There Be Dragons is tethered to the earth by a tangled plot, wooden acting and the heavy burden of healing old wounds.

Although the film begins promisingly, it proves to be little more than a soap opera.

Elijah Wood Jr. is excellent as a boy who goes looking for a new father and mother. A fairly amusing, very light fantasy from Rob Reiner. [14 Aug 1994, p.14C]

Sadly, The Last Song is badly out of tune with real filmmaking.

Annie is not a great movie musical — but it’s a fun time at the movies.

Surprise — this bad dream is for real.

That can’t disguise the script’s complete lack of wit or originality, though, or the generally wooden acting.

The plot of Jade is so ridiculous, its dialogue so dreary, that nothing can save it - not seriously talented actors, not a revered director, not $ 40 million worth of movie-making muscle. [13 Oct 1995, p.3E]

In Hollywood, it’s all about the concept, and some studio executive must have thought it would be fun to watch Adams slogging around in the Irish mud. Unfortunately, there’s no accounting for taste.

On a scale of 1 ("Men in Tights") to 10 ("Naked Gun"), I'd give "Fatal Instinct" about a 5. [31 Oct 1993, p.9C]

Kevin Kline roars through The January Man as a character who is a mirror image of the one he played in A Fish Called Wanda. This time, he's uncommonly bright but still marches to a very different drummer. But while Wanda was bright and slick and very funny, January is as leaden as the month, and not very funny. [13 Jan 1989, p.5G]

Because the affable Wahlberg is making the sales pitch, you could kid yourself that this is just a high-tech vacuum cleaner, built to siphon loose change like popcorn. But our failure to understand the terrifying significance of the “Transformers” series is why we're in the age of extinction.

As cop comedies go, Ride Along 2 gets the job done.

Dream a Little Dream is so murky and convoluted that it just comes off as being tired. [10 March 1989, p.3F]

FOR ABOUT a half-hour, Troop Beverly Hills brings a lot of funny situations and funny lines. Then it's time to finish the popcorn and settle down for a nap. [24 March 1989, p.3F]

If Repo Men could have sustained its ghoulish humor, it might have been a guilty pleasure.

For the hour or so it’s on screen it’s a harmless, little chiller that doesn’t scare much but serves as a holdover until something truly scary comes along.

Even by the standards of light entertainment, This Means War is meaningless.

In matters of personal taste, there is no right or wrong, so if erasing brain cells is your idea of a good time, That's My Boy could be your cup of turpentine.

The story is inane, the characters generate little sympathy and director Howard Deutch never gets this movie up to a decent running speed. [22 Jun 1994, p.5F]

This world is divided between the makers and the takers, and after just a few minutes of Red Dawn, you'll realize there's not much more you can take.

Twenty or 25 minutes of good air-action sequences, otherwise dull. [17 Jun 1990, p.7F]

As usual for the comedies he produces, Sandler keeps pooping in the sandbox, and he expects the audience to give him a cookie for it. It’s a shame that he forces Barrymore to get soiled too.

This action comedy, with not much of either, was written and directed by George Gallo, who wrote a much better movie in "Midnight Run." It's an original, but it seems like a remake. [02 Dec 1994, p.3F]

Most. Depressing. Christmas. Movie. Ever.

The trailers for the Reese Witherspoon-Sofia Vergara comedy Hot Pursuit hint at a movie that’s unfunny, insufferable and obvious. You can’t say you weren’t warned.

While the plot is as flimsy as a hooker's halter top, it's buoyed by two actors with attitude and timing.

Formulaic serial-killer crapola.