Pleasant, well-acted but somewhat overlong, The Way was written and directed by Estevez, who's perhaps best known for his acting career ("The Breakfast Club").

If you'd pay to see a film called "Hotel Rwanda: Maniac Manager," you might be receptive to this mixed-message movie, but skeptics should keep one eye on the exit.

What it lacks is the human element. Charlie is more of a rat than a rascal, and instead of working hard to build and operate his robots, he's literally going through the motions.

If you want to see a great movie about a political campaign, starring the smartest heartthrob of his era, rent "The Candidate." If you want see a very good one, buy a ticket for The Ides of March.

The film catches the Mozarts' true personalities in a way that Peter Shaffer's "Amadeus" never approaches. In one scene, the siblings playfully improvise musical variations, and then joyfully rush to the clavier to write them down: There is the essence of Mozart.

This affable comedy is a healthy alternative to tearjerkers.

It does induce a few giggles like cheap champagne.

A true story of animal rescue, and it even stars the sea creature to whom it happened. But it's the humans who do the cutesy tricks that make it a mixed blessing.

Although you don't have to be a sports fan to enjoy it, Moneyball is one of the best baseball movies imaginable.

Struggles heroically, but unsuccessfully, to strike a balance between whimsy and pathos.

Offers an inside look at Iran in all its cultural complexity.

Like its main character, I Don't Know How She Does It tries to do everything, but it doesn't quite succeed.

This film might easily have settled for mocking religion. Instead, it's a fascinating glimpse into a culture that forces some people to choose between fitting in and opting out.

More damaging is Lurie's conspicuous "red state" rant, as he makes sure that every prominent guy in this film - save for the screenwriter and the black sheriff - fits all of the Southern stereotypes. That doesn't make it a bad movie, just one that is something less than Peckinpah's original.

As Refn is riffing on thriller cliches, he gets solid support from the ensemble. Brooks, a comedic standout since the '70s, makes a sympathetic villain, and Gosling stokes the young-Brando comparisons - instead of settling for Richard Gere.

Doesn't rise to classic status, but it's an intriguing mood piece.

Starts out so promisingly that it's a huge disappointment when it ultimately becomes way too predictable - and unbelievable. It's as if "Raging Bull" suddenly morphed into "Rocky."

A documentary that clearly aspires to the highest standards of cinematic muckraking but makes for a frustrating experience.

The Tree might have suffered from too much symbolism if not for writer-director Julie Bertuccelli's deft touch and Gainsbourg's appealing performance.

Sitting through A Good Old Fashioned Orgy is like being monopolized by the most irritating person at a really boring party.

With such supercharged material under the hood, a magnetic man behind the wheel and a nimble director manning the pits, Senna is simply the greatest sports film I have ever seen.

The Debt eventually settles into a predictable groove that slightly undercuts its impact. Still, it's a film of ambition and substance.

Neither as magic nor as trippy as the culture quake that it documents, but it's a valuable flashback and a pleasurable contact high.

It's hard to imagine a better movie about corporate-sanctioned sex trafficking than The Whistleblower. But whether you're ready to confront this true story is a trickier question.

Our Idiot Brother is smart entertainment.

Like its neo-noir kin across the pond, The Guard is violent, profane and funny. But McDonagh is interested in more than mockery.

Put aside any hang-ups you may have about subtitles. As action flicks go, Point Blank is right on target.

Despite the oddly literate title, Vincent Wants to Sea never deviates from the predictable bonding-through-misadventure script, and it has little to teach us about the nature and treatment of the traveler's respective maladies.