By contrast, other Hornby screen adaptations are "About a Boy" and "High Fidelity"- superb comedies both and, in Fidelity's case, a treatise on male obsession with far more depth and even more laughs.

Hustle's approach to a simple good-vs.-evil plot is eccentrically exuberant.

Occasionally very funny, the picture tends to coast on its cosmetics. A first-rate script might have made it a twisted masterpiece.

The plot progression can be guessed early on, but the film is more about humor and heart than a clever story.

A succession of tired race jokes made worse by the bad comedic timing of the bland, under-talented Ashton Kutcher.

But even by the dull standards of movies so far this year, it seems mighty piffling.

Sporadically amusing but sometimes slogging.

Parents and kids should be heartened to see a G-rated movie that is not dumbed-down or saccharine-sweet. Rather, it's subtly inspiring.

Watts has proven herself a Lady of the Rings, but twice is enough. No burning need for a trilogy.

Smart, satisfying and compact but so modest in scale that only true-blue fans will sense - immediately - that it's Woody Allen's best outing in many years.

Hostage is really about sleek Bruce - buff, bald and clean-shaven - as he goes to town on two sets of assailants.

The voice talent behind Robots reads like a who's who of comic actors...But too much reliance is placed on their star power and not enough on an interesting and fresh idea.

The primary upside to The Upside of Anger is the presence of Joan Allen in the lead role.

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.

Boorman's troubles usually come from going over the top (atop Exorcist II, there's always Zardoz). But this is one of his few misfires that almost anyone would call tepid.

Despite a cast and production that seem to promise one of the year's first movies of any note, Cool never translates its promo-photo flashiness into authenticity on screen.

The Jacket is a confused attempt at headiness that feels like a poor man's "Memento."

Low on Diesel fuel, though probably amusing enough if you're part of the intended demographic, which appears to be the age group that likes to stick fingers up noses.

An endearing, occasionally sentimental story told with depth and substance.

While the jokes are obvious and the romance formulaic, a good-natured sensibility saves the film from being too hokey. The individual parts may not work, but the sum remains entertaining.

A sweet, family-friendly retelling of a touching and funny Newbery Award-winning children's book.

Couldn't be murkier or less emotionally involving if it were "The Matrix 8," a natural observation because Keanu Reeves stars in both.

Icky and incompetent (special effects aside) in equal parts, this groaner makes 1994's "The Mask" look like something you'd study in a film graduate course at NYU.

Powerfully disturbing.

A Hollywood take on a Bollywood movie. But the Bollywood portions - echoing over-the-top Indian movie musicals - are far more entertaining than the Hollywood segments.

For much of its length, the premise seems less wilted than you'd guess. This is because, for one thing, Mendes gives as good as she gets.

Inside Deep Throat, an NC-17 documentary that deftly chronicles the fallout -- with about 15 seconds of hard-core footage -- has some surprise credits.

A charmingly sweet experience.

The movie goes wrong from the start.

Buddy movies are a Hollywood staple, but Rory O'Shea Was Here puts a new and profoundly affecting spin on the tired genre.

There's not a cliché that isn't nailed.

Not worth the ride.

Serviceable, occasionally compelling but often formulaic.

2-1/4 hours of MTV-produced tough love, with a dance break and pool party to relieve -- momentarily -- a series of motivational rants from lead Samuel L. Jackson.

Her (Garner) grace and mystical abilities make for a lonely burden, and we are supposed to feel her pain. Instead, we feel our own for having to sit through this silly movie.

Almost everyone in this has done better, and those who haven't, like young Ms. Panettiere, have plenty of time to do so.

An enchantingly beautiful and moving film.

White Noise is the celluloid equivalent of a bad cell phone connection.

Gives Dennis Quaid one of his best screen showcases.

Given the story's focus on religion and the intolerance that still rages in today's world, The Merchant of Venice remains deeply meaningful.

Even in the junky potboilers that John Travolta has persisted in making since his "Pulp Fiction" comeback (all 5,000 of them), you usually get the sense that he's acting in his bailiwick.

Even if audiences can get by the tasteless shock title, it's tough to figure who will ever watch this movie - even when it's on cable.

It's a silly good time, and that's something these days.

Scotsman Gerard Butler does a fine job as the charismatic, ghostly character.

Emerges as an African version of "Schindler's List."

Despite the film's sporadic lulls, both director and star are on full beam. The first and third hours of this 20th-century epic are as dazzling as big-scale movies get.

A visually arresting and entertaining romp, but it lacks some of the sardonic humor of the popular children's books on which the movie is based.

The one movie families search for every Christmas for an outing, the way "Something's Gotta Give" was last year and "Jerry Maguire" was in 1996.

