The movie and its theme of self-acceptance has an honesty, undercut by occasional preciousness, that makes it worth seeing.

At least this movie has flashes of humor, thought nearly all come courtesy of Newman. [12 February 1999, Life, p.8E]

Rhythmically, athletically and energetically, Step Up 3D does not disappoint.

An entertaining, diverting adventure saga that offers excitement and a relatable heroine for children, and also will remind their parents of favorite classics from their own youth.

More like a serving of lukewarm treacle than savory tikka masala.

A predictable espionage thriller undercut further by loose ends left dangling, November Man is worth seeing only for Pierce Brosnan's dynamic lead performance.

Observing Zellweger as she dispenses her brand of movie magic definitely is good for what ails you.

The main lessons Jonah attempts to teach are compassion and mercy. That's an unusual -- and welcome -- message these days.

Robbins' performance as Winston is the best thing in the movie.

The thrilling stunts and hyperkinetic action scenes are the undisputed stars of this surprisingly entertaining film.

This intriguing and well-acted gender-bending story occasionally feels like "The Crying Game" meets "Looper."

Alongside familiar faces and newcomers, “Frozen Empire” rolls out a new supernatural big bad and more horror than the series has done in the past, yet it still often struggles to find freshness and recapture old magic.

co-directors Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro know their craft; of the films here, only Othello has a more trenchant visual style. [30 Apr 1992]

The Bridget Jones characters are worth revisiting. It's just too bad the story that connects them in The Edge of Reason is less fresh and clever than its predecessor.

While there are humorous and poignant moments, this angst-filled story of tender kisses, awkward dances, friends drifting apart, kindly English teachers, unrequited crushes and drug-addled partying has a nagging sense of deja vu.

With cartoon colors, loony tunes and a kitschy-coo sensibility, Earth Girls Are Easy finally lands in theaters after having distributor trouble. This close encounter under the California sun is fun, fun, fun - until its Beach Party-meets-Splash plot unravels. [12 May 1989, p.6D]

The laughs are hit and miss and the movie is ho-hummus.

If you've watched the BBC series "Planet Earth," then Earth will seem like a familiar, if stunning, global rewarming.

The flick, based on Hoover’s best-selling novel, lays it on thick alongside a lacking narrative and cringey dialogue. On the plus side, the young acting talent and a welcome lightheartedness will keep the eye-rolling to a minimum.

Eccentric and generally entertaining.

It's creepy but tinged with sarcasm and infused with silly fun.

With danger in every woods, elevator and hospital corridor, Joel Schumacher's by-rote direction will likely give audiences what they want: slick, superficial escapism with casting punch - ironically, virtues associated with the current flop I Love Trouble. To its credit, The Client moves faster and adds suspense, but ultimately seems as negligible. [20 July 1994, p.1D]

While there’s a definite “The Stepford Wives” sort of vibe, the narrative themes (which do lean timely) lack subtlety and nuance. Thankfully, Pugh keeps it watchable as a young married woman trying to keep her sanity amidst a ton of gaslighting and constant doo-wop songs.

Zwick's "Once and Again" and "Thirtysomething" portrayed emotion more honestly than many TV shows of their time. But in Love and Other Drugs, he unevenly weds the satirical and the sentimental.

Marc Rocco directs with a little more passion than one might expect from the perpetrator of 1989's dreadful Dream a Little Dream. Yet the ultimate result - respectable, but no big deal - is an odd mix of the sick and the slick. [11 Sep 1992, p.8D]

How She Move has two key assets: powerful dance sequences and an emphasis on education.

We Bought a Zoo doesn't seem to know what kind of animal it is. Is it a family melodrama, a love story, a wacky comedy, a drama about coping with grief, a feel-good film about following your dreams, or, as ads seem to indicate, a gift-wrapped animal adventure? Not surprisingly, this menagerie of genres doesn't mesh.

Annaud's epic might have worked better dramatically as a smaller, more focused picture. The best scenes simply involve Law and Harris playing sneaky professional games (less cat-and-mouse than cat-and-cat) with each other.

Time to get out your flood pants and economy-size Kleenex. Sally Field has the weepies again. But unlike the hoked-up waterworks that turned Field's Steel Magnolias into rust, Not Without My Daughter has an iron-clad plus going for it - harrowing reality. [11 Jan 1991, p.1D]

What the movie can't quite get over, no matter how hard the filmmakers try, is the story's built-in limitations.

Alice Braga plays an Army sniper uniquely familiar with jungle fighting. She is the only one of the crew who does any soul-searching to figure out why this particular group was chosen as prey.

