Marvin leavened his sociopathy with a hint of little boy naivete or innocence -- Gibson is merely a frequently funny thug. {5 February 1999, Life, p. 11E]

August Strindberg's psychological drama of erotic class conflict gets a bracing, claustrophobic workout from director Mike Figgis.

Dr. Dolittle does do a lot of stuff right. [ 26 June 1998, p. 12 E]

The result isn't pretentious, but is the tongue-in-cheeking ever slight. The murders are treated as jokes, there's a horror-motif rock video, and Harry dodges enough bullets with Patricia Clarkson to arm Sands of Iwo Jima. [13 Jul 1988, p.1D]

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.

The young Pigeon turks who no doubt think they've made a hip black comedy should be forced to see it in a theater of non-sycophants, where only an occasional exasperated exhale signifies the audience isn't dead yet. [25 Sept 1998]

The very rich are different from you and me. And much worse. That's basically the message of the disappointingly banal Nanny Diaries, a film that is even more lightweight and clichéd than the fluff that was the best-selling book.

Tries rather feebly to examine complex questions of morality. It does a better job of capturing a sense of shattering grief, but it gets too caught up in plot contrivances and coincidences to be believable.

The best romantic comedies intoxicate like vintage champagne. Picture Perfect, on the other hand, is like a wine spritzer. Insubstantial and oversweet, it still refreshes as a midsummer brain cooler. [1 August 1997, p. 3D]

Someone in Hollywood ought to speak for the trees, and The Lorax does it with verve and vibrancy.

At its worst, Toy Soldiers is just an action variation on the old Rooney- Garland musicals - you know, let's-get-a-buncha-kids-together-and-put-on-a-counterinsurgency. At its best, it's surprisingly bearable for a movie so easily typed. [26 Apr 1991, p.4D]

A plethora of beats drop but little else of note — musical or otherwise — happens in the Zac Efron DJ fest We Are Your Friends.

In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, director Stephen Daldry must walk a tricky line between poignancy and pathos. He occasionally slips into maudlin turf.

What undercuts sharper than Poseidon's trident is a script that sees its characters as cardboard, not flesh and blood. For a film meant to be spectacle over substance, it's not a fatal blow. But it is a mortal wound.

Instead of hip, though, Tank Girl is prefab and purified, a calculated cult attraction. It's Danger by Mattel, and Petty, in her ripped stockings and torpedo bra, is a cyber-Barbie. This is one chick flick that at least has bite. Too bad its teeth are false. [3 Apr 1995, p.4D]

Singh brings cheeky humor, an eccentric sensibility and an enchanting look to his re-imagined tale.

Far too familiar.

Designed to be a date movie, Rules could have stronger male appeal than many comedies of its ilk.

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.

Knoxville is functional only when the movie needs a bravura comic performance, but The Ringer is easy enough to take.

The movie is a clunky, noisy contraption. Director Jon Turteltaub piles on gadgets and devices in the hopes we'll be dazzled enough to miss the story's lack of coherence and charm.

This movie is a howler as well -- possibly even intentionally -- but if it is a black comedy, the joke is overextended by far too many arms and legs. [19 March 1999, Life, p. 13E]

It's breezy stuff, to be sure. And while English is far from becoming the Pink Panther for the Facebook generation, Atkinson has a breezy rapport with junior Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya) that's reminiscent of Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau and his relationship with sidekick Kato.

Kafka is in glorious black and white, except for an extended color sequence near the end that recalls the visual transition in "The Wizard of Oz." The comparison is even more apropos: This middling pigmentary stunt has a lot of smoke and mirrors, a lot of mood, and too much put-on wizardry at its center. [4 Dec. 1991, p.5D]

Next Day Air can't decide whether it's a broad stoner comedy or a gritty Tarantino-esque action flick. The humor is there, but violence brings the laughter to an abrupt halt.

You, Me and Dupree is a good idea badly executed.

A dreamy homage to old-school Hollywood as well as a haunting, female-driven psychological thriller with deep mystery and satisfying twists

A gentler adjunct to the dumb-buddy craze that's mostly inoffensive, save for a gratuitous bong-smoking scene. [31 Mar 1995, p.4D]

Every once in a while in Airheads, there's a perfect out-there moment that will strike a feedback-warped chord with diehard heavy-metal fans. [5 Aug 1994, p.4D]

Recalls the pumped-up energy of "Pump Up the Volume," as well as its casting prowess.

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.

