sst_dev.tsv

3	It 's a lovely film with lovely performances by Buy and Accorsi .
2	No one goes unindicted here , which is probably for the best .
3	And if you 're not nearly moved to tears by a couple of scenes , you 've got ice water in your veins .
4	A warm , funny , engaging film .
4	Uses sharp humor and insight into human nature to examine class conflict , adolescent yearning , the roots of friendship and sexual identity .
2	Half Submarine flick , Half Ghost Story , All in one criminally neglected film
3	Entertains by providing good , lively company .
4	Dazzles with its fully - written characters , its determined stylishness ( which always relates to characters and story ) and Johnny Dankworth 's best soundtrack in years .
4	Visually imaginative , thematically instructive and thoroughly delightful , it takes us on a roller - coaster ride from innocence to experience without even a hint of that typical kiddie - flick sentimentality .
3	Nothing 's at stake , just a twisty double - cross you can smell a mile away -- still , the derivative Nine Queens is lots of fun .
4	Unlike the speedy wham - bam effect of most Hollywood offerings , character development -- and more importantly , character empathy -- is at the heart of Italian for Beginners .
3	You 'll gasp appalled and laugh outraged and possibly , watching the spectacle of a promising young lad treading desperately in a nasty sea , shed an errant tear .
3	The band 's courage in the face of official repression is inspiring , especially for aging hippies ( this one included ) .
3	Although German cooking does not come readily to mind when considering the world 's best cuisine , Mostly Martha could make Deutchland a popular destination for hungry tourists .
4	A beguiling splash of pastel colors and prankish comedy from Disney .
4	As surreal as a dream and as detailed as a photograph , as visually dexterous as it is at times imaginatively overwhelming .
3	( Lawrence bounces ) all over the stage , dancing , running , sweating , mopping his face and generally displaying the wacky talent that brought him fame in the first place .
2	The film serves as a valuable time capsule to remind us of the devastating horror suffered by an entire people .
3	What 's surprising about Full Frontal is that despite its overt self-awareness , parts of the movie still manage to break past the artifice and thoroughly engage you .
3	Whether you like rap music or loathe it , you ca n't deny either the tragic loss of two young men in the prime of their talent or the power of this movie .
3	... an otherwise intense , twist - and - turn thriller that certainly should n't hurt talented young Gaghan 's resume .
4	It provides the grand , intelligent entertainment of a superior cast playing smart people amid a compelling plot .
3	There 's ... tremendous energy from the cast , a sense of playfulness and excitement that seems appropriate .
3	It moves quickly , adroitly , and without fuss ; it does n't give you time to reflect on the inanity -- and the Cold War datedness -- of its premise .
4	A deep and meaningful film .
4	The film 's welcome breeziness and some unbelievably hilarious moments -- most portraying the idiocy of the film industry -- make it mostly worth the trip .
4	It 's a remarkably solid and subtly satirical tour de force .
4	Enormously entertaining for moviegoers of any age .
4	A poignant , artfully crafted meditation on mortality .
4	A rarity among recent Iranian films : It 's a comedy full of gentle humor that chides the absurdity of its protagonist 's plight .
4	Not only is Undercover Brother as funny , if not more so , than both Austin Powers films , but it 's also one of the smarter , savvier spoofs to come along in some time .
4	In a way , the film feels like a breath of fresh air , but only to those that allow it in .
3	Woody Allen 's latest is an ambling , broad comedy about all there is to love -- and hate -- about the movie biz .
3	It 's a stunning lyrical work of considerable force and truth .
2	The inhospitability of the land emphasizes the spare precision of the narratives and helps to give them an atavistic power , as if they were tales that had been handed down since the beginning of time .
4	( Næs ) directed the stage version of Elling , and gets fine performances from his two leads who originated the characters on stage .
4	A coda in every sense , The Pinochet Case splits time between a minute - by - minute account of the British court 's extradition chess game and the regime 's talking - head survivors .
4	Like Mike is a winner for kids , and no doubt a winner for Lil Bow Wow , who can now add movies to the list of things he does well .
3	( T ) his beguiling Belgian fable , very much its own droll and delicate little film , has some touching things to say about what is important in life and why .
0	Here 's yet another studio horror franchise mucking up its storyline with glitches casual fans could correct in their sleep .
3	But taken as a stylish and energetic one - shot , The Queen of the Damned can not be said to suck .
1	You wo n't like Roger , but you will quickly recognize him .
3	And that 's a big part of why we go to the movies .
2	While the stoically delivered hokum of Hart 's War is never fun , it 's still a worthy addition to the growing canon of post-Saving Private Ryan tributes to the greatest generation .
3	We know the plot 's a little crazy , but it held my interest from start to finish .
2	A sober and affecting chronicle of the leveling effect of loss .
4	A fast , funny , highly enjoyable movie .
3	A celebration of quirkiness , eccentricity , and certain individuals ' tendency to let it all hang out , and damn the consequences .
3	Writer/director Joe Carnahan 's grimy crime drama is a manual of precinct cliches , but it moves fast enough to cover its clunky dialogue and lapses in logic .
4	A smart , witty follow - up .
4	While the ideas about techno - saturation are far from novel , they 're presented with a wry dark humor .
3	An infectious cultural fable with a tasty balance of family drama and frenetic comedy .
2	Although occasionally static to the point of resembling a stage play , the film delivers a solid mixture of sweetness and laughs .
3	It provides an honest look at a community striving to anchor itself in new grounds .
4	Add yet another hat to a talented head , Clooney 's a good director .
3	Building slowly and subtly , the film , sporting a breezy spontaneity and realistically drawn characterizations , develops into a significant character study that is both moving and wise .
0	Ultimately feels empty and unsatisfying , like swallowing a Communion wafer without the wine .
3	Chilling , well - acted , and finely directed : David Jacobson 's Dahmer .
3	A swashbuckling tale of love , betrayal , revenge and above all , faith .
3	Without ever becoming didactic , director Carlos Carrera expertly weaves this novelistic story of entangled interrelationships and complex morality .
2	It 's a coming - of - age story we 've all seen bits of in other films -- but it 's rarely been told with such affecting grace and cultural specificity .
4	A literate presentation that wonderfully weaves a murderous event in 1873 with murderous rage in 2002 .
2	Makes even the claustrophobic on - board quarters seem fun .
2	This is as respectful a film as Byatt fans could hope for , though lovers of the book may wonder why it 's necessary .
4	One of the best films of the year with its exploration of the obstacles to happiness faced by five contemporary individuals ... a psychological masterpiece .
3	Not far beneath the surface , this reconfigured tale asks disturbing questions about those things we expect from military epics .
3	For the most part Stevens glides through on some solid performances and witty dialogue .
3	Broomfield turns his distinctive ` blundering ' style into something that could really help clear up the case .
3	Against all odds in heaven and hell , it creeped me out just fine .
4	It 's refreshing to see a girl - power movie that does n't feel it has to prove anything .
3	It 's worth seeing just on the basis of the wisdom , and at times , the startling optimism , of the children .
3	A rigorously structured and exquisitely filmed drama about a father and son connection that is a brief shooting star of love .
3	This surreal Gilliam-esque film is also a troubling interpretation of Ecclesiastes .
3	A rewarding work of art for only the most patient and challenge - hungry moviegoers .
4	A quiet treasure -- a film to be savored .
3	May be far from the best of the series , but it 's assured , wonderfully respectful of its past and thrilling enough to make it abundantly clear that this movie phenomenon has once again reinvented itself for a new generation .
3	A compelling Spanish film about the withering effects of jealousy in the life of a young monarch whose sexual passion for her husband becomes an obsession .
3	Huston nails both the glad - handing and the choking sense of hollow despair .
2	may not have generated many sparks , but with his affection for Astoria and its people he has given his tale a warm glow .
2	A delirious celebration of the female orgasm .
4	Exquisitely nuanced in mood tics and dialogue , this chamber drama is superbly acted by the deeply appealing veteran Bouquet and the chilling but quite human Berling .
3	It 's fascinating to see how Bettany and McDowell play off each other .
3	The film is beautifully mounted , but , more to the point , the issues are subtly presented , managing to walk a fine line with regard to the question of Joan 's madness .
4	Leigh 's film is full of memorable performances from top to bottom .
4	One of the most significant moviegoing pleasures of the year .
4	Jose Campanella delivers a loosely autobiographical story brushed with sentimentality but brimming with gentle humor , bittersweet pathos , and lyric moments that linger like snapshots of memory .
3	Generally , Clockstoppers will fulfill your wildest fantasies about being a different kind of time traveler , while happily killing 94 minutes .
4	The movie is beautiful to behold and engages one in a sense of epic struggle -- inner and outer -- that 's all too rare in Hollywood 's hastier productions .
3	Neither Parker nor Donovan is a typical romantic lead , but they bring a fresh , quirky charm to the formula .
3	It 's a much more emotional journey than what Shyamalan has given us in his past two movies , and Gibson , stepping in for Bruce Willis , is the perfect actor to take us on the trip .
4	Not only are the special effects and narrative flow much improved , and Daniel Radcliffe more emotionally assertive this time around as Harry , but the film conjures the magic of author J.K. Rowling 's books .
3	Jaglom ... put ( s ) the audience in the privileged position of eavesdropping on his characters
4	Beautifully observed , miraculously unsentimental comedy - drama .
4	A must - see for the David Mamet enthusiast and for anyone who appreciates intelligent , stylish moviemaking .
4	Crackerjack entertainment -- nonstop romance , music , suspense and action .
4	The acting , costumes , music , cinematography and sound are all astounding given the production 's austere locales .
4	Far more imaginative and ambitious than the trivial , cash - in features Nickelodeon has made from its other animated TV series .
3	The very definition of the ` small ' movie , but it is a good stepping stone for director Sprecher .
2	A gripping , searing portrait of a lost soul trying to find her way through life .
0	Suffers from the lack of a compelling or comprehensible narrative .
4	Still , as a visual treat , the film is almost unsurpassed .
3	So unassuming and pure of heart , you ca n't help but warmly extend your arms and yell ` Safe ! '
3	An intriguing cinematic omnibus and round - robin that occasionally is more interesting in concept than in execution .
3	So refreshingly incisive is Grant that for the first time he 'll probably appeal more to guys than to their girlfriends who drag them to this movie for the Hugh factor .
4	At a time when half the so - called real movies are little more than live - action cartoons , it 's refreshing to see a cartoon that knows what it is , and knows the form 's history .
3	The magic of the film lies not in the mysterious spring but in the richness of its performances .
2	Hoffman notches in the nuances of pain , but his smart , edgy voice and waddling profile ( emphasized here ) accent the humor of Wilson 's plight , and that saves his pathos from drippiness .
3	What better message than ` love thyself ' could young women of any size receive ?
4	The second coming of Harry Potter is a film far superior to its predecessor .
3	A movie that successfully crushes a best selling novel into a timeframe that mandates that you avoid the Godzilla sized soda .
2	84 minutes of rolling musical back beat and supercharged cartoon warfare .
4	It 's also , clearly , great fun .
3	... takes the beauty of baseball and melds it with a story that could touch anyone regardless of their familiarity with the sport
3	Seldahl 's Barbara is a precise and moving portrait of someone whose world is turned upside down , first by passion and then by illness .
4	A warm but realistic meditation on friendship , family and affection .
3	Byler reveals his characters in a way that intrigues and even fascinates us , and he never reduces the situation to simple melodrama .
3	Turns potentially forgettable formula into something strangely diverting .
3	Bogdanovich tantalizes by offering a peep show into the lives of the era 's creme de la celluloid .
4	People cinema at its finest .
4	The performances take the movie to a higher level .
4	what really makes it special is that it pulls us into its world , gives us a hero whose suffering and triumphs we can share , surrounds him with interesting characters and sends us out of the theater feeling we 've shared a great adventure .
