Heckerling stoops to the obvious at times and there are two car chases too many. But Look Who's Talking never insults the intelligence of adults or babies, and that's quite a feat for any comedy. [13 Oct 1989, p.4D]

Jojo Moyes adapted her own best-selling book, which helps give Me Before You a singular inviting vibe instead of feeling like "The Fault in Our Stars 2."

Overflows with pretensions and absurdity.

It’s an all-star swing that doesn’t totally connect, and is not even the most interesting variation on a theme here. Fortunately, the movie’s fresh-faced protagonist is likable enough to forgive its bumps and bruises.

It's gratifying to see a comedy can have no redeeming social value yet be full of hearty laughs.

Ben Affleck brings needed nuance to old-fashioned brains and brawn as an action hero with high-functioning autism in The Accountant.

While not quite as subversive and refreshing as the first “Trolls,” “World Tour” offers endless cuteness, an impressive voice cast and just enough depth for grownups and children alike to chew on.

Often ponderous, sometimes pretentious and mostly clichéd, this contrived meditation on longing and loss feels like a missed opportunity.

White Bird in a Blizzard is blank, pale and flat when it needs to be probing and suspenseful.

Let the killjoys squawk. Lucas has proved he has the Naboos to pull it off again. And again. And again.

A kernel of cleverness lurks in Popcorn. But it's the kind that sticks in your throat. [01 Feb 1991, p.5D]

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.

Between the dogged efforts of the kids to save strays and the antics of the dogs, it's hard to resist this lively, though predictable, family movie.

Even within the most formulaic of genres, this Cinderella tale is uncommonly predictable.

The documentary is enjoyable, though it could have been edited more tightly. The ending, in which three of the contest participants write and perform a catchy pop song, is buoyantly fun.

There isn't any kind of dance you can compare to Robert Duvall's latest as an actor/director, though a slo-mo minuet might come close.

Most Ender's fans, of course, won't care about comparisons and consider the film adaptation a long-awaited victory in itself. Those fresh to the tale — or at least expecting something fresh from it — may wonder what the fuss was about.

An instant merit barometer of any farce this contrived is the creativity in and conviction of the exposition. It takes an empty half-hour just to get Goldberg into the convent, and even then the payoff is mild. [29 May 1992, p.5D]

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.

As spent screen series go, Star Trek: Nemesis is even more suggestive of a 65th class reunion mixer where only eight surviving members show up -- and there's nothing to drink.

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

The action starts with a bang, but deteriorates and grows more absurd as the story strays farther from the LAPD call center.

As it is, this uneven movie is more a compilation of contemporary images and concerns peppered with derivative raucous scenarios, à la Judd Apatow movies, than an involving romantic comedy.

Leave it to a wimpy kid to show Hollywood how to make a family movie with live people in it.

This unconventional psychological drama weaves a fascinating tale, and Collette and Williams give two of the summer's best performances.

Lovelace is a lackluster, skin-deep biopic.

The events of those days would have been better covered in greater depth in a miniseries, rather than a 90-minute movie.

Though the project, based on the Edgar Rice Burroughs novel "A Princess of Mars," is ambitious, it's also bloated, dreary and humorless.