Ron Howard's The Paper starts out as a seductively overstuffed edition with breezy stories, a diverting layout, color-packed supplements and a strong editorial viewpoint. Eventually, it becomes more like the Jumble Puzzle on page 64G. [18 March 1994, p.4D]

So fluidly visual that only a deathbed finale can flag its pace, it's the first Panavision music video to run 21/4 hours, the monotony finally sapping its staying power. [23 Dec 1996 Pg.01.D]

Tthe writer/producer/director/star’s first film in 15 years struggles with its tone and is a solid if unspectacular effort, though Beatty smartly takes a supporting role to the youngsters by playing the kookily eccentric Hughes.

If you savor movies about sleazy plea bargains and other lawyer hardballing, Death has its moments. Otherwise the latest from director Barbet Shroder is only a movie of moments - much like his last: Single White Female. [21 Apr 1995, p.7D]

A case of smart and talented people trying to jam a Cold War square into a Gulf War circle. You can feel the chafing, to say nothing of the burden this capably crafted shrug has taken on.

All the contemporary wrapping, a dizzying array of tones (from screwball humor to cornball earnestness) and endless songs by “The Greatest Showman” duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul winds up being like tinsel distracting from what works best: Will Ferrell as a determined phantom and Ryan Reynolds as his snarky Scrooge.

The Bling Ring is the cinematic equivalent of the vapid, superficial kids it features — all visual panache and minimal substance.

Huffman is a woman playing a man playing a woman, which is easily the year's most complicated turn. She does a fine, nuanced job in bringing to life a character that could have become a caricature.

Pocahontas catching us off-guard with an impromptu cartwheel isn't the knock-you-down brainstorm of Naomi Watts juggling for King Kong, but it's still deliciously inspired. Trouble is, the bit lasts two seconds, while the movie is a long "might have been" that's doomed to be buried in a flurry of strong late-year releases.

The film has its moments as a mood piece.

Mixed with the sleaze is the unexpected and occasionally inspired.

A movie just good enough to keep nurturing rooting interest as you watch it.

Thanks to fuzzy motivation, snicker-bait melodramatics and craters in logic, Calm quickly disintegrates into a might-have-been. [07 Apr 1989, p.6D]

Dolly lost a fortune and helped to all but kill the genre, yet this famed musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's The Matchmaker is more fun than its rep indicates. [15 Nov 2005, p.8D]

There's no real dazzle in Bedazzled.

Despite corny one-liners and plot developments that don't always hold water, Aquamarine rises above the flotsam filling theaters this time of year with a likable tale of friendship and charming performances.

A sweet, inspirational movie that doesn't offer any surprises, but entertains youthful audiences in a gentle, almost old-fashioned way.

The movie, lacking snap and sarcasm, fails to convey the book's tone. [16 Sep 1998, p.3D]

It’s far from perfect, but Life’s worth living for two freaky hours.

Mostly avoids being cloying but flirts with being precious. Yet Boyle is enough of a stylist to make it all passable. It's one of those films for which fans and detractors can see the others' viewpoint.

Blends humor with heart for a satisfying, if predictable, experience.

The film is slow in getting started and once it's underway it's only intermittently involving. It's also occasionally far-fetched.

Offers a bleak though thought-provoking take on relationships. The challenge for the viewer is in caring enough to become invested in characters who seem hellbent on hurting one another.

Shots is intermittently funny - but never, even on its own terms, important. [31 July 1991, p.6D]

There are explosions, double-crosses and chase sequences, but it just doesn't add up to edge-of-your-seat tension.

A lot Bourne and a little bong, the action comedy...is too earnest to be a stoner movie and too quirky to be an action flick. Therein lies the beauty of director Nima Nourizadeh’s Ultra: It exists to entertain in its own oddball universe, munchies optional.

No new ground is dug up in Good Boy, but the story is well-paced, sweet and lively, filling a void for very young filmgoers.

Alpo is served with a burrito chaser in Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Disney's fish-out-of-water comedy in which the fish is … well, read the title.

Daybreakers is entertaining, though not quite up to the standards of "28 Days Later."

Generations feels like a flimsy device to ensure Trek's earnings continue to live long and prosper. [19 Nov. 1994, p.1D]

But when material is this fragile, virtually every scene is obligated to click for the result to become something special. Ultimately, this walking and talking comes perilously close to becoming a gab-fest treadmill. [26 Jul 1996, Pg.04.D]

Chicken With Plums is not a thoroughly delectable concoction, but its exotic flavor is worth sampling.

Though 102 Dalmatians digs up little new ground and muzzles its villain, it does have a fetching sense of functional fun now and then.

As coldly calculating and infuriating as it can be, the film and its production design are stunning. But characters' actions and motivations are beyond comprehension.

Spotty and uneven, Wedding shouldn't even have the embarrassed guffaws it has, and it probably wouldn't were it not for a robust cast.