4	Manages to transcend the sex , drugs and show - tunes plot into something far richer .
3	Dense with characters and contains some thrilling moments .
3	LaPaglia 's ability to convey grief and hope works with Weaver 's sensitive reactions to make this a two - actor master class .
3	Reign of Fire looks as if it was made without much thought -- and is best watched that way .
4	Altogether , this is successful as a film , while at the same time being a most touching reconsideration of the familiar masterpiece .
3	We root for ( Clara and Paul ) , even like them , though perhaps it 's an emotion closer to pity .
4	The best film about baseball to hit theaters since Field of Dreams .
3	Instead of a hyperbolic beat - charged urban western , it 's an unpretentious , sociologically pointed slice of life .
3	the film tunes into a grief that could lead a man across centuries .
2	If The Count of Monte Cristo does n't transform Caviezel into a movie star , then the game is even more rigged than it was two centuries ago .
3	( D ) oes n't bother being as cloying or preachy as equivalent evangelical Christian movies -- maybe the filmmakers know that the likely audience will already be among the faithful .
2	As a tolerable diversion , the film suffices ; a Triumph , however , it is not .
1	If director Michael Dowse only superficially understands his characters , he does n't hold them in contempt .
3	If your taste runs to ` difficult ' films you absolutely ca n't miss it .
3	... a story we have n't seen on the big screen before , and it 's a story that we as Americans , and human beings , should know .
3	Like Leon , it 's frustrating and still oddly likable .
2	All in all , The Count of Monte Cristo is okay , but it is surely no classic , like the novel upon which it is based .
3	If you can stomach the rough content , it 's worth checking out for the performances alone .
4	Looking aristocratic , luminous yet careworn in Jane Hamilton 's exemplary costumes , Rampling gives a performance that could not be improved upon . '
3	... Mafia , rap stars and hood rats butt their ugly heads in a regurgitation of cinematic violence that gives brutal birth to an unlikely , but likable , hero . '
4	On this tricky topic , Tadpole is very much a step in the right direction , with its blend of frankness , civility and compassion .
3	Fun , flip and terribly hip bit of cinematic entertainment .
4	Montias ... pumps a lot of energy into his nicely nuanced narrative and surrounds himself with a cast of quirky -- but not stereotyped -- street characters .
3	Falls neatly into the category of Good Stupid Fun .
4	The film 's performances are thrilling .
3	Even in its most tedious scenes , Russian Ark is mesmerizing .
3	The continued good chemistry between Carmen and Juni is what keeps this slightly disappointing sequel going , with enough amusing banter -- blessedly curse - free -- to keep both kids and parents entertained .
3	Reggio 's continual visual barrage is absorbing as well as thought - provoking .
2	Unfortunately , it appears that ( Jackie ) Chan 's US influence is starting to show in his Hong Kong films .
3	It all adds up to good fun .
4	A big , gorgeous , sprawling swashbuckler that delivers its diversions in grand , uncomplicated fashion .
2	A stunning and overwhelmingly cogent case for Kissinger as a calculating war criminal .
3	Sade is an engaging look at the controversial eponymous and fiercely atheistic hero .
3	a quiet , pure , elliptical film
3	Kinnear does n't aim for our sympathy , but rather delivers a performance of striking skill and depth .
3	The subtle strength of " Elling " is that it never loses touch with the reality of the grim situation .
3	A study in shades of gray , offering itself up in subtle plot maneuvers ...
3	The format gets used best ... to capture the dizzying heights achieved by motocross and BMX riders , whose balletic hotdogging occasionally ends in bone - crushing screwups .
3	Has a lot of the virtues of Eastwood at his best .
2	Chilling but uncommercial look into the mind of Jeffrey Dahmer , serial killer .
3	Though it 's become almost redundant to say so , major kudos go to Leigh for actually casting people who look working - class .
3	It deserves to be seen by anyone with even a passing interest in the events shaping the world beyond their own horizons .
3	A movie that reminds us of just how exciting and satisfying the fantasy cinema can be when it 's approached with imagination and flair .
4	Thanks to Scott 's charismatic Roger and Eisenberg 's sweet nephew , Roger Dodger is one of the most compelling variations on In the Company of Men .
4	Nine Queens is not only than a frighteningly capable debut and genre piece , but also a snapshot of a dangerous political situation on the verge of coming to a head .
4	It 's the chemistry between the women and the droll scene - stealing wit and wolfish pessimism of Anna Chancellor that makes this " Two Weddings and a Funeral " fun .
4	Will amuse and provoke adventurous adults in specialty venues .
4	You do n't have to know about music to appreciate the film 's easygoing blend of comedy and romance .
3	A film about a young man finding God that is accessible and touching to the marrow .
3	For the first time in years , De Niro digs deep emotionally , perhaps because he 's been stirred by the powerful work of his co-stars .
2	The film 's snags and stumblings are more than compensated for by its wryly subversive tone .
3	Inside the film 's conflict - powered plot there is a decent moral trying to get out , but it 's not that , it 's the tension that keeps you in your seat .
3	Affleck and Jackson are good sparring partners .
4	The old - world - meets - new mesh is incarnated in the movie 's soundtrack , a joyful effusion of disco Bollywood that , by the end of Monsoon Wedding , sent my spirit soaring out of the theater .
4	An effectively creepy , fear - inducing ( not fear - reducing ) film from Japanese director Hideo Nakata , who takes the superstitious curse on chain letters and actually applies it .
4	Having had the good sense to cast actors who are , generally speaking , adored by the movie - going public , Khouri then gets terrific performances from them all .
3	A subtle and well - crafted ( for the most part ) chiller .
4	Warm Water Under a Red Bridge is a quirky and poignant Japanese film that explores the fascinating connections between women , water , nature , and sexuality .
3	Although laced with humor and a few fanciful touches , the film is a refreshingly serious look at young women .
3	The best revenge may just be living well because this film , unlike other Dumas adaptations , is far more likened to a treasure than a lengthy jail sentence .
4	A delectable and intriguing thriller filled with surprises , Read My Lips is an original .
3	This is a story of two misfits who do n't stand a chance alone , but together they are magnificent .
3	Highbrow self-appointed guardians of culture need not apply , but those who loved Cool as Ice have at last found a worthy follow - up .
3	One of creepiest , scariest movies to come along in a long , long time , easily rivaling Blair Witch or The Others .
4	Maud and Roland 's search for an unknowable past makes for a haunting literary detective story , but LaBute pulls off a neater trick in Possession : He makes language sexy .
4	Pacino is brilliant as the sleep - deprived Dormer , his increasing weariness as much existential as it is physical .
3	Rare Birds has more than enough charm to make it memorable .
4	Manages to be sweet and wickedly satisfying at the same time .
1	This Nickleby thing might have more homosexual undertones than an Eddie Murphy film .
2	And just when you think it ca n't get any more gay , in pops Nathan Lane .
4	No sophomore slump for director Sam Mendes , who segues from Oscar winner to Oscar - winning potential with a smooth sleight of hand .
4	The movie is n't just hilarious : It 's witty and inventive , too , and in hindsight , it is n't even all that dumb .
4	Old - form moviemaking at its best .
3	Ahhhh ... revenge is sweet !
4	Yakusho and Shimizu ... create engaging characterizations in Imamura 's lively and enjoyable cultural mix .
3	You will emerge with a clearer view of how the gears of justice grind on and the death report comes to share airtime alongside the farm report .
2	Ruzowitzky has taken this mothball - y stuff and made a rather sturdy , old - fashioned entertainment out of it .
2	In spite of Good Housekeeping 's unsavory characters and WWF mentality , this white trash War of the Roses is a surprisingly engaging film .
3	Collateral Damage finally delivers the goods for Schwarzenegger fans .
3	There has always been something likable about the Marquis de Sade .
3	As a first - time director , Paxton has tapped something in himself as an actor that provides Frailty with its dark soul .
4	For the most part , director Anne - Sophie Birot 's first feature is a sensitive , extraordinarily well - acted drama .
2	By the time we learn that Andrew 's Turnabout Is Fair Play is every bit as awful as Borchardt 's Coven , we can enjoy it anyway .
1	This riveting World War II moral suspense story deals with the shadow side of American culture : racial prejudice in its ugly and diverse forms .
3	A tender , heartfelt family drama .
3	A difficult , absorbing film that manages to convey more substance despite its repetitions and inconsistencies than do most films than are far more pointed and clear .
4	For the most part , it 's a work of incendiary genius , steering clear of knee - jerk reactions and quick solutions .
3	It has the charm of the original American road movies , feasting on the gorgeous , ramshackle landscape of the filmmaker 's motherland .
3	( Chaiken 's ) talent lies in an evocative , accurate observation of a distinctive milieu and in the lively , convincing dialogue she creates for her characters .
1	In all , this is a watchable movie that 's not quite the memorable experience it might have been .
2	Huppert 's superbly controlled display of murderous vulnerability ensures that malice has a very human face .
3	My thoughts were focused on the characters .
3	That is a compliment to Kuras and Miller .
2	If I had been thinking about the visual medium , they would have been doing something wrong .
4	One of the more intelligent children 's movies to hit theaters this year .
2	Remember the kind of movie we were hoping " Ecks vs. Sever " or " xXx " was going to be ?
2	This is it .
2	Not for the prurient or squeamish , it 's a daring if overlong examination of an idolized culture , self-loathing and sexual politics .
3	A cartoon that 's truly cinematic in scope , and a story that 's compelling and heartfelt -- even if the heart belongs to a big , four - legged herbivore .
2	The film 's almost unbearable portrait of sadness and grief transcends its specific story to speak to the ways in which need , history and presumption tangle , and sometimes destroy , blood ties .
3	Travels a fascinating arc from hope and euphoria to reality and disillusionment .
3	There 's something auspicious , and daring , too , about the artistic instinct that pushes a majority - oriented director like Steven Spielberg to follow A.I. with this challenging report so liable to unnerve the majority .
3	For anyone unfamiliar with pentacostal practices in general and theatrical phenomenon of Hell Houses in particular , it 's an eye - opener .
3	It seems like I have been waiting my whole life for this movie and now I ca n't wait for the sequel .
1	It 's a bit disappointing that it only manages to be decent instead of dead brilliant .
3	An operatic , sprawling picture that 's entertainingly acted , magnificently shot and gripping enough to sustain most of its 170 - minute length .
3	The far future may be awesome to consider , but from period detail to matters of the heart , this film is most transporting when it stays put in the past .
4	It inspires a continuing and deeply satisfying awareness of the best movies as monumental ` picture shows . '
4	Awesome creatures , breathtaking scenery , and epic battle scenes add up to another ` spectacular spectacle . '
3	By candidly detailing the politics involved in the creation of an extraordinary piece of music , ( Jones ) calls our attention to the inherent conflict between commerce and creativity .
2	It 's unnerving to see Recoing 's bizzarre reaction to his unemployment .
3	Good film , but very glum .
2	Much as we might be interested in gratuitous sexualization , Haneke has a different objective in mind -- namely the implications of our craving for fake stimulation .
4	Dazzling in its complexity , disturbing for its extraordinary themes , The Piano Teacher is a film that defies categorisation .
4	It haunts , horrifies , startles and fascinates ; it is impossible to look away .
2	Ah yes , and then there 's the music ...
3	It has charm to spare , and unlike many romantic comedies , it does not alienate either gender in the audience .
2	Although Jackson is doubtless reserving the darkest hours for The Return of the King , we long for a greater sense of urgency in the here and now of The Two Towers .
