It's a tart trifle, but in the madding crowd of year-end movies, Tamara Drewe rocks.

If not for Blunt's solid performance and good support from Friend and others, The Young Victoria would not be worth the price of the ticket.

The Road has the signposts of an important film, but it lacks the diversions of an inviting trip.

If you’ve been wondering how Washington really works, this film is required viewing.

A serviceable behind-the-scenes tour documentary with about as much insight as a talk-show monologue.

This debut film is fun, and everyone involved can proudly declare, “Honey, I shrunk the Marvel Cinematic Universe.”

Although it doesn’t make a lick of sense as a stand-alone story, Mockingjay — Part 1 is the first “Hunger Games” movie with meat on its bones.

Where to Invade Next isn’t his funniest documentary, but it may be his most poignant.

Gunn exhorts the audience to embrace the quirky, the messy, the flawed, to strive for connection, not precision in this world and beyond. It’s a resonant message at the center of all the din.

Based on a true story, Crown Heights is a predictable but moving story of friendship and perseverance. Writer-director Matt Ruskin elicits strong performances that go a long way toward compensating for the film’s often languid pace.

The Hedgehog sneaks up on you with its heartfelt storytelling and sophisticated wit.

This is rich material that Moretti mines for both superficial absurdity and deep pathos.

Despite its flaws, Little Odessa haunts the memory. [30 June 1995, p.3G]

The iconic actor may be too gruff for sainthood, but Murray still retains a secret stash of soul.

ALTHOUGH deranged baby sitters have become standard suspense thriller fodder, The Hand That Rocks the Cradle offers a few chills despite its hard-to-swallow premise and tedious, predictable ending. [9 Jan 1992, p.5E]

The four leading actresses give memorable portrayals, all worth watching. The message, of the universal necessity of love and human kindness, is certainly important. But as a total movie experience, Fried Green Tomatoes gives way to sentimentality and calculated tear-jerking. [28 Jan 1992, p.4D]

The funniest movie of the year.

Everything you would want in a summer action-suspense movie - and just a little bit more. The movie delivers enough thrills to satisfy all but the most hard-core adrenaline addicts. And several touches, especially the lead performance of Harrison Ford, elevate this film above the standard summer suspense offerings.[9 June 1992, p.4D]

Raises more questions than it can answer in its travelogue format. It's because the premise is so intriguing and the drama is so compelling that the result is so confounding.

Although Ready Player One is nowhere near as memorable as “Jaws” or “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” it demonstrates that the director is fully capable of adapting to the times. What the film lacks in substance, it makes up for in style.

There is much to like about this film, good performances and writing, enough true laughs for the comedy label and enough true love to keep the romance fans happy. To top it all off, the soundtrack uses Tony Bennett and Frank Sinatra at all the right moments. Try to leave this movie without humming one of the tunes on the way home. [29 July 1994, p.5F]

Like Ernest Borgnine, Philip Seymour Hoffman is an unconventional leading man with an Oscar on his mantle, and his bittersweet Jack Goes Boating has elicited comparisons with "Marty."

With the broad satiric hands of Christopher Guest and Michael McKean as two of the screenplay authors (Michael Varhol is the other), and Guest as director, there are overtones of This Is Spinal Tap, although the final result is less successful. The spoof of Hollywood manners, morals, talent and success hits with some real humor. [15 Dec 1989, p.3F]

In his best performance since “The Social Network,” Eisenberg is perfectly cast as the neurotic Bobby. But the film truly belongs to Stewart, who brings to Vonnie a haunting luminousness.

Presented as a stand-alone film, but without an explanation for the protagonist’s physical and emotional injuries, it’s a head-scratcher. As with Joe’s sexual compulsion, scratching can’t cure the itch.

The movie falters because Waters' screenplay is too shallow and brief to provide sufficient underpinning. [15 Apr 1994, p.3D]

It's not quite up to, or maybe down to, the level of the first two movies. But the movie rolls to a wildly funny climax at the Oscar presentations, where Drebin is mistaken for Phil Donahue. Surely, there are enough belly laughs and knee slaps to make this film worth your time. And stop calling me Shirley. [23 Mar 1994, p.6F]

We need to have a dialogue about the wages of war in the remote-control era. But it’s hard to spark a good dialogue with movies whose dialogue is so bad.