There's nothing like dumbing down a movie grown-ups love so it can be "sold" to teens who aren't going to go anyway. The savvy flyer will proceed to the gate marked The "Aviator" instead.

Spacey's brazen casting isn't as beyond the pale as it ought to be. In fact, it's hard to imagine this strange and only occasionally successful movie without him.

A monumentally moving experience, from the powerful acting by Javier Bardem to the evocative music, composed by the director, Alejandro Amenábar.

As good as "Unforgiven." Or, to put it another way, as good as any movie Eastwood has ever directed.

At the rate things are going, all of Hollywood will put in about a day's work on "Ocean's Seventeen."

Nothing but attitude.

Kris Kristofferson, as a scaled-down old gray mentor to Blade, still looks like the visual equivalent of your five worst college hangovers.

As inspiring as the story wants to be, its real drama is mired around the edges, where we get a sense of what it is really like to be born into a brothel.

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.

A long movie that almost wears out its 21/4-hour welcome, yet it's full of surprises.

A movie that has neither dramatic focus nor a single memorable performance, aside from one or two that are memorable for the wrong reasons?

For a comedian (Allen) who often seems to be calling it in, he's more lackluster than usual. Curtis is a bigger disappointment, especially after "Freaky Friday," in which she was funny, smart and cheeky.

Ten minutes into the picture, you're searching the screen for life-support machines.

SpongeBob barely rates as OK when compared with "The Incredibles."

The movie grows progressively more routine in quarter-hour increments, eventually collapsing under the weight of its own insignificance.

The story is told gently and simply without excess sentimentality. It is a welcome departure from more contrived holiday fare.

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.

Linney is a match for Neeson, and the only thing that might keep Lithgow from getting a supporting-Oscar nomination is the brevity of the part.

Simple and evocative, yet teeming with intriguing visual effects.

Though he's highly irresponsible, this Alfie is not quite a calculating heel, which makes the material go down easier while blunting the point.

One of the year's most clever and visually arresting computer-animated films, enlivened by a well-developed and credible cast of characters who just happen to be superheroes.

Ray could not have been made without star Jamie Foxx.

Becomes exceedingly disgusting when it wallows in the psychological torture of a child, a no-no under any circumstances.

Birth presents an intriguing premise about death and the possibility of rebirth in an elegant, melancholy and deliberate fashion.

A suspense thriller that intelligently explores the ideal of lasting love.

This is a building-block movie: Its stand-out excellence becomes apparent only gradually.

At least the horror premise here has a hook - a house can spread its curse like a plague to adversely affect all who enter.

Some screwball moments elicit a chuckle or two, but the script is weak and the characterizations clichéd.

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.

When Team America works, it falls squarely into the category of guilty pleasure.

Do yourself a favor and rent the 1996 original from Japan instead.

Bening takes a complex, sometimes cloying character and makes her sympathetic - all the while pulling off a British accent with seeming ease. She single-handedly makes the movie worth seeing.

Linney remains a full-blooded character so memorable that she's worth watching - even in a less-than-memorable movie.

This is the kind of people-driven story that the movies used to give us - before special effects took over.

One of the best football movies ever, Nights in the end celebrates the game.

Actor John Corbett, so clean-cut in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Raising Helen," goes surprisingly scruffy here as someone who apparently studied music under Grizzly Adams.

A bittersweet relationship drama with enough honest emotion and gentle humor to move even the steeliest heart.

Beauty is about two-thirds the serious-edged romp it would like to be, which still leaves a lot of room for tony fun.

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

There has been a need for a big-screen feature about firefighter heroics since Sept. 11, but as drama, Ladder 49 falls short of even the second rung.

Story is everything and Shark's is rather thin and soupy, despite the winning improvisational skills of stars Will Smith and Jack Black.

What emerges is part screwball comedy, absurdist farce, social satire and earnest self-exploration. If it had the unwavering focus and clear-eyed vision of Russell's previous two features, I Heart Huckabees might have been brilliant.

Offers a compelling portrait of human tragedy and the journey to redemption.

Viewers who like clean storytelling may not be happy. Those who savor ironic wrap-ups will be.

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

All this dreary movie has is a terrible whodunit payoff.

More coming-of-age story than biopic, this Guevara odyssey is a transformative adventure well worth watching.

Mr. 3000 isn't nearly as fun as an afternoon of America's Pastime.

Bettany is the best thing about the movie. A wonderful dramatic actor, he also proves to be richly skilled at romantic comedy, playing Peter with an easy grace and a droll sense of humor.

Worse, the story is so thin and clichéd, it seems as if a computer wrote the screenplay and a robot directed it.