This very brave bio is an imposing disappointment, just like Cobb. [02 Dec 1994, p.2D]

It's a thoroughly family-friendly film, with a subtle message about the importance of father figures. Don't expect anything resembling believability, but enjoy the blend of strikingly colorful visuals and banter between odd couple Johnson and Caine, which combine for a mild escapist treat.

Hanks invokes gravitas, deep introspection and even sly wit as Sullenberger, yet the one thing he can’t make up for is the distinct lack of onscreen danger in what could be considered a decently tame disaster film.

The movie is shrewd by giving the bulk of its piggish dialogue to Alexander, an actor incapable of projecting genuine cruelty on screen.

Satirical comedy, battlefield brutality and personal tragedy mix yet never completely gel in Napoleon, a biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the mercurial title character.

The early going -- say, an hour -- is spent in a fatigued daze. A few powerful jabs eventually punch things up.

It's a run-of-the-mill cop thriller but also a gripping family drama. It is in the moments spent untangling the threads of troubled relationships that the movie is at its best.

The major flaw, the clash of acting styles, is at least fascinating to observe. [14 May 1999, Life, p.8E]

James Coburn plays father in what may be the best performance of his career. [30 December 1998, Life, p.3D]

For all its inconsistencies, this is Smith's most provocative outing yet and certainly the toughest to forget.

Though the plot ends up taking some potentially compelling twists, its telling always feels manipulative.

In a year full of talking-animal hits, Sing isn't quite as strong a number. It's a tale that might not be particularly thought-provoking but sure is toe-tapping.

Far too familiar.

Both embracing and deconstructing the genre, "Materialists" is a well-acted affair with three A-list leads – Johnson, Chris Evans and Pedro Pascal – and while certainly thoughtful, the film's strengths are upended by a mood-murdering melancholy.

Given the chilling mood Bruckner strikes and dark corners he unearths, horror fans will want to spend some time in this Night House even if it’s not worth a long-term investment.

A surprisingly funny, female-driven romp — as long as you don't question too many plot particulars.

Restless is a self-consciously quirky coming-of-age tale that's essentially a teenage hipster "Love Story."

First they marched, then they tap-danced. Now they ride the waves on souped-up boards. It really doesn't matter what stunts they try to pull off: Who can resist an animated mockumentary in the style of "This Is Spinal Tap" starring the black-and-white big birds of the moment?

Various spycraft tropes litter director Tom Harper’s globetrotting narrative, though Gadot’s charm offensive and her character’s righteous fervor help counter the film’s wilder plot swings.

Ivan Passer directs with the kind of objective integrity that's rare today, but the script doesn't jell. [14 July 1989, p.3D]

There are some notable oddballs in the filmmaking debut of performance artist Miranda July, whose lead performance in this Sundance winner for "originality" is the most appealing thing about it.

Director Iain Softley employs intriguing camera angles to heighten some of the suspense. It's too bad the movie goes over the top and falls apart in the last third.

Ifans is convincingly world-weary as the earl who prefers writing sonnets to the pageantry of court life. Anonymous aims to be epic but is closer to stately soap opera.

It's hard to rationalize the vision of this dotty elderly woman with the tough-minded politician. The story lacks insight, glosses over key political issues and is unworthy of Streep's masterful performance.

A daring movie in today's current climate - one likely to be remembered at year's end. [18 Oct 1989]

With the exception of her Russian accent, which seems more like an underwhelming audition for a Boris and Natasha cartoon, Lawrence fits the role like a new pair of pointe shoes.

The Village emerges as a victim of its own ambitions. At one point, Edward advises Ivy: "Do your very best not to scream." That doesn't require much restraint on our part.

Serviceable, occasionally compelling but often formulaic.

Has a couple of emotionally resonant scenes that build on the first two story lines. But it lacks the intriguing moody quality of the previous films. The mutants are more pumped up and angry this time, rather than misunderstood and conflicted.

Despite its flaws, Shutter Island is worth seeing for the palpably nightmarish and gothic world conceived by Scorsese

Rather than being a massive foul-up, Artemis Fowl is a sufficient spycraft fantasy that could benefit from the inevitable sequel, and Gad proves once again to be the Mouse House’s Dwayne Johnson, a rock-solid personality who makes everything around him better.

The story doesn't exactly startle with surprises and has a tendency to hammer and rehammer its points.

The movie's best moments are between Banderas and the kids. When the plot shifts to reveal the students' back stories (one has a prostitute mother, another a drunken father), the story becomes a melodramatic rehash of other movies, like "Fame" or "Rent."

