It's too loose and casual, all too willing to trade the writer's trademark wit and literary mischief for slapstick comedy.

Assembling this vehicle for his young clients, music producer/manager/video director Christopher B. Stokes has attached an anemic plot to a series of dynamic hip-hop dance sequences.

Ironically, what the comedy lacks is the sly imagination and satirical underpinnings of the best sex comedies from that (Doris Day) era. Instead, exposition is poorly executed, genuine laughs come infrequently and you quickly lose confidence that the filmmakers even understand what their basic joke is.

Factoring in Mike Eley's breathtakingly vivid photography and a virtuoso sound mix that completely envelops the viewer, it's enough to make you never again want to poke your head into the freezer.

An entertaining piece of supernatural nonsense whose sheer audacity disarms all (well, nearly all) skepticism.

With Made-Up, the sisters Adams and Shalhoub (who is married to Brooke) have taken a playfully irreverent approach to middle-age rites of passage that comes with many opportunities for the performers to self-consciously "act."

For all the work that went into the whimsical creatures and painterly palette, the voice actors more or less steal the show.

With the exception of a decent train-top chase, Torque is all vroom and no action.

Has the punch of a good Western with a clean and direct script plus an adventurous use of songs and folk paintings.

Might be a lame, formulaic comedy, but it sets up entertaining sequences cleverly designed for the talents of three of its stars and has the good sense to get out of the way and let audiences enjoy their performances.

It's a touching movie that, like the best animes, transcends the limitations of the genre.

The most damning account of the failure of the criminal justice system in America anyone is ever likely to see.

Chases romance and comedy across Europe for nearly two hours without ever quite catching either. Essentially a teenage rendition of William Wyler's immortal "Roman Holiday."

Will best be appreciated by those already familiar with the fashion world in general and Saint Laurent in particular.

While visually stylish and thematically ambitious, Secret Things is ultimately more preposterous than provocative, its vague explorations of sexual and class struggle failing to coalesce in a coherent manner.

This offbeat take on "The African Queen" stumbles on a couple of awkward transitions, but generally succeeds on the merits of Collette's unerring ability to carry the viewer along her constantly changing emotional landscape.

A wonderfully vivid and engaging theatrical experience.

A nifty science-fiction twist on the old amnesia plot where a guy spends most of a movie trying to remember what he did and why everyone is after him.

Designed to maximize the visual opportunities for Imax's cameras even as it minimizes the dramatic conflicts that make for a satisfying moviegoing experience.

A somber, often downbeat depiction of human savagery and treachery as well as of human kindness. Writer-director Anthony Minghella has meticulously crafted an intimate epic.

Thanks to Martin and Hunt, who both have a seemingly casual flair for mining laughs from even the most generic lines of dialogue, Cheaper by the Dozen works better than it might have in less capable hands, but even they're challenged by some of the picture's forced mood swings.

The film suffers from uneven acting, an over-reliance on production values and an uncertainty over how dangerous the children's adventures should be.

Challenges audiences with an unrelieved portrait of self-destruction and horrific violence. American movies don't get much grimmer than this.

First conceived as a documentary, this debut feature from Geoffrey Enthoven betrays its origins via its naturalistic, raw style and occasionally suffers from aimlessness and poor pacing.

It's a real-life story adapted into a grown-up comedy that is warm, winning and sexy. Call it "The Full Auntie."

Arguably the most conventional documentary made by Errol Morris and, perhaps equally surprising, it displays sympathy toward its subject.

Perfect holiday entertainment, albeit for those small fry who can read English subtitles.

Rote characterizations and a trite, even condescending, attitude toward that era's misguided mores robs the film of the satiric punch Todd Haynes delivered in "Far From Heaven."