Benton and novelist Russo are particularly good at bringing out the grit and grace of small towns, where concern for one's neighbors and sheer nosiness are two sides of the same coin. But above all, Nobody's Fool is another triumph for one of our greatest and most enduring movie actors. [13 Jan 1995, p.3E]

PRESUMABLY this zombie flick is supposed to be funny, since it's about as scary as "Little Women." [18 Jan 1995, p.6F]

Ready to Wear is loads of fun, witty and audacious, but you have to be on your toes to follow a serpentine script (by Altman and Barbara Shulgasser) that cleverly interweaves 10 or 12 plot lines. [24 Dec 1994, p.3F]

Fred Schepisi directs smoothly, from a script by Andy Breckman that has some clever lines and notions but could have used a little tinkering. [23 Dec 1994, p.3F]

The Jungle Book is, in a sense, a movie for children, but it is one that adults should love as well. [23 Dec 1994, p.3F]

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]

Fitfully, someone will say or do something very funny, but much of the time passes in a rather laborious way. This movie should have been a lot better than it is. [27 Nov 1994, p.9C]

Be prepared to think, talk and no doubt argue about the movie after seeing it. Is that what Mamet intended? Maybe, but does that make it worthwhile? [11 Nov 1994, p.3E]

Given the mood of so many of today's movies, it might be a pleasure to see an old-fashioned love story. But I think movie-goers have changed, and the peculiar coincidences, the large plot holes and the absurdity of so much of the story line combine to make the story more silly than sentimental, more ridiculous than riveting, more foolish than fulfilling, more maudlin than anything else. [21 Oct 1994, p.3G]

The River Wild is an exhilarating thriller, and Streep is memorable as a former whitewater river guide who has to summon up all of her old skills to save her life and the lives of her husband (David Straithairn) and son (Joseph Mazzello). [30 Sep 1994, p.3G]

This droll, leisurely paced movie might alternately be titled "The Only Good Man in Africa." [09 Sep 1994, p.3F]

Fresh is a brilliant first feature by young writer-director Boaz Yakin. It works superbly on at least three levels: as a portrait of the sad toll that ghetto life takes on promising children, as a story of the tenacious moral bonds that can hold a family together, and as a down and dirty thriller. [02 Sep 1994, p.3H]

A competent but hardly exhilarating crime flick that is definitely not for the squeamish. [07 Oct 1994, p.3G]

This summer's first really bad major movie has finally arrived, and it's time to celebrate. There's been a lot of mediocrity, but until Color of Night there'd been nothing deeply rotten on the grand scale of "Last Action Hero" or "Hudson Hawk." [19 Aug 1994, p.9F]

Kids between the ages of 5 and 10 probably will enjoy this one, and there isn't much (some mild bathroom humor) that parents will find terribly objectionable, except its stupidity. [12 Aug 1994, p.3H]

Eat Drink Man Woman is a piquant delight. [02 Sep 1994, p.3H]

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]

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]

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]

The movie is a little too long, and sinks briefly into the doldrums when it turns overly serious in the last half hour or so. But Little Big League recovers nicely, and the ending is terrific. This is one of the few recent movies that parents and children would enjoy together. [03 Jul 1994, p.16C]

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]

The movie goes on a little too long, partly because of one of those we're-not-finished-yet second endings that seem obligatory these days. But, as mindless comedy, the movie is highly entertaining. [10 June 1994, p.3H]

Reeves seems less blissed out than conked out, as if he had sustained a heavy blow from a loose surfboard. [27 May 1994, p.3H]

Like so many great stories, Maverick should belong in memory, because taking it to the big screen again is a major disappointment. [20 May 1994, p.3E]

Despite a solid cast and a few interesting visual moments, Surviving the Game is just a routine action picture. [21 Apr 1994, p.5G]

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

A sexy, edgily funny suspense film set in a small Western town, could be a symbol of the plight and the tenacity of independent American film makers. [22 July 1994, p.3F]

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]