With moments of mind-bending creepiness, the film has potential, but eventually it devolves into merely a head-scratcher.

To Gibson's credit, Face's essential hokiness doesn't sink in until later. Let's hope, though, the Mel Man has flushed this scarface stuff out of his system. [25 Aug 1993, p.3D]

Seeing this movie won't get you into MIT, but it's passable fun.

Fast-paced, imaginative and often cute, Shorts is slight but enjoyable family fare.

It's a shame that by its conclusion the movie feels like just another special-effects-driven story.

For those who like their spoofs silly and their cartoonish gore vivid, Shaun offers some amusement.

There’s also a relentless darkness in "Soldado" that some fans of the original will love, but the inherent idealism of Blunt’s Macer is missed: When everybody's a shade of bad, it begs for any sort of normal protagonist.

Because De Niro's performance is aptly ''Scorsese-aggressive'' while Crystal effectively underplays, one can easily sit through this bottom-line disappointment with a smile painted on, waiting for belly laughs that rarely come. [5 Mar 1999]

Director Clark Johnson has an energetic style of filmmaking and a facile way with stunts and chase sequences. The result is a fairly stylish action thriller. We've seen plenty of suspense films in which a seemingly good guy is framed, so it helps when a director can pull off a few cinematic tricks to keep audiences on their toes.

Things will not be a big concession-stand movie because the floating heart is our introduction to a cottage industry we hope won't catch on. It is dirtier than pretty, yet Frears finds beauty in the telling.

While the story is not as mythic or fanciful as it seeks to be, its predictability is trumped by the film's beauty.

Pure nonsense is hard to sustain for an entire feature-length movie.

For such a clumsy and (I'll bet) likely-to-be-panned comedy, Her Alibi has its moments - more, certainly, than its painfully silly trailer suggests. [3 Feb 1989, p.4D]

Amelia goes airborne but never fully soars.

Director Joss Whedon knows how to make a wryly funny, action-packed extravaganza, as he proved with 2012's "The Avengers." So why did he overstuff the 2½-hour sequel?

Fortunately, Games' finale is lively enough to keep viewers from cursing on the way out; there's a monsoon, a speedboat chase, a fire, explosion, the usual. Yet does it really exceed action genre expectations? Not really. Even enthusiasts may exit Red October's sequel feeling a little blue. [5 June 1992, p.4D]

Made gripping almost single-handedly by Blanchett's superlative performance.

Kasdan hasn't lost his touch at gathering terrific ensemble casts, although the performances are uneven.

Crisp craftsmanship has fashioned a great day at the movies from the worst day of Ralph Kramden's life. [10 Jun 1994 Pg. 01.D]

PCU is less a blatant ripoff of Animal House than a fond homage. This '90s update on campus life never reaches that landmark comedy's inspired heights (or depths, as it were) of anarchy. It also could use a waggle or two of John Belushi's bushily subversive eyebrows....But actor Hart Bochner's directing debut - aided by zippy camerawork - still offers a laugh-propelled good time while tweaking political correctness gone amok at Port Chester University (PCU). [29 Apr 1994, p.5D]

If anything, Grant seems to be getting funnier, and he now has the ability to elevate material the way another Grant -- Cary -- did.

Instead of scoring belly laughs, there's a run on randy guy banter between Duchovny and Jones.

A gifted cast was bogged down by a treacly tale.

Melodramatic and gritty Filly Brown marks the debut of a magnetic screen presence in Gina Rodriguez, as well as the final performance of singer Jenni Rivera, who died in a plane crash in December.

An unusual walk down the aisle.

Only a smattering of the potential is realized in this tolerable disappointment, which is so unworthy of getting angry about that it will still become a knee-jerk hit.

Oblivion is a slick spectacle — seeing the humorless but ultra-fit Tom Cruise wrestle with himself might be worth the price of admission alone.

A further dose of "been there/done that."

Has its moments -- and almost as many subplots.

The Grand is in the grand tradition of Christopher Guest "mockumentary" comedy satires: Its greatest asset is its eclectic, quirky-funny cast.

It's a chick flick with a likable premise.

Yet the film's most serious flaw (next to a newly concocted fizz-out ending) is that it's not sinister enough. [30 Jun 1993 Pg. 01.D]

If Mel Brooks were to team up with Tim Burton, the result might be something like the loony and colorfully tantalizing animated film Igor.

