The film, actually, is a little like Reeves himself: It starts promisingly and trails off into indistinctness and mystery.

Unfortunately, Stuart Baird's direction is so sluggish and Jim and John Thomas' script so padded that Executive Decision has no build. Instead of focusing on the mechanics of suspense, the film concentrates to a boyish extent on mechanics, period.

Call Jane doesn’t depict a radical transformation, just a deepening. And Banks makes it worth watching.

Mature, thoughtful and occasionally dazzling.

Set It Off blends action and urban drama effectively, but at times isn't sure which foot to lead with.

Director Anthony Fabian lets the story sell itself, and it does so partly on the strength of the lead performance by Sophie Okonedo.

A superior sports movie, dealing honestly with a great American story.

Caruso, a very visual director, serves up some surprises and scares, and he's paced his movie briskly. You're out of this disturbing suburbia before you know it, shaken and even stirred.

The slow pace kills the sense of urgency, and the length and breadth of the film makes the story seem insignificant. Tarantino is still someone to watch, but Jackie Brown, before it's over, becomes a who-cares proposition.

Eventually comes into its own as a wacky commentary on the state of America in the fifth year of the Iraq war.

Despite some gruesome brutality, Totally Killer has a very light-on-its-feet quality. But as artificial entertainment goes, this one’s put together with ruthless care.

A sympathetic look at what it's like to be a Brazilian transsexual prostitute working in Milan.

This is harmless fun for the kindergarten crowd, but even they will notice that the "Blustery Day" video they've been playing at home is a lot better.

Everything comes up forced and predictable in the nostalgic overload of bongs, Top 40 rock and boys' bluster about sex.

While Stearns’ style is detached and clinical, he finds tender humanity in unexpected places.

What's particularly weird about Godzilla is that for long stretches, all it shows is destruction.

At heart, all documentaries aim to be important films. Few actually pull it off. Minor flaws and all, Jesus Camp is among the year's most important films, if only because it forces us to learn about an America we seldom see and seldom want to see.

A quirky but surprisingly lighthearted dark comedy.

If you ask too many questions about Jacob's Ladder, you're likely to burst the bubble. For all its emotional sizzle and spit, it leaves you hanging. Yet the ride to Lyne's middle-of-nowhere is almost worth it. [2 Nov 1990, p.E1]

The movie is an ideal blend of character study, deceptively simple plot twists, inspired acting, and travelogue.

The hardest thing to describe is tone, but it's the thing that most sets Killer Joe apart and makes it one of the most interesting and satisfying movies of the year so far.

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.

A wistful romance with metaphysical overtones, the movie is warm and charming. [10 Jul 1992, p.D1]

Dead Man plays a lot of cards at the same time, and Jarmusch occasionally loses his rhythm when he allows his actors their improvisational riffs.

Polanski attempts a precarious mixture of drama and comedy here -- seesawing between a serious look at sexual obsession on the one hand and an antic, spoofy tone on the other. It's a bold risk, but it rarely works because we usually don't know if Polanski is being intentionally funny, or merely inept. [25 Mar 1994, p.C3]

The film does have enough visual interest and occasional revelation to allow it to limp with dignity to its conclusion.

A smart and unsettling atmospheric thriller.

With “Young Woman and the Sea,” Gertrude “Trudy” Ederle finally gets the movie she deserves.