3	It is great summer fun to watch Arnold and his buddy Gerald bounce off a quirky cast of characters .
3	Bleakly funny , its characters all the more touching for refusing to pity or memorialize themselves .
2	It will not appeal to the impatient , but those who like long books and movies will admire the way it accumulates power and depth .
4	This flick is about as cool and crowd - pleasing as a documentary can get .
2	" The Ring " is pretty much an English - language copy of the film that inspired it , and it carries the same strengths and flaws .
3	The Wild Thornberrys Movie is a jolly surprise .
4	Griffiths proves she 's that rare luminary who continually raises the standard of her profession .
2	Prancing his way through the tailor - made part of a male hooker approaching the end of his vitality , Jagger obviously relishes every self-mocking moment .
3	Offers much to enjoy ... and a lot to mull over in terms of love , loyalty and the nature of staying friends .
4	An important movie , a reminder of the power of film to move us and to make us examine our values .
2	Is this love or is it masochism ?
4	Binoche makes it interesting trying to find out .
4	The mesmerizing performances of the leads keep the film grounded and keep the audience riveted .
3	Worth watching for Dong Jie 's performance -- and for the way it documents a culture in the throes of rapid change .
4	Two hours fly by -- opera 's a pleasure when you do n't have to endure intermissions -- and even a novice to the form comes away exhilarated .
3	It 's one heck of a character study -- not of Hearst or Davies but of the unique relationship between them .
2	Candid Camera on methamphetamines .
1	A subject like this should inspire reaction in its audience ; The Pianist does not .
2	Equilibrium is what George Orwell might have imagined had today 's mood - altering drug therapy been envisioned by chemists in 1949 .
2	Creepy , authentic and dark .
2	This disturbing bio-pic is hard to forget .
4	Martin and Barbara are complex characters -- sometimes tender , sometimes angry -- and the delicate performances by Sven Wollter and Viveka Seldahl make their hopes and frustrations vivid .
2	A twisty , moody slice of Southern Gothic ...
2	It 's so good that you can practically see the Hollywood ` suits ' trying to put together the cast and filmmaking team for the all - too - inevitable American remake .
3	The weight of the piece , the unerring professionalism of the chilly production , and the fascination embedded in the lurid topic prove recommendation enough .
1	An absurdist comedy about alienation , separation and loss .
2	` They ' begins and ends with scenes so terrifying I 'm still stunned .
2	And I 've decided to leave a light on every night from now on .
3	This tenth feature is a big deal , indeed -- at least the third - best , and maybe even a notch above the previous runner - up , Nicholas Meyer 's Star Trek VI : The Undiscovered Country .
3	... with " The Bourne Identity " we return to the more traditional action genre .
2	Beneath Clouds is a succinct low - budget film whose compelling characters and intelligent script are exactly what was missing from Rabbit - Proof Fence .
2	The film is a contrivance , as artificial as the video games Japanese teens play in a nightclub sequence , but it 's an enjoyable one .
4	Holm ... embodies the character with an effortlessly regal charisma .
4	It is amusing , and that 's all it needs to be .
4	Among the year 's most intriguing explorations of alientation .
3	A full world has been presented onscreen , not some series of carefully structured plot points building to a pat resolution .
4	Seldom has a movie so closely matched the spirit of a man and his work .
3	Audrey Tatou has a knack for picking roles that magnify her outrageous charm , and in this literate French comedy , she 's as morning - glory exuberant as she was in Amélie .
4	The movie has an infectious exuberance that will engage anyone with a passing interest in the skate/surf culture , the L.A. beach scene and the imaginative ( and sometimes illegal ) ways kids can make a playground out of the refuse of adults .
3	Even if you do n't think ( Kissinger 's ) any more guilty of criminal activity than most contemporary statesmen , he 'd sure make a courtroom trial great fun to watch .
3	The story and structure are well - honed .
3	Fresnadillo 's dark and jolting images have a way of plying into your subconscious like the nightmare you had a week ago that wo n't go away .
3	It 's made with deftly unsettling genre flair .
3	It just may inspire a few younger moviegoers to read Stevenson 's book , which is a treasure in and of itself .
3	Funny but perilously slight .
3	Overall very good for what it 's trying to do .
2	Forgettable horror -- more gory than psychological -- with a highly satisfying quotient of Friday - night excitement and Milla power .
3	Ramsay , as in Ratcatcher , remains a filmmaker with an acid viewpoint and a real gift for teasing chilly poetry out of lives and settings that might otherwise seem drab and sordid .
2	It may seem long at 110 minutes if you 're not a fan , because it includes segments of 12 songs at a reunion concert .
4	A lean , deftly shot , well - acted , weirdly retro thriller that recalls a raft of '60s and '70s European - set spy pictures .
3	It proves quite compelling as an intense , brooding character study .
3	The Son 's Room is a triumph of gentility that earns its moments of pathos .
3	Morton uses her face and her body language to bring us Morvern 's soul , even though the character is almost completely deadpan .
3	The film may appear naked in its narrative form ... but it goes deeper than that , to fundamental choices that include the complexity of the Catholic doctrine
3	A superbly acted and funny/gritty fable of the humanizing of one woman at the hands of the unseen forces of fate .
4	One of the smartest takes on singles culture I 've seen in a long time .
3	There is a fabric of complex ideas here , and feelings that profoundly deepen them .
3	CQ 's reflection of artists and the love of cinema - and - self suggests nothing less than a new voice that deserves to be considered as a possible successor to the best European directors .
3	The emotions are raw and will strike a nerve with anyone who 's ever had family trauma .
2	Holy mad maniac in a mask , Splat - Man !
3	Good old - fashioned slash - and - hack is back !
3	As unseemly as its title suggests .
2	The French are rather good at this kind of thing , unlike the Americans , who have a passion for Musketeers , only to spoof them .
3	The fly - on - the - wall method used to document rural French school life is a refreshing departure from the now more prevalent technique of the docu - makers being a visible part of their work .
3	It 's an offbeat treat that pokes fun at the democratic exercise while also examining its significance for those who take part .
3	Allows us to hope that Nolan is poised to embark a major career as a commercial yet inventive filmmaker .
2	Maneuvers skillfully through the plot 's hot brine -- until it 's undone by the sogginess of its contemporary characters , and actors .
2	It has the ability to offend and put off everyone , but it holds you with its outrageousness .
4	Anchored by Friel and Williams 's exceptional performances , the film 's power lies in its complexity .
2	Nothing is black and white .
4	It 's a charming and often affecting journey .
4	No screen fantasy - adventure in recent memory has the showmanship of Clones ' last 45 minutes .
4	A poignant and compelling story about relationships , Food of Love takes us on a bumpy but satisfying journey of the heart .
3	The Chateau cleverly probes the cross-cultural differences between Gauls and Yanks .
3	Not since Tom Cruise in Risky Business has an actor made such a strong impression in his underwear .
3	Aside from minor tinkering , this is the same movie you probably loved in 1994 , except that it looks even better .
4	Uses high comedy to evoke surprising poignance .
4	It confirms Fincher 's status as a film maker who artfully bends technical know - how to the service of psychological insight .
4	Vera 's three actors -- Mollà , Gil and Bardem -- excel in insightful , empathetic performances .
3	A marvel like none you 've seen .
3	With tightly organized efficiency , numerous flashbacks and a constant edge of tension , Miller 's film is one of 2002 's involvingly adult surprises .
4	Mr. Tsai is a very original artist in his medium , and What Time Is It There ?
2	should be seen at the very least for its spasms of absurdist humor .
2	Writer/director Mark Romanek spotlights the underlying caste system in America .
2	It 's a scathing portrayal .
4	This is a good script , good dialogue , funny even for adults .
4	The characters are interesting and often very creatively constructed from figure to backstory .
3	The film will play equally well on both the standard and giant screens .
3	Moody , heartbreaking , and filmed in a natural , unforced style that makes its characters seem entirely convincing even when its script is not .
2	Not a film to rival To Live , but a fine little amuse - bouche to keep your appetite whetted .
3	True tale of courage -- and complicity -- at Auschwitz is a harrowing drama that tries to tell of the unspeakable .
3	Gives you the steady pulse of life in a beautiful city viewed through the eyes of a character who , in spite of tragic loss and increasing decrepitude , knows in his bones that he is one of the luckiest men alive .
3	MacDowell , whose wifty Southern charm has anchored lighter affairs ... brings an absolutely riveting conviction to her role .
2	What Time Is It There ?
2	is not easy .
3	It haunts you , you ca n't forget it , you admire its conception and are able to resolve some of the confusions you had while watching it .
3	if you are an actor who can relate to the search for inner peace by dramatically depicting the lives of others onstage , then Esther 's story is a compelling quest for truth .
2	Although the level of the comedy declines as the movie proceeds , there 's no denying the fun of watching De Niro and Crystal having fun .
2	Claude Chabrol has here a thriller without thrills , but that 's okay .
4	For movie lovers as well as opera lovers , Tosca is a real treat .
1	Unflinchingly bleak and desperate
1	Moretti 's compelling anatomy of grief and the difficult process of adapting to loss .
4	Challenging , intermittently engrossing and unflaggingly creative .
0	But it 's too long and too convoluted and it ends in a muddle .
3	The vivid lead performances sustain interest and empathy , but the journey is far more interesting than the final destination .
3	A painfully funny ode to bad behavior .
4	` Easily my choice for one of the year 's best films . '
3	Charles ' entertaining film chronicles Seinfeld 's return to stand - up comedy after the wrap of his legendary sitcom , alongside wannabe comic Adams ' attempts to get his shot at the big time .
3	That dogged good will of the parents and ` vain ' Jia 's defoliation of ego , make the film touching despite some doldrums .
2	The movie is for fans who ca n't stop loving anime , and the fanatical excess built into it .
3	The volatile dynamics of female friendship is the subject of this unhurried , low - key film that is so off - Hollywood that it seems positively French in its rhythms and resonance .
4	A densely constructed , highly referential film , and an audacious return to form that can comfortably sit among Jean - Luc Godard 's finest work .
4	Michael Gerbosi 's script is economically packed with telling scenes .
4	A strangely compelling and brilliantly acted psychological drama .
4	Candid and comfortable ; a film that deftly balances action and reflection as it lets you grasp and feel the passion others have for their work .
2	Open - minded kids -- kids who read , kids who dream -- will be comforted by the way it deals with big issues like death and destiny .
4	Bennett 's naturalistic performance speaks volumes more truth than any ` reality ' show , and anybody contemplating their own drastic life changes should watch Some Body first .
2	... a good , if not entirely fresh , look at war .
4	The film is powerful , accessible and funny .
2	You wo n't miss its messages , but you 'll be entertained as well .
4	If you dig on David Mamet 's mind tricks ... rent this movie and enjoy !
3	The primitive force of this film seems to bubble up from the vast collective memory of the combatants .
0	It 's like watching a nightmare made flesh .
2	It is the sheer , selfish , wound - licking , bar - scrapping doggedness of Leon 's struggle to face and transmute his demons that makes the movie a spirited and touching occasion , despite its patchy construction .
4	A gorgeous , high - spirited musical from India that exquisitely blends music , dance , song , and high drama .
3	It 's hard to imagine Alan Arkin being better than he is in this performance .
3	Despite the 2-D animation , The Wild Thornberrys Movie makes for a surprisingly cinematic experience .
3	... a fun little timewaster , helped especially by the cool presence of Jean Reno .
2	( Majidi ) makes us think twice about immigrants we see around us every day .
3	Though only 60 minutes long , the film is packed with information and impressions .
2	I have no way of knowing exactly how much is exaggeration , but I 've got a creepy feeling that the film is closer to the mark than I want to believe .