Plausibility aside, the key to making the scenario work is comedy. Much can be forgiven if it delivers enough laughs. That's the main problem here. It's short on clever humor and big on convention and formula.

The cartoonish mayhem in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For aims for a film noir sensibility, but too frequently the script simply resorts to anachronistic scenes of Jessica Alba twerking.

How Do You Know must have started with a good idea that got lost in the translation from concept to screen.

For better or worse, but surely satisfying novelty needs, Jerry Bruckheimer's King Arthur is set much earlier than usual and against the crumbling Roman Empire, which may even (or not) be historically legitimate.

This warm-weather variation on the original, once again set in a small Minnesota town, is in dire need of Geritol. Or a dose of ginseng. Or Ex-Lax. Anything to get things moving faster than this turgid replay. [22 Dec 1995, p.3D]

The filmmakers behind the "Saw" franchise must love to see a movie like Hostel: Part II. Compared to this Eli Roth fetish video, the "Saw" films are Oscar bait.

A mix of slow-burn religious mystery and old-school adventure that egregiously fails to utilize its greatest hit: Bonnie Aarons’ terrifyingly freaky villainess of the cloth.

The adults fare best. Leonard and Enos have more electricity than the teens do. And the best performance is a low-key, authentic one by Stacy Keach as Mia's grandfather.

You may enjoy One Night -- but you may feel guilty about it in the morning.

A potent psychological thriller bolstered by strong performances and an offbeat sense of humor. What renders it an unsettling cut above many thrillers is the casting of Johnny Depp in the lead.

Imagine what would happen if Andy of Mayberry transferred to New Mexico, adopted Barney Fife's delusions of trigger-happy grandeur and went undercover for the federal government. That's the gist of White Sands, an intriguing but muddled game of cross and double-cross...For the first 10 minutes or so, this thriller directed by Roger Donaldson (No Way Out) is a knockout. [24 Apr 1992, p.4D]

Feels about as fresh and lively as a piece of burnt rubber.

Michelle Pfeiffer has made a lot of memorable movies, including many that undeservedly failed to connect with the public. Never, until Dangerous Minds, has she had to flail her way through a movie beyond all redemption, including even the prehistoric "Grease 2". [11 Aug 1995, Pg.04.D]

There is nothing objectionable in this family film, but it doesn't seem to appreciate the intelligence and savvy of its youthful audience. Kids can spot a silly stereotypical character as fast as the rest of us.

Sitting through the turgid and tedious S&M melodrama that is Fifty Shades of Grey may feel like its own form of torture.

Douglas prances and chants with crimson-haired tribesmen who look like they were styled by Dennis Rodman. He talks a good game. (Why does he kill? "Because I've got a gift.") But he is trapped by the same undernourished script as the rest of the cast. Secondary characters are fleshed out so little, they should simply wear labels that say "kitty snacks." [11 Oct 1996]

Hardy is half of why Capone works. The other is Trank, the wunderkind whose nuanced 2012 superhero movie “Chronicle” showcased tons of potential that then was questioned with the disastrous “Fantastic Four” and the loss of a “Star Wars” film in its aftermath.

Ron Howard has taken an intriguing page-turner of a story and re-shaped it into a bloated wannabe epic.

Give this to Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins: The dogs can act.

Overproduced and essentially charmless.

Everyone is well cast and no one more perfectly than Freeman, who is far more God-like than George Burns ever was. Freeman's God is wise, humble, wry, patient and funny but never mean-spirited.

Woody Allen is good for his funniest screen romp in a while, thanks to a few evenly spaced standout scenes of laugh-out-loud intensity.

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

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."

While “Folie à Deux” embraces a heightened, even cartoonish quality in continuing the story of Phoenix’s troubled soul, Phillips really misses a chance to go full musical and do something truly different. Just dipping its toes in that genre, with those strong performers, is enough to drive you mad.

A movie about a teen party gone horribly wrong, would be every parent's worst nightmare if it weren't so inane.

There is a blessed dearth of dialogue, but much of it is unintentionally hilarious.

Ultimately, Beerfest plays like a party that's gone on too long, when the buzz has worn off and the hangover starts to set in.

The Break-Up is not comical or romantic, and it's certainly not a date movie. Sitting through it is almost as painful as going through the demise of a relationship.

It's a quintessential movie hybrid: a romantic thriller with exciting high-speed chases, brisk comedy and exotic scenery.

Fashioning a hybrid of a courtroom drama and a horror film that is suspenseful and scary requires a clear vision and directorial finesse. Rose lacks both. But the performances are topnotch.

