary never quite makes the case for the deeper artistic or cultural imprint of the Ballets Russes, it does convey its enduring presence in these dancers' lives.

Like most movies based on games, this film appears to have been quite literally doomed from the start.

As a sports drama -- a genre that's gotten entirely too much play lately -- "Dreamer" is singularly unexciting.

A film of wisdom, emotional subtlety and power.

Visuals can't fill a spiritual vacuum, and Stay remains a pretty package that's empty on the inside.

Has some hilarious moments and still succeeds in dramatic terms.

Gut-wrenching.

Powerful and depressing.

An inspirational and cautionary film.

You need not be a believer to appreciate its humor and humanity.

An often tender and revealing documentary.

Two hours of senselessness and overkill, decked out in lurid, bad-trip colors.

That gift doesn't desert him [Crowe] in Elizabethtown, but he clutters his movie with plot elements that confuse the focus, the central character and, ultimately, I suspect, Crowe himself.

High-gloss trash but compulsively watchable.

Richard Jenkins gives the standout supporting performance, worthy of Oscar consideration, as Josey's father, a miner unable to conceal his anger at his daughter for having a child out of wedlock and, now, creating dissension at his workplace.

Heart-wrenching.

Painfully sincere but tired.

An emotionally satisfying example of a genre whose sketchiness can be off-putting.

Like most films in the genre, it's sweet, sincere and predictable.

Almost satirical.

A treat for anyone who's passionate about films or who's ever wanted to learn more about them.

An entertaining slice of American political and cultural history.

The people who made this film -- particularly the ones responsible for the story and the dialogue -- should look no further when trying to understand why In Her Shoes lands with such little impact. The characters seem authentic -- until the chick-flick template distorts them.

Big, loud, glossy and entertaining.

Lots of people will leave screenings of this movie in disgust -- and laughter is the last thing they will hear on the way out.

Like its singular central character, Before the Fall stands out from the pack.

Mocks without achieving the level of good satire.

An entertaining and perceptive film with one big problem.

Very imaginative and can be enjoyed by audiences of all ages.

A triumph that goes well beyond Hoffman's tour de force performance.

The film will have to settle for a bogey rather than a par. Still, some hyperbole is warranted, like "Safest Movie to Take the Entire Family To."

The makers of Into the Blue know what the audience wants. And they deliver a little bit more.

As challenging as it must have been to pilot Joss Whedon's space opera from the TV junk pile to the big screen, the finished product is a triumph.

The message is muddled.

Richly inventive.

A heartwarming, inspirational tale.

Tries too hard to be even-handed.

An interesting film, and while it is not entirely successful (and at times most puzzling), it achieves a certain poignancy.

A slow seduction.

But for director David Cronenberg and the commitment of his actors, A History of Violence might have been a cartoony action film. Its origins are in a cartoon, of sorts -- specifically, in a graphic novel, by John Wagner and Vince Locke.

A tense, concise and elegantly shot film.

Funny and honest.

Annoyingly simplistic.

Doesn't transcend the yawner template of coming-out films.

Timeless and tragic.

A grounded and unusually matter-of-fact adaptation.

An almost screwball comedy that turns serious.

A goopy Gwyneth Paltrow movie.

It isn't smart or even very scary.

The last half is so superior to the first that you wish they'd rethought the whole thing and devised a way to make it more of a one piece.

The film is always at least mildly interesting, because international arms dealing is a fairly compelling issue, but it's never as informative as a good documentary nor as engrossing as a good narrative. It's a hybrid that's frustrating in two distinct ways.

Deliriously original.

Often amusing but lacks the necessary bite.

Dull and uninteresting.

Unpolished but entertaining.

You'll feel so much better just sending your $9.50 to the Red Cross then catching "I Know What You Did Last Summer" one more time on television.

Quietly unsettling.

A tender, gently paced coming-of-age movie whose strength is its young lead actor.

One of 2005's must-see documentaries.

Arrives in theaters today with a sheet over its head and a tag on its toe. So to speak. What we have here is a complete systemic failure, a comedy that's not funny, with action that's not thrilling.

A perfectly OK drama, with a good cast and many good scenes, but it suffers from the usual maladies that films get when they've been out on the ranch too long: all-too-obvious symbolism and a serious case of the longueurs.

Emily Rose is the thinking person's demon possession movie, which presents a chilling case history that's hard to explain away.

Has no truth, wisdom or honesty, and it's barely entertaining.

Taut and suspenseful.

Terrific.

A silly, freewheeling, candy-colored lollapalooza, but also heartfelt.

Beautiful and utterly entrancing documentary.

The love people have for this city just comes tumbling out of every part of this movie.

There is a maddening sense of dislocation through much of the movie -- a feeling that genuinely fascinating questions have been squeezed out by woo-woo philosophizing and material (like Glennie's brief return to the family farm) of only minor import.

If you can get past the impossibilities it is a fun time at the movies.

An old formula made fresh.

Less an original product than a shoddy tribute to other mediocre cop movies.

Biting and incisive.

Pretty insubstantial.

It's a love story only in passing. And yet the love story is what lingers in the mind and gives energy and meaning to everything that happens on-screen.

Filmmaker Michael Almereyda gives the most persuasive possible account of the upswing in Eggleston's critical standing.

It's the cinematic equivalent of an all-dessert meal: After the initial jolt, the lack of any real nourishment is apparent, and it becomes a struggle to stay awake.

The Cave is National Geographic mixed with Roger Corman, and by the end you'll probably be wishing you saw "Red Eye" instead.

The movie plays more like a WB network teen drama than something audiences should be expected to pay to see.

The Baxter is just an OK movie, but Showalter's performance is the gem to take from it.

Just plain bad.

This Belgian crime thriller makes compelling viewing out of a "you can't be serious" plotline.

A love story that gets the single male culture down so honestly and unapologetically that it can't help but push the boundaries of political correctness.

Favoring precision filmmaking over cheap thrills, with a vibe more Alfred Hitchcock than Freddy Krueger, Red Eye establishes two intelligent characters and lets audiences sit back and enjoy an entertaining battle of brains and wills.

Despite a decent cast of mostly British voice actors and better-than-average computer animation, the movie seems rushed at 76 minutes and is only marginally funny.

With his caustic humor, director de la Iglesia is being billed as "the next Almodovar."

Degenerates in the second half.

While there's no blood to be seen in Supercross, the film is rated PG- 13, due to some crash scenes, a little strong language and some mild sexuality. That's a shame. This movie was tailor-made for 12-year-olds.

Not sure we need to know this much about his family life.

A well-intentioned horror film that is weighted down by stellar cast members who for the most part act as if they don't want to be there.

At times, "European Gigolo" feels more like an international incident than a movie.