From the bizarre opening (featuring a plethora of naked obese women) to the film’s parallel narratives conceit, there's no shortage of style, though incoherence butts in from time to time.

Like a highly watchable amalgam of “Field of Dreams,” “Zootopia” and Arthurian legend, the colorful crusade features a solid hero’s journey with a slam-dunk of a finale.

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

Brosnan and Rush are a smooth fit, playing off each other like a snappy shirt and tie.

Carrey's jolly green mug carries Mask. [29 July 1994, p. D1]

Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation doubles as a two-hour celebrity episode of American Ninja Warrior for Tom Cruise.

Well, maybe some of the performances are more serviceable than all-out spirited, but this is certainly not true of the two crucial ones. As soldier Benedick and his spat-match Beatrice, director Branagh and Oscar-winner Thompson (sporting an attractive tan) are all anyone could wish for. If the classiest married couple in movies today can't make the Bard multiplex-accessible, it'll be time for Tom and Roseanne to suit up for Macbeth. [7 May 1993, p.4D]

Though the competition hasn't exactly been stiff, Fey and Poehler may well be the best female comedy duo since Lucy and Ethel.

Like "The Departed" and "Gone Baby Gone," What Doesn't Kill You is an engrossing, gritty, sharply written and well-acted drama set on the mean streets of South Boston.

Mostly engrossing and always worthy of respect, it still hasn't quite the big-movie sweep to make it a tell-the-world experience. [8 Sept 1993, p.1D]

Emphasizes backing up wishes with hard work. That proviso is a thoughtful message for young moviegoers.

Yet it would be wrong, or at least simplistic, to dismiss Celine as a globe-spanning ego trip. Directed by Stephane Laporte, the movie offers something we seldom see anymore from public figures: grandiosity without either apology or arrogance.

When have we seen the same performer playing both parts in a sexual situation? It happens here, not once but twice.

It does deliver on the mayhem front.

Another invigorating, extremely raunchy sports movie from Ron Shelton .

The three-hour dramatics are occasionally stilted, but here's the real non-CGI deal. [01 Feb 2008, p.6D]

Though not exactly dynamic, the movie offers insights into a specific culture. Ashley Rowe's photography is exquisite, and Driver has never been better. [14 Aug 1998]

A quintessentially European, methodically paced and intelligent slice of life.

Cronenberg has crafted a story that brings together what we do to our bodies to feel and look good – though that’s sometimes in the eye of the beholder – and the synthetic materials that play a key role in both our modern lives and environmental crises.

Top-shelf Shyamalan. Centered on a family having to make the most dreadful of decisions, “Knock” is a well-crafted intimate thriller that plays with your expectations and immerses you in a disconcerting situation.

The result is far from perfect, but to its many merits, add timing. You never get a movie with this kind of story in mid-August.

Any qualms that The Addams Family movie might be more creaky than kooky quickly evaporate, like mist over a still-toasty cadaver. [22 Nov 1991, p.1D]

An equitably rude comedy about abortion, brazen by definition but also fairly droll. It's probably too schematic to reward more than a single viewing, but as a provocative one-time surprise it may become a specialized sleeper. [13 December 1996, p.4D]

The result isn't quite a Michael Moore movie without the hubris, but it's reasonably close. It's thoughtful, and you have to take it seriously and with respect.

The pace is fast, many of the performers are attractive, and even the end-credits montage is zippier than usual.

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

The movie features a musical score aimed more at boomer parents than their tykes.

What gives In the Land of Women its singular charm is the charismatic Adam Brody, the star of TV's "The OC."