The concept is inspired, and the movie has some very funny moments. But about halfway through this long weekend, the frantic tale grows flimsy.

Draft's reverence for the gridiron, its heroes and the cities that worship them (particularly Cleveland) will make the movie a first-round pick of diehards.

What’s explosive doesn’t always equate to propulsive, however, in a stuffed narrative with pacing issues and a plot that doesn’t need two hours and 40 minutes to make its point.

Memoirs of a Geisha is like a sumptuous piece of silk: stunning yet ultimately flimsy. You wish it were more like a kimono, richly woven, multilayered and more substantial.

Actually is a bit of a hoot.

It's generally enjoyable, amusing and more sophisticated than most films in this genre.

Edwards has a penchant for large spectacle movies with a big budget and a bigger message (see: “Godzilla,” “Rogue One”), and while this “Rebirth” isn’t exactly a thinking man’s “Jurassic,” there's enough B-movie craziness to keep it enjoyable.

For a well-acted movie about the horrors of war and the lure of revenge, it's surprisingly dull and starchy.

If the script were half as witty as its production design and Danny Elfman's score, the film might be a classic; instead, it recalls the “Beetlejuice” half that doesn't have Keaton. [7 Dec 1990, Life, p.4D]

Good but not legendary.

The melodrama is packed with more style – so, so much style – than narrative substance, though Jolie...fully commits to the role both emotionally and musically.

Genial but largely predictable ensemble comedy.

What works in a quirky foreign film can look silly with expansive Hollywood treatment. Crowe is smart enough to know this, so it's baffling he chose Vanilla over richer cinematic tastes.

More than anything, The Grifters isn't dramatically shot; black-and-white would have made a huge difference. [5 Dec 1990]

A serviceable and intermittently funny romance.

The few genuinely comic moments and deviations from cutesy rom-com formula make you wish No Strings Attached had traveled a more distinctively offbeat path.

A visually arresting and entertaining romp, but it lacks some of the sardonic humor of the popular children's books on which the movie is based.

Enjoyable enough. Though like some holiday fare, it doesn't quite stay with you.

Bouncy tunes such as "Nobody's Perfect" and "Girls' Night Out" are delivered with a glib flirtatiousness that offsets their generically sensitive and empowering messages.

There are inventive and engaging moments in this broadly comic action saga. But Chandni is at once enjoyable and maddening.

The Way Back, with its epic story and spectacularly bleak setting, invites comparisons with "Laurence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago." It's awash in vast, unforgiving terrain. So it got the setting right, but not necessarily the substance.

While the animation is still top-notch and a slew of new waterlogged personalities buoy the story, it doesn’t have nearly the same sense of heart, wonder and awe as Nemo.

Directed with care by Leon Ichaso and written by New Jack's Barry Michael Cooper, snazzy-looking Hill also covers familiar terrain. [25 Feb 1994, p.4D]

For at least half the movie, you need a code book a few inches thick to decipher Code 46.

Director John Carpenter (Halloween) draws the best out of a Topper-esque script that's surprisingly sophisticated. [28 Feb 1992, p.8D]

As directed by Angelina Jolie, it is occasionally powerful, with soaring visuals. It also is, however, stately and slow to the point of tedium.

Ant Bully, while not wildly fresh or inventive, is entertaining and energetic.

Director Taylor Hackford is so enthusiastic reminiscing on an alternate soundtrack that he almost convinces you that this diminutive cult movie is better than it is. [27 Dec 1996]