3	Immersing us in the endlessly inventive , fiercely competitive world of hip - hop DJs , the project is sensational and revelatory , even if scratching makes you itch .
3	Further proof that the epicenter of cool , beautiful , thought - provoking foreign cinema is smack - dab in the middle of Dubya 's Axis of Evil .
3	There 's really only one good idea in this movie , but the director runs with it and presents it with an unforgettable visual panache .
4	A simple , but gritty and well - acted ensemble drama that encompasses a potent metaphor for a country still dealing with its fascist past .
4	Lovely and poignant .
3	Puts a human face on a land most Westerners are unfamiliar with .
2	I ca n't say that I liked Homeboy ; it 'd be more accurate to say that I found it intriguing , bizarre , Dogma - like in spots - and quite truthful , in its way .
3	Displaying about equal amounts of naiveté , passion and talent , Beneath Clouds establishes Sen as a filmmaker of considerable potential .
3	The vitality of the actors keeps the intensity of the film high , even as the strafings blend together .
4	Not since Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa 's Ran have the savagery of combat and the specter of death been visualized with such operatic grandeur .
2	We learn a lot about dying coral and see a lot of life on the reef .
0	If the first Men in Black was money , the second is small change .
3	But it still jingles in the pocket .
3	It 's fun lite .
1	Passable entertainment , but it 's the kind of motion picture that wo n't make much of a splash when it 's released , and will not be remembered long afterwards .
4	I just loved every minute of this film .
4	This is a winning ensemble comedy that shows Canadians can put gentle laughs and equally gentle sentiments on the button , just as easily as their counterparts anywhere else in the world .
3	Just as moving , uplifting and funny as ever .
4	My Wife Is an Actress is an utterly charming French comedy that feels so American in sensibility and style it 's virtually its own Hollywood remake .
3	It will grip even viewers who are n't interested in rap , as it cuts to the heart of American society in an unnerving way .
2	A muckraking job , the cinematic equivalent of a legal indictment , and a fairly effective one at that .
4	A tender , witty , captivating film about friendship , love , memory , trust and loyalty .
4	Belongs to Daniel Day - Lewis as much as it belongs to Martin Scorsese ; it 's a memorable performance in a big , brassy , disturbing , unusual and highly successful film .
4	An exhilarating futuristic thriller - noir , Minority Report twists the best of technology around a gripping story , delivering a riveting , pulse intensifying escapist adventure of the first order
4	A psychological thriller with a genuinely spooky premise and an above - average cast , actor Bill Paxton 's directing debut is a creepy slice of gothic rural Americana .
3	While locals will get a kick out of spotting Cleveland sites , the rest of the world will enjoy a fast - paced comedy with quirks that might make the award - winning Coen brothers envious .
1	Pumpkin takes an admirable look at the hypocrisy of political correctness , but it does so with such an uneven tone that you never know when humor ends and tragedy begins .
3	If you 're hard up for raunchy college humor , this is your ticket right here .
4	Few films capture so perfectly the hopes and dreams of little boys on baseball fields as well as the grown men who sit in the stands .
3	Corny , schmaltzy and predictable , but still manages to be kind of heartwarming , nonetheless .
2	It 's the perfect kind of film to see when you do n't want to use your brain .
2	At all .
2	While it regards 1967 as the key turning point of the 20th century , and returns again and again to images of dissidents in the streets , it 's alarmingly current .
4	Feature debuter D.J. Caruso directs a crack ensemble cast , bringing screenwriter Tony Gayton 's narcotics noir to life .
1	Every dance becomes about seduction , where backstabbing and betrayals are celebrated , and sex is currency .
3	Harris commands the screen , using his frailty to suggest the ravages of a life of corruption and ruthlessness .
4	Stephen Rea , Aidan Quinn , and Alan Bates play Desmond 's legal eagles , and when joined by Brosnan , the sight of this grandiloquent quartet lolling in pretty Irish settings is a pleasant enough thing , ` tis .
4	Director of photography Benoit Delhomme shot the movie in delicious colors , and the costumes and sets are grand .
3	The movie 's relatively simple plot and uncomplicated morality play well with the affable cast .
4	The film is quiet , threatening and unforgettable .
3	This illuminating documentary transcends our preconceived vision of the Holy Land and its inhabitants , revealing the human complexities beneath .
4	deliriously funny , fast and loose , accessible to the uninitiated , and full of surprises
3	Trademark American triteness and simplicity are tossed out the window with the intelligent French drama that deftly explores the difficult relationship between a father and son .
3	One from the heart .
2	More concerned with Sade 's ideas than with his actions .
3	The movie achieves as great an impact by keeping these thoughts hidden as ... ( Quills ) did by showing them .
3	An entertaining , colorful , action - filled crime story with an intimate heart .
3	While Undisputed is n't exactly a high , it is a gripping , tidy little movie that takes Mr. Hill higher than he 's been in a while .
4	The most compelling Wiseman epic of recent years .
3	The socio-histo - political treatise is told in earnest strides ... ( and ) personal illusion is deconstructed with poignancy .
3	It 's great escapist fun that recreates a place and time that will never happen again .
3	Good car chases , great fight scenes , and a distinctive blend of European , American and Asian influences .
3	Liotta put on 30 pounds for the role , and has completely transformed himself from his smooth , Goodfellas image .
3	A woman 's pic directed with resonance by Ilya Chaiken .
3	( Grant 's ) bumbling magic takes over the film , and it turns out to be another winning star vehicle .
2	... Brian De Palma is utterly mad : cinema mad , set - piece mad , style mad .
3	It 's a beautiful madness .
2	Generally provides its target audience of youngsters enough stimulating eye and ear candy to make its moral medicine go down .
4	There are some wonderfully fresh moments that smooth the moral stiffness with human kindness and hopefulness .
3	A grimly competent and stolid and earnest military courtroom drama .
3	Escaping the studio , Piccoli is warmly affecting and so is this adroitly minimalist movie .
3	Very psychoanalytical -- provocatively so -- and also refreshingly literary .
3	A gorgeous , witty , seductive movie .
3	The special effects and many scenes of weightlessness look as good or better than in the original , while the Oscar - winning sound and James Horner 's rousing score make good use of the hefty audio system .
3	On the heels of The Ring comes a similarly morose and humorless horror movie that , although flawed , is to be commended for its straight - ahead approach to creepiness .
3	With Rabbit - Proof Fence , Noyce has tailored an epic tale into a lean , economical movie .
4	( A ) n utterly charming and hilarious film that reminded me of the best of the Disney comedies from the 60s .
4	Preaches to two completely different choirs at the same time , which is a pretty amazing accomplishment .
3	Thanks to Haynes ' absolute control of the film 's mood , and buoyed by three terrific performances , Far From Heaven actually pulls off this stylistic juggling act .
3	Birthday Girl is an amusing joy ride , with some surprisingly violent moments .
4	More romantic , more emotional and ultimately more satisfying than the teary - eyed original .
2	An appealingly juvenile trifle that delivers its share of laughs and smiles .
4	Writer - director 's Mehta 's effort has tons of charm and the whimsy is in the mixture , the intoxicating masala , of cultures and film genres .
4	The draw ( for " Big Bad Love " ) is a solid performance by Arliss Howard .
3	It gets onto the screen just about as much of the novella as one could reasonably expect , and is engrossing and moving in its own right .
4	The terrific and bewilderingly underrated Campbell Scott gives a star performance that is nothing short of mesmerizing .
3	Cool ?
2	This movie is a snow emergency .
2	Like Mike is n't interested in recycling old cliches .
3	It wants to tweak them with a taste of tangy new humor .
2	Smith is careful not to make fun of these curious owners of architectural oddities .
4	Instead , he shows them the respect they are due .
2	A mess when it comes to the characters and writing ... but works its way underneath the skin like few movies have in recent memory .
3	Drops you into a dizzying , volatile , pressure - cooker of a situation that quickly snowballs out of control , while focusing on the what much more than the why .
3	Zhang ... has done an amazing job of getting realistic performances from his mainly nonprofessional cast .
3	A solid examination of the male midlife crisis .
2	If you 're in the mood for a Bollywood film , here 's one for you .
4	As the two leads , Lathan and Diggs are charming and have chemistry both as friends and lovers .
2	A beguiling , slow - moving parable about the collision of past and present on a remote seacoast in Iran .
4	My Big Fat Greek Wedding uses stereotypes in a delightful blend of sweet romance and lovingly dished out humor .
2	Kept aloft largely by a comically adept ensemble .
3	The sort of film that makes me miss Hitchcock , but also feel optimistic that there 's hope for popular cinema yet .
3	First - time writer - director Serry shows a remarkable gift for storytelling with this moving , effective little film .
4	Atom Egoyan has conjured up a multilayered work that tackles any number of fascinating issues
2	essentially an exceptionally well - written , well - edited , well - directed , well - acted , bald rip - off of Aliens .
4	` De Niro ... is a veritable source of sincere passion that this Hollywood contrivance orbits around . '
2	The whole is quite entertaining , but despite its virtues , there is an unsettled feeling to the film .
3	While its careful pace and seemingly opaque story may not satisfy every moviegoer 's appetite , the film 's final scene is soaringly , transparently moving .
3	Hardly a masterpiece , but it introduces viewers to a good charitable enterprise and some interesting real people .
4	Based on a devilishly witty script by Heather McGowan and Niels Mueller , the film gets great laughs , but never at the expense of its characters
1	It 's somewhat clumsy and too lethargically paced -- but its story about a mysterious creature with psychic abilities offers a solid build - up , a terrific climax , and some nice chills along the way .
2	If you 've ever wondered what an ending without the input of studio executives or test audiences would look like , here it is .
3	Exciting and direct , with ghost imagery that shows just enough to keep us on our toes .
3	Whether writer - director Anne Fontaine 's film is a ghost story , an account of a nervous breakdown , a trip down memory lane , all three or none of the above , it is as seductive as it is haunting .
3	What the film lacks in general focus it makes up for in compassion , as Corcuera manages to find the seeds of hope in the form of collective action .
4	If you enjoy more thoughtful comedies with interesting conflicted characters ; this one is for you .
3	The quality of the art combined with the humor and intelligence of the script allow the filmmakers to present the biblical message of forgiveness without it ever becoming preachy or syrupy .
1	This film seems thirsty for reflection , itself taking on adolescent qualities .
3	Another one of those estrogen overdose movies like " Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood , " except that the writing , acting and character development are a lot better .
4	A breezy romantic comedy that has the punch of a good sitcom , while offering exceptionally well - detailed characters .
4	A romantic comedy enriched by a sharp eye for manners and mores .
2	Viewers of " The Ring " are more likely to remember the haunting images than the plot holes .
3	A delightful coming - of - age story .
4	One of those energetic surprises , an original that pleases almost everyone who sees it .
4	An exquisitely crafted and acted tale .
3	A taut psychological thriller that does n't waste a moment of its two - hour running time .
3	Jones ... does offer a brutal form of charisma .
3	Despite its title , Punch - Drunk Love is never heavy - handed .
3	The jabs it employs are short , carefully placed and dead - center .
3	There 's a wickedly subversive bent to the best parts of Birthday Girl .
2	Likely to expertly drum up repressed teenage memories in any viewer .
4	Blanchett 's performance confirms her power once again .
4	... a magnificent drama well worth tracking down .
3	A good piece of work more often than not .
4	The movie understands like few others how the depth and breadth of emotional intimacy give the physical act all of its meaning and most of its pleasure .
3	What distinguishes Time of Favor from countless other thrillers is its underlying concern with the consequences of words and with the complicated emotions fueling terrorist acts .
