French Exit isn’t without its pleasures; but you watch it dreaming of the movie it might have been.

The plot tries too hard to incorporate elements that drift toward melodrama.

Contrived but sassy, silly but fresh, British director Michael Caton-Jones' first American film is almost too sweet to be believed, but just cheeky enough to be enjoyable in an undemanding way. [02 Aug 1991, p.21]

An outrageously dark comedy that defies death, laughs at funerals, and lends a whole new meaning to the phrase maintaining one's appearance. [31 July 1992, p.3]

Though I’d have preferred Fast X to have a little more driving and a little less fighting, and was disappointed to realize that the film’s climactic moment is pretty much in the trailer, this movie is good, silly popcorn fun — with a couple of scenes at the end (stay put during the first half of the credits) indicating even better times ahead.

It’s predictable — throughout the film, I kept thinking that I’d seen it before — and a bit sentimental, yet thoroughly pleasant.

There’s a lot to like in The Running Man, so it’s all the more disappointing that its most interesting elements get such short shrift. As a humorous action film, it’s an enjoyable experience. As a social commentary on a dystopian America, it mostly just trips over itself.

The movie jerks tears shamelessly, it smugly mocks the political and fashion trends of the early 1970s, its characters make no sense at all, and it even makes fun of senility. [27 Nov 1991, p.C1]

Unlike the cheapie late-1970s Mexican exploitation movie Survive!, this sobering account of a 1972 Andes plane crash has a spiritual quality that makes the tougher aspects of the story easier to handle. [15 Jan 1993, p.16]

While the perpetually charming Lawrence isn’t the worst habit a filmmaker can develop, she’s valiantly miscast here in a story that never quite hits its mark.

The film is a loving tribute from a son to a father figure, but perhaps Deen is too close to the story to have much perspective on it. We’ve seen this story before and Brave the Dark doesn’t shed new light.

The movie murmurs, when it — and others — should be shouting.

There are moments in Love Affair that take your breath away, sending you back to a time when class and discretion were the movie rule, and not the rarefied exception. [21 Oct 1994, p.H36]

[Martin Campbell's] a master at rejuvenating tired warhorses, and he pulls it off again with this one.

So consistently unexciting, so monumentally unconvincing, so silly. [28 Sept 1990, p.22]

With a ruthlessly pared-down approach and compelling performer in Dynevor, who carries the film effortlessly, “Inheritance” is a throwback thriller that hearkens to the retro days of the Y2K era. And while its style eclipses its substance, it’s the style that makes this cinematic curio worth watching.

This Wuthering Heights is a mess, but an occasionally irresistible one.

It’s an undeniably fun picture but rather too self-impressed. It’s Ritchie at his limited best.

The script’s weaknesses are difficult to ignore.

Spirals into a twisted, unsettling finale that'll have you either rewinding several times or relinquishing your deposit to stomp on the tape. [31 Oct 1999]

Clifford the Big Red Dog has a decidedly innocent throwback appeal.

The film distinguishes itself by what it lacks: simple, unrealistic answers to Perry’s regrets and the hole in his soul. His path to authenticity might not lead back to glory days, but contentment is closer than he thinks.

Unfortunately, Money Monster, though perfectly competent, is one of those movies that promises more than it delivers.

Yesterday offers no answers or explanations. It presents its idea and runs — and you either buy it or you don’t.

The biggest, baddest, berserkest Purge so far.

Even with that major miscue, Nancy Drew and the Hidden Staircase works well for its target audience. It shows that anyone can stand up to peer pressure, bullying or even a ghost if they are smart and strong enough. As for the mystery of how good the movie is, the case is closed on a positive note.

Turned out much better than one might have hoped, especially when the emphasis is off the chimp and focuses on the monkeys running the fictional UBC network, where most of the action takes place. [09 Nov 1995, p.G39]

Ultimately there's more guilt than pleasure to be found in The Craft. [03 May 1996]