The film is undeniably energetic, with a lot of good lines written by Shores, but it descends into obvious preachiness, and from this view, the unrelenting wackiness becomes overwhelming. Still, good times are had by all.

Benigni sets out to do the impossible.

A pleasant but mild-mannered experience.

The colorful, character-rich details of Carlito's Way provide the fire and fun in Brian De Palma's latest suspense opera, which dives into a Spanish Harlem swaggering and swaying with macho and meanness. But it's a bloated picture, full of itself in the name film art. [12 Nov 1993, p.C1]

Coming-of-age schmaltz fest.

It’s a great story, but the movie has a flatness that can’t be denied. Who’d have expected a Herzog film to invoke thoughts of “Masterpiece Theater” and Merchant-Ivory productions at their most stiff and formal? I surely did not.

A touching but odd mix of live action and animation.

Comfortable, cleanly styled, easy to handle, uninventive, lacking Preston Tucker's maverick spirit. [12 Aug 1988]

"Looper,” while confusing at times, never lets the act of time travel undermine the movie’s intelligence nor the integrity of the main protagonist. By contrast, Predestination is too clever for its own good, a film that relies on schtick and gimmicks rather than honest storytelling.

Pleasant, ultimately sweet but never quite inspired.

Ultimately, The Mountain Between Us tries to pull the audience’s interest in a relationship direction. It’s a difficult task, despite two charismatic leads.

From the beginning, Midway has awkward dialogue and an atmosphere that seems a bit too 2019, but for a time, the movie’s high stakes make up for that.

Given its mad-dog subject, Cobb, starring Tommy Lee Jones as the raspy, snarling and seemingly demented Ty Cobb -- one of baseball's greatest players -- should have been a home run of a bitter, heartrending drama. Instead, this histrionic portrait of the most celebrated cur in sports history comes across like a fly ball that thuds on the ground.

It's up to Ellen Barkin to carry the movie, and she manages until the thing just becomes a dead weight. [10 May 1991, p.E1]

While the documentary does a credible job of pointing out the magnitude of the problem, it skirts the issue of what can be done about it and by whom.

Almost overcomes weak source material to become a decent film.

Those who should go near The Big Year, if not flock to it, are fans of avians, mild PG comedy and gorgeously shot travel footage dotted with humans.

Basically torture porn.

The result is schizophrenic, an uplifting film that's truly depressing, a movie about cruelty that tries to be fluffy.

Good chemistry between the lead actors and nice supporting performances help Friends With Kids survive a formulaic story and just-OK filmmaking.

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

It's a homemade protein-and-steroids smoothie of a plot, combining elements of gore, self-parody, 1990s nostalgia overload and an attempt to say something -- while actually saying absolutely nothing -- about the American dream.

The warning against actors playing with dogs or children should be expanded to include men in gorilla suits.

There is a very good movie stuck somewhere on The Thirteenth Floor trying to get out. Too bad this isn't it.

The pace is slow and the story neither takes off nor arrives anywhere.

Pokemon is over.

If you came to see two pretty girls in wedding dresses wrestle, you won't be disappointed.

The by-the-numbers film is not hard to sit through and won’t offend anybody, but its lofty, worthwhile message doesn’t feel earned.