3	Smart , provocative and blisteringly funny .
1	Nothing is sacred in this gut - buster .
2	The movie occasionally threatens to become didactic , but it 's too grounded in the reality of its characters to go over the edge .
2	A touch of humor or an unexpected plot twist always pulls it back .
4	Filmmakers who can deftly change moods are treasures and even marvels .
3	So , too , is this comedy about mild culture clashing in today 's New Delhi .
4	If Steven Soderbergh 's ` Solaris ' is a failure it is a glorious failure .
4	" Mostly Martha " is a bright , light modern day family parable that wears its heart on its sleeve for all to see .
3	It 's a scattershot affair , but when it hits its mark it 's brilliant .
3	A pleasant enough romance with intellectual underpinnings , the kind of movie that entertains even as it turns maddeningly predictable .
4	Featuring a dangerously seductive performance from the great Daniel Auteuil , " Sade " covers the same period as Kaufmann 's " Quills " with more unsettlingly realistic results .
4	A spellbinding African film about the modern condition of rootlessness , a state experienced by millions around the globe .
3	It 's a work by an artist so in control of both his medium and his message that he can improvise like a jazzman .
4	A moody , multi-dimensional love story and sci-fi mystery , Solaris is a thought - provoking , haunting film that allows the seeds of the imagination to germinate .
4	A very well - made , funny and entertaining picture .
3	A giggle - inducing comedy with snappy dialogue and winning performances by an unlikely team of Oscar - winners : Susan Sarandon and Goldie Hawn .
2	Its maker , Steven Spielberg , has n't had so much fun in two decades , since he was schlepping Indiana Jones around the globe in search of a giant misplaced ashtray .
3	Oscar Wilde 's masterpiece , The Importance of Being Earnest , may be the best play of the 19th century .
3	It 's so good that its relentless , polished wit can withstand not only inept school productions , but even Oliver Parker 's movie adaptation .
3	The movie does a good job of laying out some of the major issues that we encounter as we journey through life .
4	Brilliantly explores the conflict between following one 's heart and following the demands of tradition .
2	This remake gets all there is to get out of a peculiar premise with promise : Al Pacino loathing Robin Williams .
2	The next generation of mob movie .
1	Part low rent Godfather .
2	Part Three Stooges .
2	Lan Yu is at times too restrained , yet there are moments it captures the erotics of intimacy in a way that makes most American love stories look downright unfree .
2	A thinly veiled look at different aspects of Chinese life clashing with each other .
3	Light years / several warp speeds / levels and levels of dilithium crystals better than the pitiful Insurrection .
2	Which is n't to say that it 's the equal of some of its predecessors .
2	If this story must be told and retold -- and indeed it must -- then The Grey Zone is to be lauded for finding a new and ingenious angle .
3	The Lion King was a roaring success when it was released eight years ago , but on Imax it seems better , not just bigger .
4	A gripping movie , played with performances that are all understated and touching .
3	The piece plays as well as it does thanks in large measure to Anspaugh 's three lead actresses .
3	The inspirational screenplay by Mike Rich covers a lot of ground , perhaps too much , but ties things together , neatly , by the end .
4	Not the kind of film that will appeal to a mainstream American audience , but there is a certain charm about the film that makes it a suitable entry into the fest circuit .
3	Director Andrew Niccol ... demonstrates a wry understanding of the quirks of fame .
3	His healthy sense of satire is light and fun ...
3	About a manga - like heroine who fights back at her abusers , it 's energetic and satisfying if not deep and psychological .
3	This is human comedy at its most amusing , interesting and confirming .
4	An artful , intelligent film that stays within the confines of a well - established genre .
3	Majidi is an unconventional storyteller , capable of finding beauty in the most depressing places .
3	Richard Gere and Diane Lane put in fine performances as does French actor Oliver Martinez .
3	The minor figures surrounding ( Bobby ) ... form a gritty urban mosaic .
4	This is wild surreal stuff , but brilliant and the camera just kind of sits there and lets you look at this and its like you 're going from one room to the next and none of them have any relation to the other .
3	It 's a demented kitsch mess ( although the smeary digital video does match the muddled narrative ) , but it 's savvy about celebrity and has more guts and energy than much of what will open this year .
3	There is nothing outstanding about this film , but it is good enough and will likely be appreciated most by sailors and folks who know their way around a submarine .
3	All - in - all , the film is an enjoyable and frankly told tale of a people who live among us , but not necessarily with us .
3	An interesting story with a pertinent ( cinematically unique ) message , told fairly well and scored to perfection , I found myself struggling to put my finger on that elusive " missing thing . "
3	A movie with a real anarchic flair .
1	Without non-stop techno or the existential overtones of a Kieslowski morality tale , Maelström is just another Winter Sleepers .
1	Nicks , seemingly uncertain what 's going to make people laugh , runs the gamut from stale parody to raunchy sex gags to formula romantic comedy .
2	` A ' for creativity but comes across more as a sketch for a full - length comedy .
0	If there 's one thing this world needs less of , it 's movies about college that are written and directed by people who could n't pass an entrance exam .
1	The script kicks in , and Mr. Hartley 's distended pace and foot - dragging rhythms follow .
1	( E ) ventually , every idea in this film is flushed down the latrine of heroism .
1	I am sorry that I was unable to get the full brunt of the comedy .
1	No telegraphing is too obvious or simplistic for this movie .
1	Looks and feels like a project better suited for the small screen .
0	In its best moments , resembles a bad high school production of Grease , without benefit of song .
1	Indifferently implausible popcorn programmer of a movie .
1	It 's inoffensive , cheerful , built to inspire the young people , set to an unending soundtrack of beach party pop numbers and aside from its remarkable camerawork and awesome scenery , it 's about as exciting as a sunburn .
1	His comedy premises are often hackneyed or just plain crude , calculated to provoke shocked laughter , without following up on a deeper level .
2	Christina Ricci comedy about sympathy , hypocrisy and love is a misfire .
1	At times , the suspense is palpable , but by the end there 's a sense that the crux of the mystery hinges on a technicality that strains credulity and leaves the viewer haunted by the waste of potential .
1	They should have called it Gutterball .
3	Thekids will probably stay amused at the kaleidoscope of big , colorful characters .
2	Mom and Dad can catch some quality naptime along the way .
1	It 's too self-important and plodding to be funny , and too clipped and abbreviated to be an epic .
1	The best that can be said about the work here of Scottish director Ritchie ... is that he obviously does n't have his heart in it .
1	Less dizzying than just dizzy , the jaunt is practically over before it begins .
3	Slick piece of cross-promotion .
0	Taylor appears to have blown his entire budget on soundtrack rights and had nothing left over for jokes .
2	It believes it 's revealing some great human truths , when , in reality , it 's churning ground that has long passed the point of being fertile .
0	It all drags on so interminably it 's like watching a miserable relationship unfold in real time .
1	Villeneuve spends too much time wallowing in Bibi 's generic angst ( there are a lot of shots of her gazing out windows ) .
0	( T ) here 's only so much anyone can do with a florid , overplotted , Anne Rice rock 'n' roll vampire novel before the built - in silliness of the whole affair defeats them .
1	It 's another video movie photographed like a film , with the bad lighting that 's often written off as indie film naturalism .
2	The techno tux is good for a few laughs , as are Chan and Hewitt , but when such a good design turns out to be a cheap knockoff , we ca n't recommend anything but a rental for The Tuxedo .
0	I got a headache watching this meaningless downer .
2	Apart from dazzling cinematography , we 've seen just about everything in Blue Crush in one form or the other .
1	Too much of the humor falls flat .
1	Detox is ultimately a pointless endeavor .
2	Van Wilder does n't bring anything new to the proverbial table , but it does possess a coherence absent in recent crass-a-thons like Tomcats , Freddy Got Fingered , and Slackers .
1	The piquant story needs more dramatic meat on its bones .
1	Very special effects , brilliantly bold colors and heightened reality ca n't hide the giant Achilles ' heel in " Stuart Little 2 " : There 's just no story , folks .
2	The plot combines The Blues Brothers and Almost Famous ( but with bears , and a G rating ) , with an excruciating dollop of Disney sentimentality mixed in for good measure .
0	No way I can believe this load of junk .
2	" Roger Michell ( " Notting Hill " ) directs a morality thriller . "
0	It 's dumb , but more importantly , it 's just not scary .
0	There is no pleasure in watching a child suffer .
0	Just embarrassment and a vague sense of shame .
1	The movie 's accumulated force still feels like an ugly knot tightening in your stomach .
2	But is that knot from dramatic tension or a symptom of artistic malnutrition ?
1	Even with a green Mohawk and a sheet of fire - red flame tattoos covering his shoulder , however , Kilmer seems to be posing , rather than acting .
1	And that leaves a hole in the center of The Salton Sea .
2	There 's just no currency in deriding James Bond for being a clichéd , doddering , misogynistic boy 's club .
0	When the film ended , I felt tired and drained and wanted to lie on my own deathbed for a while .
2	Full of witless jokes , dealing in broad stereotypes and outrageously unbelievable scenarios , and saddled with a general air of misogyny
0	The film 's hackneyed message is not helped by the thin characterizations , nonexistent plot and pretentious visual style .
0	The Iditarod lasts for days - this just felt like it did .
0	It feels like an after - school special gussied up with some fancy special effects , and watching its rote plot points connect is about as exciting as gazing at an egg timer for 93 minutes .
1	This movie is maddening .
2	It conveys a simple message in a visual style that is willfully overwrought .
1	Should have been someone else -
1	The film is based on truth and yet there is something about it that feels incomplete , as if the real story starts just around the corner .
0	Why make a documentary about these marginal historical figures ?
2	Would n't one about their famous dad , author of Death in Venice , etc. , be more valuable ?
1	The lower your expectations , the more you 'll enjoy it .
1	Rarely has leukemia looked so shimmering and benign .
1	... is an arthritic attempt at directing by Callie Khouri .
0	I had to look away - this was god awful .
2	Even in this less - than - magic kingdom , Reese rules .
1	Velocity represents everything wrong with " independent film " as a commodified , sold - out concept on the American filmmaking scene .
1	Just one bad idea after another .
1	Because of an unnecessary and clumsy last scene , ` Swimfan ' left me with a very bad feeling .
1	Though Moonlight Mile is replete with acclaimed actors and actresses and tackles a subject that 's potentially moving , the movie is too predictable and too self-conscious to reach a level of high drama .
2	A movie that hovers somewhere between an acute character study and a trite power struggle .
1	Corpus Collosum -- while undeniably interesting -- wore out its welcome well before the end credits rolled about 45 minutes in .
1	The last 20 minutes are somewhat redeeming , but most of the movie is the same teenage American road - trip drek we 've seen before - only this time you have to read the fart jokes
1	It 's hard to like a film about a guy who is utterly unlikeable , and Shiner , starring Michael Caine as an aging British boxing promoter desperate for a taste of fame and fortune , is certainly that .
1	A by - the - numbers effort that wo n't do much to enhance the franchise .
0	Involves two mysteries -- one it gives away and the other featuring such badly drawn characters that its outcome hardly matters .
1	Overall the film feels like a low - budget TV pilot that could not find a buyer to play it on the tube .
1	It 's of the quality of a lesser Harrison Ford movie - Six Days , Seven Nights , maybe , or that dreadful Sabrina remake .
1	It appears that something has been lost in the translation to the screen .
1	Despite all evidence to the contrary , this clunker has somehow managed to pose as an actual feature movie , the kind that charges full admission and gets hyped on TV and purports to amuse small children and ostensible adults .
0	An unclassifiably awful study in self - and audience - abuse .
0	This movie is something of an impostor itself , stretching and padding its material in a blur of dead ends and distracting camera work .