A breath of fresh air amid the superheroes, aliens and bombastic explosions of summer.

There’s a refreshing whiff of whimsy and playful originality to writer/director John Krasinski’s big-hearted fantasy.

The movie is repetitious in some ways and superficial in others. But though Penn doesn't always seem to know where he's going, his movie doesn't altogether miss its destination. [15 Nov 1995, Pg.05.D]

Connery fares better as a medicine man here than he did in Medicine Man; but Beresford was a better director in Africa with 1991's Mister Johnson. [09 Sep 1994, p.8D]

Full of love, Spaceballs is full of laughs; after 13 years of screen disappointments, Brooks has almost delivered another Young Frankenstein. May the box office be with it. [24 Jun 1987, p.1D]

Tolerably tepid.

Sure, take the young'uns. But don't be surprised if movie time turns into nap time. [6 July 1990]

Perhaps there's a legion of 10 and unders who don't know The Bad News Bears from the Care Bears. If so, they're the likeliest candidates to sit through this junior-high Slap Shot, a peewee- hockey riff on the sports-underdogs-make-good scenario. [02 Oct 1992, p.4D]

The music is the uncontested highlight of El Cantante.

Yes, yes, it's Liar Liar 2.

Storywise, it’s a solid if overlong tale of family and redemption – fans of “Yellowstone” or “Horizon” will find stuff to love. Where “Rust” stands out is in its look, a gorgeously shot production with an emphasis on contrasts and dark colors that’s a testament to the talents of Hutchins and fellow cinematographer Bianca Cline.

Makes one long for Martin's edgy work in films such as "The Spanish Prisoner."

Though not as engaging as "Knocked Up," there is enough humor to keeps us entertained.

Thinking isn't going to do anyone a bit of good during Blue Streak. Turn off your brain instead and you might enjoy it.

It's an innocuous, occasionally cute movie made watchable by the appealing Mandy Moore and hunky Matthew Goode, a Brit who has a bit of Hugh Grant charm in an otherwise silly role.

Clumsier hands could have planted this load of pungent sap and come up with sticky fingers. But the creators of this based-on-truth fable carefully cultivate the material so it comes off fresher than it sounds.

It borrows from "Animal House," "Back to School," "Old School" and other superior films, leaning less into crudeness and more into female-centric laughs, but offers some sweet moments and a few enjoyably zany characters.

This is a perfectly pleasant, entertaining and often witty romp with engaging performances.

Though it's not worth doing cartwheels over, Flipped is a pleasantly nostalgic and well-intentioned family movie featuring strong performances by its young actors.

A blanket indictment like this has to be either satirically trenchant or a roundhouse punch to the gut. Tom Matthews' script takes a mushy middle ground, and the result seems less mad than just a bit addled or hacked off. [07Nov1997 Pg08.D]

'Burbs is a messy mix of Gremlins, Neighbors, Rear Window and Arsenic and Old Lace. [17 Feb 1989, p.6D]

A badly constructed, blood-spattered caper that comes unglued early on.

Rascals is as painful as a grade-school play without your kid in it. The end-credit outtakes at least indicate Spheeris suffered through it as well. [05 Aug 1994, p.4D]

Even by today's standards, some scenes are jaw-dropping in their bloodshed. To that end, Lurie accomplishes some of what Peckinpah evoked 40 years ago.

Give Binder credit for addressing racial divides even if not as profoundly as one would hope.

Like a lava lamp turned on high, Joe Versus the Volcano glows with originality. Go bask in it. [9 Mar 1990, p.4D]

Were some group to launch a rival to the Oscars called The Wackys, it could do worse than make crazed Crazy its first recipient.

The ending stinks.

One has to wonder about the mind-set of a middle-aged filmmaker who repeatedly seeks out material about amoral and promiscuous teenagers with little to say.

Rather than being a fascinating exploration of a much more constrained time in our social history, the film simply feels anachronistic.

The name is a tipoff: Club Dread is dreadful.

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]

The dialogue is clichéd and laughable. It's a film far more concerned with style - architectural, vehicular and wardrobe-related - than substance.

If not for Sienna Miller's engaging portrayal of Edie Sedgwick, Factory Girl would have little to offer.

Woody, please: Go back to the European locales that so energized you of late.

Why would a distributor suddenly yank an animated family film from its intended wide December opening until mid-January? Could it be that the advance word of mouth wasn't very good-winked?