The troupe's first film in more than a decade, is a more aggressively absurd antidote to what it calls "a hard, cynical world." Happily, it works.

Despite the crass book promotion, the overlong film is harmless romantic fun that's well played.

A lot like video games and candy: light entertainment but fun while it lasts.

Good Time is not so much a crime drama as it is a meditation on the genre’s virtues and limitations.

Webb delivers a film that’s somewhat derivative, but succeeds as a welcome alternative to superhero extravaganzas.

This very male and methodical movie is like the anti-“Gravity,” as the un-moored hero is quietly in control of his options and at peace with his possible failure.

It breaks no new ground, offers no ingenious plot twist and makes no unique character insights. But who cares when the movie is so much fun. [02 June 1992, p.4D]

This Swedish sensation is a magic trick that jolts the murder-mystery genre back to life.

While the movie sometimes seems like faux Fincher, the symbiotic acting, artful imagery and punchline ending turn True Story into credible entertainment.

Marley is thus a valuable history project but not a definitive or analytical one. For that, we await a film that's less "One Love" and more "Stir It Up."

Few mainstream movies, let alone disability dramas, are so frank about sexual mechanics, yet notwithstanding the nudity, The Sessions isn't voyeuristic or sleazy.

Monkey Kingdom tugs our heartstrings to the top of the trees. With a lot of patience, and perhaps a little trickery, directors Mark Linfield and Alastair Fothergill have produced a simian “Cinderella.”

In the context of confounded expectations, director Maxime Giroux may have intended the what’s-next ending to be ironic.

Mistress America doesn’t quite achieve the magic of “Frances Ha.” But it’s a fresh take on the comic possibilities of friendship among the young.

The acting is solid, but the story sags from time to time, and it's very predictable, though when it's funny, it's very funny. [21 Nov 1992, p.7D]

Although Tomboy is as tightly constructed as a short story and as seemingly straightforward as a documentary, the parable about a small fib that grows out of control is so rooted in the rich soil of sexual identity that it entangles us.

A good nature film - and a great technical achievement.

A bit undernourished to fit into the crown of a comedy classic. But the sharp wit, soft-focus cinematography and slow-motion lyricism lift it into the realm of this summer’s nicest surprises.

Arthur Christmas stays sweet without becoming overly sentimental and is filled with sly details and smart action sequences.

The documentary offers undercooked subplots about Gruber’s mostly Hispanic staff and his romance with a health-conscious Catholic acupuncturist, but Deli Man is best when it sticks to the menu.

But even without world-class smarts or amusing mutations, the next generation of “Jurassic” is an enjoyable ride.

How could you not marvel at a movie that includes a revisionist explanation of the JFK assassination, a football stadium floating over the White House and the sight of Richard Nixon firing a .45 at a villain in a Christ-figure pose?

Littman avoids excess, just as she does throughout this gripping, moving, terribly unpleasant--and yet valuable--motion pictures. [25 Nov 1983, p.5E]

An engaging comedy-drama that avoids becoming too much of a tearjerker.

The Messenger is the debut film of writer and director Oren Moverman, but it's worldly wise, with two well-rounded characters.

The been-there, done-that nature of the plot doesn't take away from the undeniable sweetness found in Just Wright.

Gibney is as dramatic a storyteller as the Hollywood directors with whom he competes for our attention, and he employs a big bag of tricks.

A fanciful French cousin to Allen's "Zelig" and "The Purple Rose of Cairo," yet the fulfilled wish for a better life is high-concept absurdity without high-anxiety guffaws.