Eventually evolves into a murder mystery that isn't very compelling.

Reeks of the kind of atmosphere that makes you reach for the Lysol.

In its favor: a breakout performance from Palestinian newcomer Leem Lubany and maybe the most apropos use of Peace Train ever.

Aspires to be a cinematic "Sex and the City," but it's more like South Park Goes West.

Fame offers slick entertainment with some exuberance, but it's devoid of soul or heart.

An authentic-looking Jeff Bridges goes for the grit in an incoherently arty rendering (full of fuzzy-focus black-and-white flashbacks) filmed by action veteran Walter Hill. [01 Dec 1995, p.13D]

Young girls will enjoy Lohan's matchmaking antics. But nostalgia-craving oldsters should stick to fond memories of Hayley [Mills]'s heyday.

Every performer puts vigor into an otherwise limp exercise, as if word were out that this would be the last comedy ever made about late-adolescent concerns.

A slog rather than the sweeping romance it aspires to be.

Some of the car gadgetry, Kato's specialty, looks cool...The Green Hornet is otherwise colorless, numbing and sluggishly paced.

Lacking in originality.

There is undoubtedly a good movie in the varied experiences of American newcomers. But it would need to involve sagas more urgent and more original.

At least Necessary Roughness strays from the usual game plan, but it ends up strictly Bush league. [27 Sept 1991, p.2D]

Rodman is more fun to watch here than either co-star, given his array of earrings and nose rings, plus hair that changes color more frequently than the first lady changes her do.

It's a shame the aliens are so preachy, because this remake of the 1956 and 1978 versions of Invasion of the Body Snatchers features a top-notch cast in Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig and moments of unnerving terror.

Enraptured by bathroom humor that doesn't even reach sophomoric standards. It's more on the level of preschool.

That Mrs. Doubtfire, a Tootsie Poppins for our times, misfires in the plausibility department and mis-aims its well-meaning if muddled messages about divorce doesn't matter. [24 Nov 1993 Pg. 01.D]

There is cinematic art, and there's a good evening out; this is the latter. [15 Mar 1991]

The Penn-manship here is far from unimpressive. But if Sean gets a second chance, he should make his audience care as much as he does. [23 Sep 1991, p.4D]

Though not nearly as raucously funny as the leads in "Wedding Crashers," Nick and Shawn resemble junior versions of the one-track-minded womanizers played by Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson.

In the wine-drenched romance A Walk in the Clouds, Keanu Reeves is like a flat root beer. Decent, honest, but no fizz. [11 Aug 1995, p.4D]

We never get the scenes we really want to see, like the teacher-initiated slander trial or their snotty accuser's comeuppance. Instead, we get too many strained conversations. [21 Dec 1990, p.3D]

When it's not stalled on silly, it falls into slog territory.

Somehow Statham comes out of this improbable thriller with his dignity intact.

With the lackluster quality of its characters — aircraft, a smattering of trucks, RVs and motorcycles — the movie makes Pixar's Cars and its sequel look like masterpieces.

It's about as uncomfortable as sitting through an interminable counseling session - involving two people you hardly know and don't much care about.

A cheap and easy amusement, one that's gone a little stale and never quite rises to the occasion.

Director Robert Zemeckis, who handled visual foolery with finesse in the Back to the Future series and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, is no Ponce de Leon when it comes to rejuvenating a half-baked story. Once Death dumps out its bag of tricks, there's no place to go but six feet under. [31 July 1992, p.6D]