This intriguing and well-acted gender-bending story occasionally feels like "The Crying Game" meets "Looper."

Watching the new batch of mischief makers in Gremlins 2 is like gorging on raw cookie dough. Tastes yummy at first, but pretty soon you begin to get sick of the stuff. [15 Jun 1990, p.1D]

A precisely modulated and mostly mesmerizing 2¾-hour suspense movie, in part because it's one of the most bravely disturbing screen works ever attempted about thoughts withheld by even the most devoted marriage partners and the ramifications of voicing them.

Chicken With Plums is not a thoroughly delectable concoction, but its exotic flavor is worth sampling.

Sayles is clearly aiming to construct a multilevel character study and sociological portrait, but too often the film lapses into a lecture.

A largely irresistible puff piece.

Of all unlikely possibilities, the team has finally made a movie that, for them, is on the tepid side.

You won’t be able to tear your eyes off the screen, both because of the physically magnetic performances and also because it’s hard to fathom what madness exactly is going on at times.

Imagine a blend of "Snatch," "Ocean's 11" and "The Italian Job." Then juxtapose the staples of the caper genre with real events involving national security and high-level corruption, and the result is The Bank Job.

Engagingly offbeat. [4 December 1998, Life, p.13E]

Talk to Me speaks powerfully to audiences with its potent blend of extraordinary performances and engaging soundtrack.

Parker creates a fascinating portrait of Nat Turner as neither hero nor villain. In the end, he’s portrayed as a man faced with tough decisions.

Serving as an “Endgame” epilogue, director Jon Watts’ sequel isn’t as tightly focused or effortlessly charming as 2017’s “Homecoming,” yet it continues Holland’s amazing Spidey run and introduces Jake Gyllenhaal in his top-notch first comic-book role.

In other hands, Patriots Day could have been a paint-by-the numbers action thriller, but strong performances and well-paced momentum make it an engrossing watch.

Once you're onto its wavelength (it doesn't take long), Linklater's passing parade starts to ring true. [15 Aug. 1991, p. 5D]

Hour not only acknowledges the attacks -- they're a running theme. Lee opens his movie with a shot of the beaming blue spotlights that mark where the twin towers once stood.

The movie is well-written, well-acted, acerbic, funny and wisely observed. Fans of the book will be glad to hear it is faithful to Green's tale.

While Kristen Wiig fully commits to her bizarre, mentally ill character in Welcome to Me, the result still feels more like an extended sketch than a movie.

A comic-fantasy nightmare of the wickedest kind. [22 Jul 1992, p.4D

The dialogue is fast-paced and full of pop-culture references. It all makes for an entertaining blend of buddy-cop action and irreverent teen-comedy satire.

It's certainly not Mamet's signature rapid-fire dialogue, but it's an intriguing and engrossing departure.

More admirable than riveting, Fair Game works best as a portrait of power games at the highest levels.

John Mellencamp's screen debut showcases his acting and directing, then limits his singing to off-camera filler. [05 Mar 1992, p.6D]

A few scenes in World's Greatest Dad may qualify it as the most uncomfortable and unsettling movie to sit through of any this year.

Circle has a wit and warmth that makes something as glibly contemporary as Reality Bites seem trite and toothless. [15 Mar 1995, Pg.06.D]

Drop is based on Lehane's short story Animal Rescue, and the terrific cast and punchy dialogue make it particularly worth seeing, bringing energy to a deliberately-paced tale that occasionally feels plodding.

It's simple stuff, but the movie's heart is in the right place.

An ambitious and occasionally illuminating hybrid documentary. But a cacophony of sights and sounds and a disjointed narrative dilute the message.