This year's warm and fuzzy Christmas movie. It's a generally winning diversion, thanks mostly to its likeable ensemble cast.

The Expendables 2 is corny, barbaric and sometimes visually murky. But humor and self-deprecating macho charm make this male pattern badness crowd-pleasing fun.

A Dangerous Method has plenty to say about sex, but it lacks much fire for it.

But in trying to break free from being Fast and Furious, “Hobbs & Shaw” forgets to maintain the balance of insanity and heart that makes the series special.

Even surly moviegoers may discover how pleasant it can be to actually like movie characters.

Shines brightest during its musical numbers.

Fans of the stars should be satisfied. Those allergic to car chases, casual killings and the phrase "Oh, s - - -!" may suffer hives. [7 April 1995, p.3D]

All three actors give it their all, but Monaghan stands out with a sexy yet oddly down-to-earth variation on the Midwest girl gone wrong, thanks partly to a dark dysfunctional family secret.

With a half-dozen characters sorting out life's woes, the pacing is a couple of beats faster than languorous — just enough to sustain one's interest.

Just Another Girl on the I.R.T. is half-a-good movie, three-quarters of a good debut, and an even better showcase for its live-wire lead performer. Even so, a protracted, then pat, wrap-up saps much of the goodwill reflected by these promising components. [23 Mar 1993, p.10D]

Sharon Stone rides into a Western dust hole bent on revenge. Gene Hackman, virtually reprising his Unforgiven heavy, gives this goofy genre-bender some authenticity. [17 Feb 1995, p.4D]

Through most of the movie, the former star of the Harry Potter movies sports an impressive set of curling ram-style protuberances that bring to mind a character in "Pan's Labyrinth."

David Oyelowo stands out as the daredevil Joe "Lightning" Little, the unit's best flier. With his bravery and bravado, he's the film's most complex character.

Though the movie trails off unsatisfyingly, it raises intriguing and candid, if unanswerable, questions about race relations and political correctness.

Some of the film's most illuminating scenes involve Aya's uncle, General Kajima (Toshiyuki Nishida), who schools Fellers on the sense of duty that is ingrained in Japanese culture.

Brisk, brutal and unconcerned with collateral damage, The Mechanic doesn't pave much of anything new in the assassin-for-hire genre. But when it kills, it does so with style.

Even with Burns' smoothest performance yet as a lead, Confidence is on a level with Steven Soderbergh's blah remake of "Ocean's Eleven." But because no one is expecting much, it seems a little better.

Frigid soul or not, it's the most unforgettable supernatural comedy since Brazil. Could be it's time for the Coens to drop the pretense, and embrace sci-fi head on. [11 Mar 1994, p.4D]

Engrossing up to a point, the movie ends up being another mild disappointment from a filmmaker who last put it all together with Passion Fish -- seven years and four movies ago. [04 Jun 1999]

Neeson is earnest, but this is a Foster we haven't seen before, a transformation that extends to her appearance. There's a showy aspect to her performance that raises my eyebrows, but it's a pretty good show. Better, to be sure, than the movie. [14 Dec 1994, p.1D]

Cantinflas is a nostalgic, occasionally schlocky, look at the Mexican icon. While a substantial number of scenes are heavy-handed, the actor who plays Cantinflas— Óscar Jaenada — is a standout.

Dead-on as entertaining eye candy, a bona fide guilty pleasure -- for the first hour. But the movie loses steam and the sequences that dazzled in the beginning get overshadowed by the excesses of later scenes.

Even if a lot of adults have problems following this picture 100%, look for computer-savvy teen-agers to guarantee this sometimes original but too often derivative time-killer a shelf life.

Falls flat, enlivened only by the performances of its two charismatic lead dogs. The story is heavy-handed, and the human performances are, at their worst, caricatured.

Wildly uneven collage of effects and live action is no Disney-bland vision of dreams gone bonkers. There's enough Freudian material to reupholster a thousand therapy couches.

Essentially, it boils down to familiar fare: a well-paced, entertaining, conventional action thriller where a reluctant hero saves the day.

Hollywoodland explores an intriguing bit of Hollywood history, and through the strength of its performances keeps us engaged and entertained.

It's a pleasant enough fantastical adventure, but it does feel naggingly derivative.

Though characters make some strong points, the film feels preachy and falls flat as entertainment.

The powerful two-person drama gets watered down by documentary-style footage and voice-overs. But it's worth seeing just for Weaver and LaPaglia.

Writer/director Zach Helm, who wrote "Stranger Than Fiction," achieves bursts of charm and whimsy, but not quite enough magic to elicit a consistent sense of wonderment.

Though there must be a dozen U.S. presidents who have never had a documentary made about them, the late Tupac Shakur could rate his own section in video stores, placed between "music" and "action."