A delectable entertainment. [14 Mar 1983]

As producer of Goodbye Columbus and Kramer vs. Kramer, Stanley Jaffe has proved his understanding of human relationships. As a first-time director, he seems overly attentive to everyday detail. But he handles his actors with skill, evoking a beautifully sustained performance from Kate Nelligan as the mother who would not abandon hope. [07 Feb 1983]

David Mamet's lean, hard screenplay and Sidney Lumet's no-frills direction give the audience someone to root for, just like Rocky Balboa. And Paul Newman has the role of his later career. [7 Dec 1982]

There are lots of laughs in the script by Valerie Curtin and Barry Levinson, as well as wry insights into modern relationships. [20 Dec 1982]

In pants or skirts, Hoffman remains true to character, and his perplexity is real, especially when one girlfriend (Teri Garr) suspects he is a gay male, while the other (Jessica Lange) believes he is a lesbian female. Both actresses are excellent, and Miss Lange continues her promise to become a superstar of the 1980s. [27 Dec 1982]

The film has much to recommend it: great scenery, thrilling climbs, expert acting, Zinnemann's meticulous direction. But an oppressive melancholy overhangs the proceedings like an alpine mist, and the conclusion brings a feeling of hopelessness. [22 Nov 1982]

For most of the film, the non-stop action is totally involving, and Stallone gives a dynamic performance that could break him out of the Rocky groove. [11 Oct 1982]

My Favorite Year probably won't be your favorite movie this year, although actor-turned-director Richard Benjamin tries hard to provide the slapstick escapism today's recession-weary audiences supposedly crave. [27 Sep 1982]

The solution is a bit pat and anticlimactic, but it is heartening to find a movie that concerns itself with real and present social issues. [21 Oct 1982]

Mazursky lets it all run too long, by a half-hour at least, but he also offers a menu of rare delights. [27 Aug 1982]

It’s a pretty grim portrait, but even worse it is often repetitive and boring. There are probably enough powerful segments for half a dozen or so outstanding rock videos but not a full-length feature. [13 Sept 1982]

Robin Williams discards his Morkisms for a credible portrait of the fated hero, and the rest of the cast is remarkably good, especially Mary Beth Hurt as his wife, Glenn Close as his mother and John Lithgow as the transsexual former tight end of the Philadelphia Eagles. [23 July 1982]

Ridley Scott (“Alien”) has produced a new vision that is forbidding. [2 July 1982]

A marvelous mixture of genders, a blatant attack on sexual attitudes that is both challenging and hilarious. [19 Feb 1982]

Shoot the Moon is Kramer vs. Kramer without the sentiment, a hard view of post-marital strife in Marin County, Calif. [11 Jan 1982]

The talk is mostly in grunts and whoops, and the film sometimes reaches the brink of a Mel Brooks travesty, but never falls over. [18 Jan 1982]

The Border is a well-made action-adventure film enhanced by authentic settings and a superlative performance by Jack Nicholson. [08 Feb 1982]

The leads are convincingly athletic, the characters well drawn. Where director-writer Robert Towne stumbles is in his portrayal of the ritual of athletics. [4 Feb 1982]

Literal-minded moviegoers will find it easy to hate Pennies from Heaven. But those willing to go along with the device will find the film a source of constant surprise and delight. [14 Dec 1981]

The movie, like the magazine, contains a mixture of inspired graphics and hollow content. [10 Aug 1981]

But 2 1/2 hours? No way, not without a decent script and good acting. Miss Derek is supposed to be portraying Jane as a free-spirited and sensuous woman, but whenever she opens her mouth, she sounds like a spoiled child. [3 Aug 1981]

Instead of exploring new territory in the animated art, the film harks back to the tried-and-true Disney formula. The result is sentimental, predictable and totally endearing. [27 July 1981]

THE GREAT MUPPET CAPER is Miss Piggy's finest hour. Anyone not yet entranced by the Muppet mystique will be snared by this movie... A delight -- a tribute to the imaginative genius of Jim Henson and his team of Muppet manipulators. [29 June 1981]

Unlike previous documentaries, this one focuses on the star's life more than his music and gives the best hints yet of why Presley's skyrocket ride to stardom led him to self-destruct. [11 May 1981]

Frenchman Louis Malle is an accomplished interpreter of the dreams and dilusions of American smalltimers. He draws first-rate performances from the cast, especially Lancaster as the burned-out hood and Sarandon as the single-minded survivor. [13 Apr 1981]

CUTTER AND BONE can't decide whether to be a buddy movie, a menage-a-trois drama, or a murder movie, and hence fails at all three. Too bad, because Czech-born Ivan Passer has an obvious talent for creating mood and atmosphere.

The film sets the tone for the slapstick martial-arts style that Chan would hone over the years. [01 Apr 2002]

Tess is as rewarding a film as you'll encounter all season. It has a veracity to its period that matches Tom Jones and a pictorial beauty that is breathtaking. [29 Dec 1980]