2	Hey Arnold !
2	The Movie could have been made 40 years ago , and parents ' appreciation of it may depend on whether they consider that a good thing .
0	This one is definitely one to skip , even for horror movie fanatics .
1	Excessive , profane , packed with cartoonish violence and comic - strip characters .
1	Once the 50 year old Benigni appears as the title character , we find ourselves longing for the block of wood to come back .
3	A working class " us vs. them " opera that leaves no heartstring untugged and no liberal cause unplundered .
1	If the movie succeeds in instilling a wary sense of ` there but for the grace of God , ' it is far too self-conscious to draw you deeply into its world .
1	There are simply too many ideas floating around -- part farce , part Sliding Doors , part pop video -- and yet failing to exploit them .
0	It takes a strange kind of laziness to waste the talents of Robert Forster , Anne Meara , Eugene Levy , and Reginald VelJohnson all in the same movie .
4	We have n't seen such hilarity since Say It Is n't So !
0	Expect the same - old , lame - old slasher nonsense , just with different scenery .
1	The Cold Turkey would 've been a far better title .
2	The idea of 49 - year - old Roberto Benigni playing the wooden boy Pinocchio is scary enough .
1	The reality of the new live - action Pinocchio he directed , cowrote and starred in borders on the grotesque .
2	The ga - zillionth airhead movie about a wife in distress who resorts to desperate measures .
1	Zaidan 's script has barely enough plot to string the stunts together and not quite enough characterization to keep the faces straight .
0	Try as I may , I ca n't think of a single good reason to see this movie , even though everyone in my group extemporaneously shouted , ` Thank you ! '
1	when Leguizamo finally plugged an irritating character late in the movie .
2	While it 's nice to watch a movie that has n't been focus - grouped into tedium , Yu 's cinematic alchemy produces nearly as much lead as gold .
0	It treats women like idiots .
2	Though Catch Me If You Can is n't badly made , the fun slowly leaks out of the movie .
2	Just an average comedic dateflick but not a waste of time .
1	A valueless kiddie paean to pro basketball underwritten by the NBA .
1	Impostor has a handful of thrilling moments and a couple of good performances , but the movie does n't quite fly .
1	For starters , the story is just too slim .
3	So much facile technique , such cute ideas , so little movie .
0	The experience of going to a film festival is a rewarding one ; the experiencing of sampling one through this movie is not .
2	The film takes the materials of human tragedy and dresses them in lovely costumes , Southern California locations and star power .
1	It has its moments of swaggering camaraderie , but more often just feels generic , derivative and done to death .
0	Almost gags on its own gore .
0	How do you spell cliché ?
2	It 's sweet , harmless , dumb , occasionally funny and about as compelling as a fishing show .
0	The moviegoing equivalent of going to a dinner party and being forced to watch the host and hostess 's home video of their baby 's birth .
1	While ( Hill ) has learned new tricks , the tricks alone are not enough to salvage this lifeless boxing film .
0	Too much of it feels unfocused and underdeveloped .
2	Under 15 ?
4	A giggle a minute .
2	Over age 15 ?
0	Big Fat Waste of Time .
2	Hey Arnold !
0	The Movie is what happens when you blow up small potatoes to 10 times their natural size , and it ai n't pretty .
1	Sometimes seems less like storytelling than something the otherwise compelling director needed to get off his chest .
0	This is not the undisputed worst boxing movie ever , but it 's certainly not a champion - the big loser is the audience .
0	You really have to wonder how on earth anyone , anywhere could have thought they 'd make audiences guffaw with a script as utterly diabolical as this .
1	In the end , we are left with something like two ships passing in the night rather than any insights into gay love , Chinese society or the price one pays for being dishonest .
1	Chokes on its own depiction of upper - crust decorum .
0	Well - nigh unendurable ... though the picture strains to become cinematic poetry , it remains depressingly prosaic and dull .
1	I thought my own watch had stopped keeping time as I slogged my way through Clockstoppers .
2	While much of the cast has charm -- especially Allodi and Nolden -- the performers are sunk by the film 's primitive approach to the mechanics of comedy .
2	This directorial debut from music video show - off Higuchinsky is all flash .
2	Yes , Ballistic is silly .
0	Unfortunately , it 's not silly fun unless you enjoy really bad movies .
2	The twist that ends the movie is the one with the most emotional resonance , but twists are getting irritating , and this is the kind of material where the filmmakers should be very careful about raising eyebrows .
1	The longer the movie goes , the worse it gets , but it 's actually pretty good in the first few minutes .
1	While it 's genuinely cool to hear characters talk about early rap records ( Sugar Hill Gang , etc. ) , the constant referencing of hip - hop arcana can alienate even the savviest audiences .
0	Not only unfunny , but downright repellent .
1	Care deftly captures the wonder and menace of growing up , but he never really embraces the joy of Fuhrman 's destructive escapism or the grace - in - rebellion found by his characters .
1	Forced , familiar and thoroughly condescending .
1	Does little more than play an innocuous game of fill - in - the - blanks with a tragic past .
0	K-19 exploits our substantial collective fear of nuclear holocaust to generate cheap Hollywood tension .
2	Has a long and clunky ending ... which forces the audience to fidget through ten pseudo-serious minutes while waiting for the ending credits and the deleted scenes montage to break the audience 's awkward silence
2	A ragbag of promising ideas and failed narrative , of good acting and plain old bad filmmaking .
0	Whaley 's determination to immerse you in sheer , unrelenting wretchedness is exhausting .
1	Uncommonly stylish but equally silly ... the picture fails to generate much suspense , nor does it ask searching enough questions to justify its pretensions .
1	The entire movie is about a boring , sad man being boring and sad .
0	The plot convolutions ultimately add up to nothing more than jerking the audience 's chain .
0	Confirms the nagging suspicion that Ethan Hawke would be even worse behind the camera than he is in front of it .
1	Made with no discernible craft and monstrously sanctimonious in dealing with childhood loss .
2	It 's a trifle of a movie , with a few laughs surrounding an unremarkable soft center .
1	Holden Caulfield did it better .
1	A synthesis of cliches and absurdities that seems positively decadent in its cinematic flash and emptiness .
1	Oh come on .
0	Like you could n't smell this turkey rotting from miles away .
2	If it 's seldom boring , well , it 's also rarely coherent .
2	Simplistic fluff - ball of whimsy .
1	Not exactly the Bees Knees
1	It does nothing new with the old story , except to show fisticuffs in this sort of stop - go slow motion that makes the gang rumbles look like they 're being streamed over a 28K modem .
2	The kind of spectacularly misconceived enterprise that only a sophisticated cinephile could have perpetrated .
2	Makes for some truly odd , at times confusing , kids entertainment ... but at least this time there 's some centered storytelling to go along with all the weird stuff .
1	The film contains no good jokes , no good scenes , barely a moment when Carvey 's Saturday Night Live - honed mimicry rises above the level of embarrassment .
2	Jacquot 's rendering of Puccini 's tale of devotion and double - cross is more than just a filmed opera .
2	In his first stab at the form , Jacquot takes a slightly anarchic approach that works only sporadically .
1	Chabrol has taken promising material for a black comedy and turned it instead into a somber chamber drama .
0	It 's as if you 're watching a movie that was made in 1978 but not released then because it was so weak , and it has been unearthed and released now , when it has become even weaker .
2	This is nothing but familiar territory .
1	In execution , this clever idea is far less funny than the original , Killers From Space .
0	One of the more irritating cartoons you will see this , or any , year .
1	A broad , melodramatic estrogen opera that 's pretty toxic in its own right .
1	Too slow , too long and too little happens .
0	The film 's few ideas are stretched to the point of evaporation ; the whole central section is one big chase that seems to have no goal and no urgency .
1	It 's just filler .
1	Sacrifices the value of its wealth of archival foot - age with its less - than - objective stance .
1	Utterly lacking in charm , wit and invention , Roberto Benigni 's Pinocchio is an astonishingly bad film .
1	A hamfisted romantic comedy that makes our girl the hapless facilitator of an extended cheap shot across the Mason - Dixon line .
0	Scores no points for originality , wit , or intelligence .
1	It 's a cookie - cutter movie , a cut - and - paste job .
2	They takes a long time to get to its gasp - inducing ending .
2	Barely gets off the ground .
1	Even on those rare occasions when the narrator stops yammering , Miller 's hand often feels unsure .
1	Pumpkin means to be an outrageous dark satire on fraternity life , but its ambitions far exceed the abilities of writer Adam Larson Broder and his co-director , Tony R. Abrams , in their feature debut .
3	At its best , Queen is campy fun like the Vincent Price horror classics of the '60s .
0	At its worst , it implodes in a series of very bad special effects .
1	From the opening scenes , it 's clear that All About the Benjamins is a totally formulaic movie .
0	It takes a certain kind of horror movie to qualify as ` worse than expected , ' but Ghost Ship somehow manages to do exactly that .
2	On the bright side , it contains Jesse Ventura 's best work since the XFL .
2	Despite impeccable acting ... and a script that takes some rather unexpected ( even , at times , preposterous ) turns , Love is just too , too precious in the end .
1	A TV style murder mystery with a few big screen moments ( including one that seems to be made for a different film altogether ) .
1	By getting myself wrapped up in the visuals and eccentricities of many of the characters , I found myself confused when it came time to get to the heart of the movie .
0	Too often , the viewer is n't reacting to humor so much as they are wincing back in repugnance .
2	Dilbert without the right - on satiric humor .
1	Manages to show life in all of its banality when the intention is quite the opposite .
1	Do not see this film .
3	Minority Report is exactly what the title indicates , a report .
1	Delivers the same old same old , tarted up with Latin flava and turned out by Hollywood playas .
1	If you believe any of this , I can make you a real deal on leftover Enron stock that will double in value a week from Friday .
1	To call The Other Side of Heaven " appalling " would be to underestimate just how dangerous entertainments like it can be .
0	In exactly 89 minutes , most of which passed as slowly as if I 'd been sitting naked on an igloo , Formula 51 sank from quirky to jerky to utter turkey .
2	If only the story about a multi-million dollar con bothered to include the con .
1	I 'd have to say the star and director are the big problems here .
2	Without the dark spookiness of Crystal Lake Camp , the horror concept completely loses its creepy menace .
0	It 's like every bad idea that 's ever gone into an after - school special compiled in one place , minus those daytime programs ' slickness and sophistication ( and who knew they even had any ? ) .
1	While the Resident Evil games may have set new standards for thrills , suspense , and gore for video games , the movie really only succeeds in the third of these .
1	For close to two hours the audience is forced to endure three terminally depressed , mostly inarticulate , hyper dysfunctional families for the price of one .
2	To my taste , the film 's comic characters come perilously close to being Amoses and Andys for a new generation .
1	What the director ca n't do is make either of Val Kilmer 's two personas interesting or worth caring about .
1	In an effort , I suspect , not to offend by appearing either too serious or too lighthearted , it offends by just being wishy - washy .
0	It 's difficult to imagine the process that produced such a script , but here 's guessing that spray cheese and underarm noises played a crucial role .
2	Harland Williams is so funny in drag he should consider permanent sex - reassignment .
1	... nothing scary here except for some awful acting and lame special effects .
1	It 's not that Kung Pow is n't funny some of the time -- it just is n't any funnier than bad martial arts movies are all by themselves , without all Oedekerk 's impish augmentation .
0	A very long movie , dull in stretches , with entirely too much focus on meal preparation and igloo construction .
0	Not an objectionable or dull film ; it merely lacks everything except good intentions .
0	A science - fiction pastiche so lacking in originality that if you stripped away its inspirations there would be precious little left .
