With its unflinching style, Training Day can be hard to sit through at times. But it's worth the discomfort for the adrenaline rush of the plot and Washington's compelling performance.

If you can believe Serendipity's cockeyed conceit, you may find that discovering this escapist love story feels like a lucky accident.

Don't say you weren't warned. There are instant clues that this ill-timed Michael Douglas vehicle is a dually unfortunate viewing experience.

Something this gleefully goofy and consistently funny would be welcome in any environment.

Don't underestimate the appeal of a heart-tugger that's this well mounted.

Ultimately grim, Liam is ripe in humanity --and even comedy.

Even the soundtrack doesn't rescue the movie from its tedious banality.

The standout performances by Sobieski and Skarsgaard, and the sense of foreboding aided by the deliberate pace of this suspenseful script, polish off the rough edges.

Already too long. It makes you want to start moving globs of dirt to tunnel out of the theater as the movie ends with the famous theme to "The Great Escape."

Those who were upset by the tragic ending of last year's "Pay It Forward" should be warned away.

Women may appear a bit smarter here, but both sexes are portrayed as superficial and silly.

If this is Dumas, there's a "b" in the middle and an extra "s" at the end.

The movie itself IS dull, however. The characters never engage our interest, and the relentless violence grows monotonous.

When it's not aspiring, unsuccessfully, to satirize the world of metallica, Rock Star veers into even drearier territory and becomes a head-banging, sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll version of "A Star Is Born."

Artful and emotionally compelling.

It does survive its 40-minute test drive before turning into a lemon.

It's gratifying to see a comedy can have no redeeming social value yet be full of hearty laughs.

Too bad the movie didn't take its own advice and risk coming up with a fresh story.

Though there are some funny sequences, the frothy Bubble Boy evaporates without delivering enough belly laughs.

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.

No situation could be more human, and it's one the youth-dominated film industry rarely touches.

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.

A weak whinny of a horse opera tailor-made for those who can't quite locate "Young Guns" or "The Long Riders" in their video store.

Hits its silly stride early and never shifts into a higher gear.

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

The animation sequences -- the movie's best moments -- hurtle by at breakneck speed, while the live-action portions are a bit sluggish.

Kidman gets kudos for giving the enterprise a touch of class, while the film gives the studio's library a rare pedigreed addition.

It's one bad apple.