Ender’s Game is a blandly sanitized spectacle.

As a testament to traditions that are usually kept hidden from Hollywood, Holy Rollers is a mitzvah. But as a thriller, it's bubkes.

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]

While it's both too crude and too commercial to be mistaken for journalism, the good news is that the headliners deliver.

Though the situation is far from realistic, the dynamically directed and swiftly paced Marry Me remains emotionally grounded, which is crucial to the execution.

Pasek and Paul’s songs end up having to do much of the emotional heavy lifting, and the rest of the film feels cobbled together from random parts scavenged from other kids’ movies and pop culture ephemera.

The most grievous sins here are sins of omission.

The movie inspired theater critic Judith Newmark to write a sonnet in response.

ROMEO Is Bleeding is an interesting mess. A very self-conscious contemporary take on the film noir genre, it is so dark (both photographically and psychologically) and derivative that at times it seems like a parody. [2 March 1994, p.6F]

The libido and bloodlust flowing from the pint-size Page is the funniest thing in the movie, but elsewhere, the mix of the goofy and ghastly is hard to digest.

The result is a movie with a lot of hysterically funny lines (including a nod to St. Louis) shooting through the banal, timeworn plot, relieved occasionally by a well-wrought sketch. Director Steven Spielberg tries to stir this mixture, but it's just too flour-y. [22 Dec. 1989, p3F]

Call it "On the Lakefront." Or "Pretty-Good Fellas."

The movie falters once in a while, but Williams, whose frenetic pace had to drive the cinematographers crazy, is again impressive. There are serious moments in and around the comedy, and the comedy is delightful. [18 May 1990, p.3F]

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

The best thing you could say about Happy Feet Two is that it doesn't have any product placements or potty jokes. Other than that, this charmless Antarctic cartoon is what it looks like when hell freezes over.

The movie has a hallucinatory intensity that is skillfully mixed with light-comic relief and straight-faced farce. It never takes itself too seriously, and never veers too far in the other direction by surrendering to self-parody. [01 Jul 1994, p.3D]

Crowe is effectively restrained in his acting, but in his debut as a director, he overdoes the manipulative music and the pretty images from cinematographer Andrew Lesnie.

A foul-mouthed comedy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. "Bad Santa" (2003) also had plenty of crude language and lewd behavior. The difference is, "Bad Santa" was extremely funny.

Closed Circuit is not a tense thriller about the new era of surveillance — it's a tepid thriller about the old notion that no leader can be trusted.

In the end, the movie is still a poetic injustice.

Hit and Run isn't a catastrophe, but it leaves loose ends and a more adventurous map by the side of the winding road.

Page is outstanding as a young woman who has finally found happiness, only to see it cruelly slipping away.

The word that sums up the essence of this movie is "frustrating."

Painfully dumb. [21 Feb 1989, p.5D]

Whereas "Chill" attempted to define a generation, "Lies" is more of a statement about the nature and limits of friendship.

The animation is not as sharp as Disney's efforts and the songs are only average, but kids will enjoy it. [07 Jun 1998, p.C6]

This convoluted tale of a U.S. Treasury agent (Wesley Snipes) looking for the rats who killed one of his partners simmers along fairly well for about 45 minutes and then gets all lukewarm and fuzzy. [21 Apr 1993, p.6F]

When a film is based on history, especially a moment in history that almost everyone knows, a built-in major problem is that there is no tension for the climactic scenes. To make it successful, the writer and director must find other places to insert drama, to create tension, to give viewers the unexpected. Maybe Roland Joffe forgot. [24 Oct 1989, p.3D]