1	Once ( Kim ) begins to overplay the shock tactics and bait - and - tackle metaphors , you may decide it 's too high a price to pay for a shimmering picture postcard .
0	The words , ` Frankly , my dear , I do n't give a damn , ' have never been more appropriate .
2	What 's next : " My Mother the Car ? "
1	All the amped - up Tony Hawk - style stunts and thrashing rap - metal ca n't disguise the fact that , really , we 've been here , done that .
1	A sequel that 's much too big for its britches .
0	So unremittingly awful that labeling it a dog probably constitutes cruelty to canines .
1	What was once original has been co-opted so frequently that it now seems pedestrian .
2	A perplexing example of promise unfulfilled , despite many charming moments .
1	For all the writhing and wailing , tears , rage and opium overdoses , there 's no sense of actual passion being washed away in love 's dissolution .
1	A coarse and stupid gross - out .
1	a nightmare date with a half - formed wit done a great disservice by a lack of critical distance and a sad trust in liberal arts college bumper sticker platitudes .
1	Does n't offer much besides glib soullessness , raunchy language and a series of brutal set pieces ... that raise the bar on stylized screen violence .
2	There 's something with potential here , but the movie decides , like Lavinia , to go the conservative route .
0	It 's one pussy - ass world when even killer - thrillers revolve around group therapy sessions .
2	The stripped - down approach does give the film a certain timeless quality , but the measured pace and lack of dramatic inflection can also seem tedious .
0	But the power of these ( subjects ) is obscured by the majority of the film that shows a stationary camera on a subject that could be mistaken for giving a public oration , rather than contributing to a film 's narrative .
1	Rarely has so much money delivered so little entertainment .
1	Tries to add some spice to its quirky sentiments but the taste is all too familiar .
0	Paid In Full is so stale , in fact , that its most vibrant scene is one that uses clips from Brian De Palma 's Scarface .
1	That 's a cheat .
3	Harrison 's Flowers puts its heart in the right place , but its brains are in no particular place at all .
0	This re-do is so dumb and so exploitative in its violence that , ironically , it becomes everything that the rather clumsy original was railing against .
1	A string of rehashed sight gags based in insipid vulgarity .
1	The movie is Dawn of the Dead crossed with John Carpenter 's Ghosts of Mars , with zombies not as ghoulish as the first and trains not as big as the second .
1	Basically a static series of semi-improvised ( and semi-coherent ) raps between the stars .
1	Too restrained to be a freak show , too mercenary and obvious to be cerebral , too dull and pretentious to be engaging ... The Isle defies an easy categorization .
2	An unpredictable blend of gal - pal smart talk , romantic comedy and dark tragedy that bites off considerably more than writer/director John McKay can swallow .
3	It 's one of those baseball pictures where the hero is stoic , the wife is patient , the kids are as cute as all get - out and the odds against success are long enough to intimidate , but short enough to make a dream seem possible .
0	" The Time Machine " is a movie that has no interest in itself .
0	It does n't believe in itself , it has no sense of humor ... it 's just plain bored .
1	... a hollow joke told by a cinematic gymnast having too much fun embellishing the misanthropic tale to actually engage it .
2	A morose little soap opera about three vapid , insensitive people who take turns hurting each other .
2	It 's a feature - length adaptation of one of those " Can This Marriage Be Saved ? "
2	columns from Ladies Home Journal ...
2	The film 's essentially over by the meet - cute .
2	I 'm sure if you 're a Hartley fan , you might enjoy yourself ... Me , I did n't care for it .
3	It 's about following your dreams , no matter what your parents think .
2	Socrates motions for hemlock .
1	The script is n't very good ; not even someone as gifted as Hoffman ( the actor ) can make it work .
2	Walter Hill 's pulpy , stylized boxing melodrama Undisputed nearly overcomes its questionable in-the - ring match - up with solid fight choreography and gritty prison authenticity .
1	It has all the excitement of eating oatmeal .
2	It 's hard to know whether or not to recommend this film because for every thing it does right there 's at least one and occasionally two things it gets ever so wrong .
2	Although there are several truly jolting scares , there 's also an abundance of hackneyed dialogue and more silly satanic business than you can shake a severed limb at .
1	I 'll bet the video game is a lot more fun than the film .
2	Star Trek : Nemesis meekly goes where nearly every Star Trek movie has gone before .
0	Wince - inducing dialogue , thrift - shop costumes , prosthetic makeup by Silly Putty and Kmart blue - light - special effects all conspire to test Trekkie loyalty .
2	Like all abstract art , the film does not make this statement in an easily accessible way , and -- unless prewarned -- it would be very possible for a reasonably intelligent person to sit through its tidal wave of imagery and not get this vision at all .
1	I do n't mind having my heartstrings pulled , but do n't treat me like a fool .
1	Its well of thorn and vinegar ( and simple humanity ) has long been plundered by similar works featuring the insight and punch this picture so conspicuously lacks .
1	For all its impressive craftsmanship , and despite an overbearing series of third - act crescendos , Lily Chou - Chou never really builds up a head of emotional steam .
0	Do n't be fooled by the impressive cast list - Eye See You is pure junk .
0	Not since Freddy Got Fingered has a major release been so painful to sit through .
2	The documentary does little , apart from raising the topic , to further stoke the conversation .
1	Plays like a volatile and overlong W magazine fashion spread .
1	A better title , for all concerned , might be Swept Under the Rug .
1	This movie seems to have been written using Mad - libs .
2	There can be no other explanation .
3	Hilariously inept and ridiculous .
1	Vera 's technical prowess ends up selling his film short ; he smoothes over hard truths even as he uncovers them .
0	( A ) shapeless blob of desperate entertainment .
1	Feels too formulaic and too familiar to produce the transgressive thrills of early underground work .
0	Given how heavy - handed and portent - heavy it is , this could be the worst thing Soderbergh has ever done .
1	a by - the - numbers patient/doctor pic that covers all the usual ground
1	A dumb movie with dumb characters doing dumb things and you have to be really dumb not to see where this is going .
1	Stealing Harvard aspires to comedic grand larceny but stands convicted of nothing more than petty theft of your time .
2	Pretension , in its own way , is a form of bravery .
3	For this reason and this reason only -- the power of its own steadfast , hoity - toity convictions -- Chelsea Walls deserves a medal .
0	With the exception of some fleetingly amusing improvisations by Cedric the Entertainer as Perry 's boss , there is n't a redeeming moment here .
1	It 's a grab bag of genres that do n't add up to a whole lot of sense .
1	Movie fans , get ready to take off ... the other direction .
0	( director ) O'Fallon manages to put some lovely pictures up on the big screen , but his skill at telling a story -- he also contributed to the screenplay -- falls short .
2	The intent is almost exactly the same ( as The Full Monty ) .
1	All that 's missing is the spontaneity , originality and delight .
0	No one but a convict guilty of some truly heinous crime should have to sit through The Master of Disguise .
1	Even the finest chef ca n't make a hotdog into anything more than a hotdog , and Robert De Niro ca n't make this movie anything more than a trashy cop buddy comedy .
1	There 's too much falseness to the second half , and what began as an intriguing look at youth fizzles into a dull , ridiculous attempt at heart - tugging .
2	It 's not without its pleasures , but I 'll stick with The Tune .
3	Miller is playing so free with emotions , and the fact that children are hostages to fortune , that he makes the audience hostage to his swaggering affectation of seriousness .
1	Despite the evocative aesthetics evincing the hollow state of modern love life , the film never percolates beyond a monotonous whine .
2	More maudlin than sharp .
3	This is an egotistical endeavor from the daughter of horror director Dario Argento ( a producer here ) , but her raw performance and utter fearlessness make it strangely magnetic .
0	It 's slow -- very , very slow .
1	It 's not the ultimate Depression - era gangster movie .
1	That 's pure PR hype .
1	Characters still need to function according to some set of believable and comprehensible impulses , no matter how many drugs they do or how much artistic license Avary employs .
1	Comes ... uncomfortably close to coasting in the treads of The Bicycle Thief .
1	Visually rather stunning , but ultimately a handsome - looking bore , the true creativity would have been to hide Treasure Planet entirely and completely reimagine it .
0	Stealing Harvard is evidence that the Farrelly Bros. -- Peter and Bobby -- and their brand of screen comedy are wheezing to an end , along with Green 's half - hearted movie career .
1	There seems to be no clear path as to where the story 's going , or how long it 's going to take to get there .
2	If you 're a WWF fan , or you related to the people who watched the robots getting butchered in A.I. , you 'll probably like Rollerball .
0	I do n't think I laughed out loud once .
0	And when you 're talking about a slapstick comedy , that 's a pretty big problem .
1	It 's so mediocre , despite the dynamic duo on the marquee , that we just ca n't get no satisfaction .
0	Slapstick buffoonery can tickle many a preschooler 's fancy , but when it costs a family of four about $ 40 to see a film in theaters , why spend money on a dog like this when you can rent a pedigree instead ?
0	... turns so unforgivably trite in its last 10 minutes that anyone without a fortified sweet tooth will likely go into sugar shock .
0	The notion that bombing buildings is the funniest thing in the world goes entirely unexamined in this startlingly unfunny comedy .
0	My reaction in a word : disappointment .
0	His last movie was poetically romantic and full of indelible images , but his latest has nothing going for it .
2	It kinda works and qualifies as cool at times , but is just too lame to work or be cool at others .
1	Sustains its dreamlike glide through a succession of cheesy coincidences and voluptuous cheap effects , not the least of which is Rebecca Romijn - Stamos .
3	Intriguing documentary which is emotionally diluted by focusing on the story 's least interesting subject .
0	Feels haphazard , as if the writers mistakenly thought they could achieve an air of frantic spontaneity by simply tossing in lots of characters doing silly stuff and stirring the pot .
1	For each chuckle there are at least 10 complete misses , many coming from the amazingly lifelike Tara Reid , whose acting skills are comparable to a cardboard cutout .
1	I 've always dreamed of attending Cannes , but after seeing this film , it 's not that big a deal .
2	The vintage is pure ' 87 , with a halfhearted twist on its cautionary message : Fatal Attraction = do n't have an affair with a nutjob ; Unfaithful = do n't if you 're married to one .
2	A workshop mentality prevails .
0	It can not be enjoyed , even on the level that one enjoys a bad slasher flick , primarily because it is dull .
0	Yes , dull .
2	Pumpkin wants to have it both ways .
1	Director Uwe Boll and the actors provide scant reason to care in this crude '70s throwback .
1	( W ) hile long on amiable monkeys and worthy environmentalism , Jane Goodall 's Wild Chimpanzees is short on the thrills the oversize medium demands .
1	Outer - space buffs might love this film , but others will find its pleasures intermittent .
0	This piece of Channel 5 grade trash is , quite frankly , an insult to the intelligence of the true genre enthusiast .
1	An occasionally funny , but overall limp , fish - out - of - water story .
0	A bloated gasbag thesis grotesquely impressed by its own gargantuan aura of self-importance ...
2	It 's mighty tedious for the viewer who has to contend with unpleasant characters , hit - and - miss performances and awkwardly staged scenes .
0	As A Rumor of Angels reveals itself to be a sudsy tub of supernatural hokum , not even Ms. Redgrave 's noblest efforts can redeem it from hopeless sentimentality .
2	New Best Friend 's Playboy - mansion presentation of college life is laugh - out - loud ludicrous .
1	The humor is forced and heavy - handed , and occasionally simply unpleasant .
2	Scorsese at his best makes gangster films that are equally lovely but also relentlessly brutal and brutally intelligent ; Perdition , meanwhile , reads more like Driving Miss Daisy than GoodFellas .
2	While the script starts promisingly , it loses steam towards the middle and never really develops beyond attacking obvious target .
