A minimally tolerable excuse to splice one or two perfunctory scenes between song cues.

Dan in Real Life takes a pleasant premise and calls upon the talents of engaging actors and generally squanders both.

Consider The Other Sister emotional quicksand. [26 February 1999, Life, p.5E]

It's hard not to wish the same wholesome message could be conveyed with a bit more finesse and originality.

Those who teach public speaking sometimes advocate telling your audience what you're going to tell them, then actually telling them, then telling them what you've told them. Sidewalks reproves this isn't a wise path for movies.

Longs to be a smutty film with a heart of gold. Instead, it's a funny concept whose execution does not live up to its potential.

Passenger 57 already has been labeled Die Hard on a plane. Die Lite is more like it. [06 Nov 1992, p.2D]

A pale imitation that challenges credulity and tries too hard to win our hearts with schmaltz.

A supernatural action thriller, is jangly, jarring and violent. But more disconcerting is watching the sweet-faced Dakota Fanning swear, get drunk and pack heat -- in both fists, no less.

But for all the fancy-schmancy effects (budget: $90 million-plus), the vision of a hypercongested metropolis is not much more sophisticated than an episode of "The Jetsons." [9 May 1997]

Though sometimes boldly captivating, the movie is also occasionally pretentious and lurid simply for shock value.

A blah romantic comedy that has the bad taste to force the heavenly Ashley Judd into being an insecure, date-desperate, quirky career gal.

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]

Until it coughs up a ridiculously convoluted explanation of why an isolated town in Colorado suddenly goes deader than a weekday matinee of "The Postman," Phantoms delivers the shivers.

The actors seem as frozen as the landscape in this unsuccessful attempt at a grand and profound Western about the California Gold Rush.

There's some heavy-duty Oedipal stuff going on underneath all the running gags about Hooters restaurants. [25 June 1999, Life, p.8E]

Gracie is ably played by Carly Schroeder, and the tale of her uphill battle to play competitive soccer is based on the youthful activism of actress Elisabeth Shue. Shue was the first person in her New Jersey community to break down the hurdles erected to keep girls from the sport.

Valiant is voiced by Robots' Ewan McGregor, an actor apparently no longer in a "Trainspotting" mood.

Action star Chow Yun-Fat's latest is as thin as the buzz cut he sports in Bulletproof Monk.

A weak whinny of a horse opera tailor-made for those who can't quite locate "Young Guns" or "The Long Riders" in their video store.

The movie is so silly I found myself snickering a couple of times, just before slumping down in my seat in mortified embarrassment.

While the visuals are lovely to behold, this unremarkable version of the classic 18th century Japanese legend is stiff and uninvolving.

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

While McConaughey does his part, there’s just not enough treasure here in Gold to dig.

The concept's execution is sloppy, full of inconsistencies and plot holes. The situations teeter on funny, but never achieve it. And sections meant to be heartwarming feel lukewarm, far-fetched or inappropriately comical.

The story starts out well, then becomes contrived and goes on too long.

Director Joel Schumacher, whose pastel color schemes vitalized St. Elmo's Fire, gives this a sensual, at times even erotic, sheen. And a few subplot issues - single motherhood, runaway kids, midlife dating - hint that at least someone involved with this project intended to go after bigger game. [31 Jul 1987, p.4D]

Director Frank Sinatra (on screen, he's a medic) was probably going for Kurosawa-like profundity here. Unfortunately, the other actors include Clint Walker and Tommy Sands. [05 Apr 1991, p.3D]