It's hard not to be charmed by scenes like the one in which Briggs gives his posies a little pep talk, assuring them that just because they sprouted behind prison walls doesn't mean they can't compete with those hoity-toity flowers at Hampton Court.

Characters find themselves in absurdly complicated situations, but respond with sardonic cool rather than hot-blooded hysteria.

Delivers some powerful emotional wallops alongside the chopsticks-up-the-nose violence, and manages the remarkable feat of making venerable American genre conventions seem eerily alien.

While the film delivers some sharp dialogue, overall it's soft and slightly unfocused.

Ever hear of a rock musical that actually rocked? John Cameron Mitchell's glorious adaptation of his acclaimed Off-Broadway show might be a first.

This mordantly funny, emotionally piquant depiction of post-adolescent angst also has its roots in the graphic novel format.

While kids of all ages will want to see it, the movie is loud and occasionally brutal, and while the body count is relatively low, it's still pretty scary stuff.

As a piece of cinematic art, this meandering, shambolic film isn't much to speak of, but as a time capsule, it's priceless.

With its dream cast, standard story and heaps of class, this is the kind of sophisticated heist flick that could be just as easily at home in 1951 as it is in 2001.

The film's a trifle, but a beautifully crafted one.

Witherspoon turns in yet another stellar, nuanced comic performance.

Unpleasant stuff, and Clark pounces on the material with his usual relish and a discomfiting combination of moralizing and prurience.

Beautifully filmed, but extremely painful examination of the African slave trade takes a difficult position: Rather than focusing on the white European superstructure, Ivory Coast director Roger Gnoan M'bala focuses on African complicity in the capture and selling of African people.

The movie exists only as a showcase for the animation technology known as hyperReal, a photo-realistic simulation of space, figure and movement that hopes to one day erase the line between animation and live action once and for all.

Sometimes seems as noisy and unrefined as Jean himself. But it has just as much heart, and builds up to rousingly "Rocky"-like climax.

The story is formulaic, but this brutal, fast-paced thriller makes excellent use of Li's martial arts prowess.

The fact that this is somebody's real-life story up on there the screen doesn't necessarily guarantee it's an especially fresh story.

This sleepyheaded atmosphere, augmented by the languid songs of Lou Reed and Arab Strap, hangs so heavily over the film that the viewer is lulled into a state dangerously close to unconsciousness.

Piper Perabo is a revelation -- and Barton is maturing into a sensitive, subtle performer with a marvelously expressive face.

Delightful mix of swinging '60s style, road movie conventions and age-old romantic comedy tropes that coasts along on little more than charm, and does it delightfully.

Inconsistency of tone and internal logic plagues the film throughout.

A satisfying hatchet job on the spooky -- or as the Wayans see it, kooky -- world of supernatural pictures.

This underrrated shocker has developed a cult following since its scattershot 1973 release, but deserves a wider one.

For most of its running time, this lunatic euro-thriller is creepy, stylish and occasionally suspenseful.

As a visual counterpart to some of the most sublime verse ever written, it's often thrilling.

It's amusing more often than it isn't, largely because the cast is so nonchalant and, well, French about everything.

Acouple of well-earned laughs but ultimately overstays its welcome.

Numbingly predictable.