One of those movies that makes for a fantastic trailer. Much beyond that can feel like repeat viewing.

Blues (hard-) boils down to a question of style in a movie spring when style is at a premium. I'm glad it exists, I wish it were better, and there'll be plenty of readers who think I've under- and overrated it. [20 Apr 1990, p.4D]

Give Anderson credit for at least sustaining a mood. This is the kind of all-or-nothing movie in which a filmmaker probably can't waver from his tone.

Johansson is not Allen's new Diane Keaton. She's closer to Mariel Hemingway -- though even Allen couldn't attempt to pull off a romance between his septuagenarian self and a girl in college.

Vaughn could have used an editor, but Wild West still is a romp with a likable bunch.

A more sure-footed shoot-'em-up that finds some heart, wit and perhaps enough momentum to spawn a formidable action franchise.

Here's Jackie Chan playing twins separated at birth, though not as separated as English is from the actors' lip movements in this silly, speedy, wretched dubbed action goof. [16 April 1999, Life, p.8E]

The longer the movie goes, the more its 133 minutes prove wearing. The story tries to develop a love angle between Jackman and Janssen, but it doesn't begin to take. And the finale is particularly weak.

Broderick has the film's most clever lines, but Snow is quite funny and is convincing as an innocent lured by the promise of easy money.

Predicating an escapist romantic comedy on a realistic tragedy requires a nimble touch at the helm. Perhaps if Life had been made by, say, James Brooks, it would have worked.

The movie feels like a long-form version of the popular Nickelodeon cartoon series on which it's based, which probably won't bother Arnold fans.

The Lost City isn’t a bad movie, and it’s sufficiently ridiculous for those seeking a gonzo escape with A-listers. You're just left wanting in general, be it extra Pitt or more ribaldry.

Casts a potent spell.

Sometimes it's the most remarkable and heroic figures whom movies can't seem to get right. Such is the case with Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, a biopic that is more dutiful than illuminating.

While the ingredients are there to make a tense and compelling post-9/11 thriller, Rendition falls flat.

My One and Only has an old-fashioned sensibility -- and some lovely Mad Men-style costumes -- making for a pleasantly diverting road movie.

Nolte has his moments and is the reason to see the film, but he won't quite be the fait accompli shoo-in once Tides' Oscar panhandling begins. [24 Dec 1991, p.1D]

The story lacks honesty. For a film about the real problem of mental illness, it never feels authentic. Depression is not something neatly tied up. If this is meant as an allegory, it's vague and unconvincing.

Schneider, with his cherub curls and scrawny physique, adopts a pussycat persona that engenders goodwill.

With its fanciful razzle-dazzle, Rise of the Guardians is appealing, if slightly hectic, family fare.

Though the film is titled Hitchcock and ostensibly centers on the legendary director, we get a better sense of the women around him than the enigmatic filmmaker.

Mostly, Harold is a guilty pleasure that retains the anarchic charms of the original.

It's hampered by a listless quality and a one-note performance by porn-star-turned-actress Sasha Grey.

The true story of the recordbreaking Secretariat is pretty stupendous as is. It didn't need schmaltzing up.

Taken does have a few things going for it. At the top of that short list is Liam Neeson in the starring role.

Like an uneven album, the movie has some harmonious, authentically lilting moments and other off-putting ones.

The movie keeps you mildly interested all the way up to an elaborately staged final scene, yet it might give viewers the same queasy fooling-with-the-Holocaust feeling some felt for Roberto Benigni's "Life Is Beautiful."

A broad comedy and sometimes charming character study that takes a strange turn in tone and becomes a disappointing drama.

With admirable techno-savvy, the film upgrades the paranoia-propelled thriller and downloads it into the '90s. Reminiscent of a slew of films, including The Pelican Brief and The Fugitive, The Net - ploddingly directed by Irwin Winkler - is frustratingly average in almost every other respect, however. [28 July 1995, p.5D]

As holiday heartwarmers go, The Santa Clause is an amusing stocking stuffer, a sitcom-superficial novelty that jingles many of the same bells as last year's "Mrs. Doubtfire". [11 Nov 1994 Pg. 12.D]

James Cameron’s third adventure in his blockbuster sci-fi franchise, is just as cool a watch as the previous films, yet also as narratively frustrating. Endless subplots, scattershot character development and borrowed story beats backfire on “Fire and Ash,” although it does benefit from an unhinged but relatable villain whose presence keeps it interesting.

Zealots flip over Endgame.