In Point of No Return, a pointless remake of the slickly violent 1990 import La Femme Nikita, Fonda unconvincingly attempts to fill French actress Anne Parillaud's skyscraper pumps as a punkish cop killer turned government assassin. Draped in the proverbial little black dress, Fonda blows away her targets in a chi-chi Washington restaurant and makes her getaway through the kitchen's laundry chute with a volley of explosives at her heels. But as she daintily steps around the spilt blood and lettuce, the fair-of-face Fonda is more debutante of death than lethal weapon. [19 March 1993, p.8D]

A disappointing effort from a master filmmaker, Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk trips in all the wrong places.

The film is surprisingly deft and entertains at both the adult and juvenile levels. If something in Guardians catches your eye, trust your gizzard.

Bridges actually does a fine job in an uninteresting role. But this chick flick is all about the attitudinal teenagers.

Isn't tough to take as long as you've paid a matinee price.

Pleasing piffle.

The handsome production design notwithstanding, The Awakening is not an elegant thriller. It's more like solemn drivel.

While You, Me & Tuscany doesn’t add anything significantly new or innovative to the rom-com recipe – and certainly doesn’t blow up the thing like The Drama – it’s a breezy respite for those who dig the familiar in their escapist pleasure.

Marley & Me might be easy to watch, but -- even for die-hard canine lovers -- it's as easy to forget.

Seeing gawky Charlie Korsmo, one-time movie moppet, as a superbrain whose introduction to alcohol leads him to do a rip-roaring rendition of Guns N' Roses' Paradise City, is worth a smile or two. But even that can't save [the] film.

With I.S.S., the talented songstress takes a giant leap forward as a solid action hero amid a decently gripping mix of human nature and atomic annihilation.

With the exception of her Russian accent, which seems more like an underwhelming audition for a Boris and Natasha cartoon, Lawrence fits the role like a new pair of pointe shoes.

Rather than offering new blood, Carrie is a purely cosmetic revamp.

A feel-good, all-star monster mash with a low-key smackdown on bullying and a major focus on being as goofy as possible.

The Cutting Edge is a sharp-looking but rinky-dink rink romance that would earn 6.0's in compulsory cliches. [27 March 1992, p.4D]

Don't be surprised if, in the middle of The Guardian, you get an overpowering sense of déjà vu. Assuming you've seen "An Officer and a Gentleman," "Top Gun" or any of the myriad basic-training films Hollywood churns out, you've seen The Guardian.

In Time has about 50 minutes of good movie in it. Alas, the sci-fi thriller runs nearly twice that length, and despite a terrific concept that could make for an "Inception" for 2011, we get "Logan's Run" meets "Robin Hood." And not the good parts.

The movie unfortunately gets stuck between edgy drama and broad comedy, and most of the humor lands with a thud.

Truth is, Affleck and Paltrow flunk Chemistry 101. They aren't believable even as a fake couple.

It's to these Angels' credit that they, like the movie, are at least intermittent fun.

Though Bond may never die, this time he's on life support. [19 Dec 1997, p.3D]

While director Roland Emmerich (Independence Day) piles on outlandish scenarios, the chemistry of the lead actors mitigates the contrived setup and numbing explosions.

Only a smattering of the potential is realized in this tolerable disappointment, which is so unworthy of getting angry about that it will still become a knee-jerk hit.

Eastwood gutsily stages the extended opening slowly and methodically... [But u]nintentional yuks litter an otherwise somber political thriller adapted from David Baldacci's novel.

Though Hour 2's heavy emphasis on physical and emotional confrontations stimulates dramatic momentum, this respectable superstar meeting is finally, of all things, ordinary. [26Mar1997 Pg04.D]

Dragging on too long is a more serious flaw in a romantic comedy than it might be in a complex drama. We don't ask much of a movie like this, but we do require it to be snappy, clever and quick.

Some moments in XX/XY ring true, and the honesty exposed is revelatory. But, like some relationships, this drama can be tough to endure.

Since a goodly portion of Jade is given over to the barbed banter lobbed by Allen and a solid Helen Hunt (in Stanwyck mode as a peevish efficiency expert who challenges his façade of male superiority), Woody the wordsmith is in full evidence, too.