It may appeal to the most rabid fans of tearjerk romances like "The Notebook," but it's a hard-to-swallow, maudlin tale.

Safe House has two powerful performances at its core, a hectic plot, a huge body count and a mild sense of déjà vu amid the pulse-quickening tension.

It's certainly a worthy saga. But given the abundance of one-dimensional human portrayals, it becomes apparent that a documentary on the subject might have been more powerful.

As opposed to modern horror flicks like the "Saw" movies, where gruesome violence can almost blunt fears, The Woman in Black is a tasteful, old-school frightener, emphasizing suspense and foreboding over blood and guts.

More often the film succumbs to clichés, grows convoluted and outlandish, and winds up dead on arrival.

The computer-generated wolves have more personality than any of the dull characters in The Grey.

David Oyelowo stands out as the daredevil Joe "Lightning" Little, the unit's best flier. With his bravery and bravado, he's the film's most complex character.

A vigorous spy thriller that consistently beckons the viewer to catch up with its narrative twists and turns. Bordering on convoluted, it works best when in combat mode.

Joyful Noise seems tailor-made for an audience of churchgoers and "Glee" devotees.

Contraband has a few moments of tension, but it adheres to a predictable heist formula hardly worth trafficking in.

Rather than a glossy, superficial movie-star vanity project, In the Land of Blood and Honey feels like the sober, hard-hitting work of a humanitarian.

It's hard to rationalize the vision of this dotty elderly woman with the tough-minded politician. The story lacks insight, glosses over key political issues and is unworthy of Streep's masterful performance.

Sophisticated and universal yet deeply intimate, A Separation is an exquisitely conceived family drama that has the coiled power of a top-notch thriller.

The film's resolution is uplifting but not unrealistic, and Pariah exercises restraint by not tying up every loose end.

We Bought a Zoo doesn't seem to know what kind of animal it is. Is it a family melodrama, a love story, a wacky comedy, a drama about coping with grief, a feel-good film about following your dreams, or, as ads seem to indicate, a gift-wrapped animal adventure? Not surprisingly, this menagerie of genres doesn't mesh.

War Horse will likely take its place alongside beloved family films. But that doesn't mean sitting through it is pure pleasure. It's a long slog at almost 2½ hours, and occasionally it resorts to obvious sentimentality. At times it's hard to escape the sense that we're watching "Saving Private Ryan"-meets-"The Black Stallion."

In Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, director Stephen Daldry must walk a tricky line between poignancy and pathos. He occasionally slips into maudlin turf.

Drama, comedy, action and romance are intertwined in this gorgeously photographed and brilliantly directed film. Lead performances are thoroughly engaging despite - or perhaps because of - being wordless.

The film never gets to the heart of Nobbs - a woman who lives as a man. She comes across as more of a sad, clownish figure than a flesh-and-blood human, playing her emotions so close to the vest that it's hard to care about this stoic character.

The much-publicized collaboration between producer Peter Jackson and Spielberg sets high expectations. But while the technical artistry is there, the film lacks a sense of magic, intrigue and mystery.

Fincher's electrifying storytelling makes the most of unsettling visuals, large casts, complex plots and sharp dialogue.

Oscar-winning animator Brad Bird seems to have accomplished the impossible with the fourth Mission: Impossible installment by injecting the 15-year-old series with newfound, breathtaking energy.

While the talented quartet play these hypocritical sorts with finesse, the story grows tiresome, its cynical point made early and often.

Maybe for the next installment, they can go off to college and find something better to do than making these silly movies.

Simultaneously brash and dull - hardly a combustible combination.

There's nothing wrong in the setup: It worked fine in films like "Adventures in Babysitting" and "Uncle Buck." But director David Gordon Green populates the movie with so many soap opera asides it's hard to keep count.

While on sardonic turf, it's scathingly funny. Then it veers from biting wit to pitiful. At one juncture, the story threatens to spin off into "Fatal Attraction" territory.

Sitting through New Year's Eve is like attending a crowded party filled with pretty people who have nothing to say.