The mystery of Nancy Drew' is how a movie can get so many things right -- particularly the inspired casting of Emma Roberts as the spunky teenage sleuth -- yet ultimately disappoint.

The film, written by Tomine, remains largely faithful to the book, which was already filled with caustic dialogue primed for a slacker movie. Yet there’s a sense that Tomine’s world has become sanitized in translation.

A time-waster that might be diversionary on a dull cross-Atlantic flight -- but only in the absence of alternatives.

[Duhmel] brings surprising nuance to an ostensibly shallow character, a guy who's not really bad, just caught up in his own celebrity.

A film with no context, it is a sporadically interesting, overlong look at the legend as she nears 70, still performing before her legions of fans.

The film is never truly funny, but it's an amusing novelty, gaining strength from smart characterizations and sly cogency about the way people are exploited under the limelight of celebrity.

In the end, Homeroom lacks impact, taken as a whole, but anyone who sees it will derive something from the experience.

The film is fun and extreme, and though in the end rather pointless, there’s a certain audacity here — a delight in extremity — that’s appealing.

Reminiscence is never not interesting, but Joy leaves a lot of the intriguing issues unsatisfactorily explored.

May be Disney's most pointedly feminist effort since "Mulan."

Automatic weapons versus shot-guns. Silly stuff, but it held my attention. [21 Oct 1989, p.C3]

Myers and Carvey bring a lot of goofy, adolescent charm to the party, but not enough to save an idea that's grown stale. [10 Dec 1993, p.C3]

If only the explanation and resolution of the action were more compelling, Dark Water might have been a thriller of the first order.

The role of Kate, a spunky but romantically unfulfilled marketing expert, seems made for Ryan. Unfortunately, Ryan no longer seems made for it.

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.

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

A decent-looking and harmless computer animated film that is notable mostly because it doesn't appear to contain a single original idea.

The King’s Daughter has a script that reads like it was written in crayon, by someone using only their thumbs. But two good performances make the film watchable: Pierce Brosnan as King Louis XIV and William Hurt as his adviser and confessor, Pere Francois de La Chaise.

Most of Last Christmas consists of watching this young woman stumble and fumble through life, and thanks to Clarke’s effortless ability to engage a viewer’s sympathy, that’s almost enough.

By the time we reach the unsatisfying cliffhanger ending, there’s little to look forward to.

Jefferson in Paris is dull, sluggish and unfocused.

The premise of The Proposal is one big cliche.

The least offensive teen movie in ages.

With most movies, the question for viewers is: Who should see it? With Project X, the most pressing issue is: Who shouldn't see it?

To be sure, Big Pharma execs make for natural movie villains these days, but this story could have used a tad more subtlety, something that was in short supply here.

As Kaiulani's story, it falls flat, having collapsed under the weight of the genre's mushier conventions. There are too many swooping violins, too many trite generalizations, too few moments that throw a light on history and turn it into art.

Although Jones and Pearce are interesting when onscreen alone, their chemistry is slightly off.

A frustrating film that feels cobbled together.