1	As the latest bid in the TV - to - movie franchise game , I Spy makes its big - screen entry with little of the nervy originality of its groundbreaking small - screen progenitor .
1	This is n't even Madonna 's Swept Away .
2	This is her Blue Lagoon .
1	The director knows how to apply textural gloss , but his portrait of sex - as - war is strictly sitcom .
1	... the film suffers from a lack of humor ( something needed to balance out the violence ) ...
1	Burns never really harnesses to full effect the energetic cast .
1	An overemphatic , would - be wacky , ultimately tedious sex farce .
0	Has all the depth of a wading pool .
1	This is the sort of burly action flick where one coincidence pummels another , narrative necessity is a drunken roundhouse , and whatever passes for logic is a factor of the last plot device left standing .
0	The so - inept - it 's - surreal dubbing ( featuring the voices of Glenn Close , Regis Philbin and Breckin Meyer ) brings back memories of cheesy old Godzilla flicks .
0	... the movie is just a plain old monster .
2	If this disposable tissue has one wild card , it 's John Turturro , who 's simply fab as a Spanish butler with a foot fetish .
1	One long string of cliches .
1	Fancy a real downer ?
2	( Leigh ) lays it on so thick this time that it feels like a suicide race .
0	Professionally speaking , it 's tempting to jump ship in January to avoid ridiculous schlock like this shoddy suspense thriller .
0	Nelson 's brutally unsentimental approach ... sucks the humanity from the film , leaving behind an horrific but weirdly unemotional spectacle .
2	Weaves a spell over you , with its disturbingly close - up look at damaged psyches and its subtle undercurrents of danger .
2	But its awkward structure keeps breaking the spell .
1	At once half - baked and overheated .
2	There 's a solid woman - finding - herself story somewhere in here , but you 'd have to dig pretty deep to uncover it .
2	I still ca n't relate to Stuart : He 's a mouse , for cryin ' out loud , and all he does is milk it with despondent eyes and whine that nobody treats him human enough .
3	( Serry ) wants to blend politics and drama , an admirable ambition .
1	It 's too bad that the helping hand he uses to stir his ingredients is also a heavy one .
2	By the miserable standards to which the slasher genre has sunk , ... actually pretty good .
1	Of course , by more objective measurements it 's still quite bad .
1	Sam Mendes has become valedictorian at the School for Soft Landings and Easy Ways Out .
2	Exactly what it claims to be -- a simple diversion for the kids .
1	Its story may be a thousand years old , but why did it have to seem like it took another thousand to tell it to us ?
1	The problem with this film is that it lacks focus .
1	I sympathize with the plight of these families , but the movie does n't do a very good job conveying the issue at hand .
2	A momentary escape from the summer heat and the sedentary doldrums that set in at this time of year .
2	... think of it as American Pie On Valium .
0	Dull , lifeless , and amateurishly assembled .
0	It 's a bad thing when a movie has about as much substance as its end credits blooper reel .
1	With its dogged Hollywood naturalism and the inexorable passage of its characters toward sainthood , Windtalkers is nothing but a sticky - sweet soap .
2	Some of it is clever , but it is never melodic /
2	Better to just call it ABC Kiarostami .
2	For AIDS and Africa are nothing more than part of the scenery .
1	No aspirations to social import inform the movie version .
0	This is a shameless sham , calculated to cash in on the popularity of its stars .
2	Manages to be somewhat well - acted , not badly art - directed and utterly unengaging no matter how hard it tries to be thrilling , touching or , yikes , uproarious .
2	This rather superficial arthouse middle - brow film knows how to please a crowd , and that 's about all it does well .
1	It 's clear the filmmakers were n't sure where they wanted their story to go , and even more clear that they lack the skills to get us to this undetermined destination .
1	As vulgar as it is banal .
1	You wonder why Enough was n't just a music video rather than a full - length movie .
1	The film 's tone and pacing are off almost from the get - go .
1	The talented and clever Robert Rodriguez perhaps put a little too much heart into his first film and did n't reserve enough for his second .
1	More whiny downer than corruscating commentary .
0	Suffocated by its fussy script and uptight characters , this musty adaptation is all the more annoying since it 's been packaged and sold back to us by Hollywood .
1	Coughs and sputters on its own postmodern conceit .
1	A wildly inconsistent emotional experience .
1	Sit through this one , and you wo n't need a magic watch to stop time ; your DVD player will do it for you .
1	A sometimes tedious film .
1	Teen movies have really hit the skids .
0	There are plot holes big enough for Shamu the killer whale to swim through .
1	... plays like somebody spliced random moments of a Chris Rock routine into what is otherwise a cliche - riddled but self-serious spy thriller .
2	Nasty , ugly , pointless and depressing , even if you hate clowns .
0	What is 100 % missing here is a script of even the most elemental literacy , an inkling of genuine wit , and anything resembling acting .
3	does paint some memorable images ... , but Makhmalbaf keeps her distance from the characters
2	It uses the pain and violence of war as background material for color .
1	just not campy enough
1	The movie , directed by Mick Jackson , leaves no cliche unturned , from the predictable plot to the characters straight out of central casting .
0	It 's everything you do n't go to the movies for .
1	Like watching a dress rehearsal the week before the show goes up : everything 's in place but something 's just a little off - kilter .
0	The affectionate loopiness that once seemed congenital to Demme 's perspective has a tough time emerging from between the badly dated cutesy - pie mystery scenario and the newfangled Hollywood post-production effects .
0	For all its technical virtuosity , the film is so mired in juvenile and near - xenophobic pedagogy that it 's enough to make one pine for the day when Godard can no longer handle the rigors of filmmaking .
1	American Chai encourages rueful laughter at stereotypes only an Indian - American would recognize .
1	And the lesson , in the end , is nothing new .
1	It made me want to wrench my eyes out of my head and toss them at the screen .
1	Due to some script weaknesses and the casting of the director 's brother , the film trails off into inconsequentiality .
0	... plot holes so large and obvious a marching band might as well be stomping through them in clown clothes , playing a college football fight song on untuned instruments .
0	So devoid of any kind of intelligible story that it makes films like XXX and Collateral Damage seem like thoughtful treatises
1	Combining quick - cut editing and a blaring heavy metal much of the time , Beck seems to be under the illusion that he 's shooting the latest System of a Down video .
0	Dragonfly has no atmosphere , no tension -- nothing but Costner , flailing away .
1	It 's a buggy drag .
1	Works hard to establish rounded characters , but then has nothing fresh or particularly interesting to say about them .
1	The action switches between past and present , but the material link is too tenuous to anchor the emotional connections that purport to span a 125 - year divide .
0	Nonsensical , dull " cyber - horror " flick is a grim , hollow exercise in flat scares and bad acting .
0	Instead of hiding Pinocchio from critics , Miramax should have hidden it from everyone .
0	Manages to be both repulsively sadistic and mundane .
0	A great ensemble cast ca n't lift this heartfelt enterprise out of the familiar .
0	There ought to be a directing license , so that Ed Burns can have his revoked .
3	The structure the film takes may find Matt Damon and Ben Affleck once again looking for residuals as this officially completes a Good Will Hunting trilogy that was never planned .
2	Whereas last year 's exemplary Sexy Beast seemed to revitalize the British gangster movie , this equally brutal outing merely sustains it .
1	... a boring parade of talking heads and technical gibberish that will do little to advance the Linux cause .
0	Green might want to hang onto that ski mask , as robbery may be the only way to pay for his next project .
1	I can take infantile humor ... but this is the sort of infantile that makes you wonder about changing the director and writer 's diapers .
1	There is n't nearly enough fun here , despite the presence of some appealing ingredients .
1	The tale of Tok ( Andy Lau ) , a sleek sociopath on the trail of O ( Takashi Sorimachi ) , the most legendary of Asian hitmen , is too scattershot to take hold .
1	Directed in a paint - by - numbers manner .
2	A cheerful enough but imminently forgettable rip - off of ( Besson 's ) earlier work .
0	A lackluster , unessential sequel to the classic Disney adaptation of J.M. Barrie 's Peter Pan .
0	Samira Makhmalbaf 's new film Blackboards is much like the ethos of a stream of consciousness , although , it 's unfortunate for the viewer that the thoughts and reflections coming through are torpid and banal
3	... routine , harmless diversion and little else .
1	Late Marriage 's stiffness is unlikely to demonstrate the emotional clout to sweep U.S. viewers off their feet .
1	This time Mr. Burns is trying something in the Martin Scorsese street - realist mode , but his self-regarding sentimentality trips him up again .
3	While there 's something intrinsically funny about Sir Anthony Hopkins saying ` Get in the car , bitch , ' this Jerry Bruckheimer production has little else to offer
1	It 's hampered by a Lifetime - channel kind of plot and a lead actress who is out of her depth .
2	Let 's hope -- shall we ?
1	There is very little dread or apprehension , and though I like the creepy ideas , they are not executed with anything more than perfunctory skill .
1	If you 've ever entertained the notion of doing what the title of this film implies , what Sex With Strangers actually shows may put you off the idea forever .
0	In the end , the movie collapses on its shaky foundation despite the best efforts of director Joe Carnahan .
1	Adults will wish the movie were less simplistic , obvious , clumsily plotted and shallowly characterized .
1	But what are adults doing in the theater at all ?
0	Sticky sweet sentimentality , clumsy plotting and a rosily myopic view of life in the WWII - era Mississippi Delta undermine this adaptation .
1	It 's another stale , kill - by - numbers flick , complete with blade - thin characters and terrible , pun - laden dialogue .
1	Every time you look , Sweet Home Alabama is taking another bummer of a wrong turn .
0	Partway through watching this saccharine , Easter - egg - colored concoction , you realize that it is made up of three episodes of a rejected TV show .
1	The overall effect is less like a children 's movie than a recruitment film for future Hollywood sellouts .
1	Portentous and pretentious , The Weight of Water is appropriately titled , given the heavy - handedness of it drama .
3	A fitfully amusing romp that , if nothing else , will appeal to fans of Malcolm in the Middle and its pubescent star , Frankie Muniz .
1	Jason X is positively anti-Darwinian : nine sequels and 400 years later , the teens are none the wiser and Jason still kills on auto-pilot .
1	To say this was done better in Wilder 's Some Like It Hot is like saying the sun rises in the east .
1	At the very least , if you do n't know anything about Derrida when you walk into the theater , you wo n't know much more when you leave .
2	The actors are appealing , but Elysian Fields is idiotic and absurdly sentimental .
0	As ` chick flicks ' go , this one is pretty miserable , resorting to string - pulling rather than legitimate character development and intelligent plotting .
0	The only excitement comes when the credits finally roll and you get to leave the theater .
1	There 's no emotional pulse to Solaris .
2	With an emotional sterility to match its outer space setting , Soderbergh 's spectacular swing for the fence yields only a spectacular whiff .
1	It ca n't decide if it wants to be a mystery/thriller , a romance or a comedy .
2	Denis O'Neill 's script avoids the prime sports cliche , a last - second goal to win the championship , but it neglects few others .
1	The character of ZigZag is not sufficiently developed to support a film constructed around him .
1	One of those pictures whose promising , if rather precious , premise is undercut by amateurish execution .
1	Serving Sara does n't serve up a whole lot of laughs .
0	The most hopelessly monotonous film of the year , noteworthy only for the gimmick of being filmed as a single unbroken 87 - minute take .
1	With virtually no interesting elements for an audience to focus on , Chelsea Walls is a triple - espresso endurance challenge .
0	Deadeningly dull , mired in convoluted melodrama , nonsensical jargon and stiff - upper - lip laboriousness .
0	A misogynistic piece of filth that attempts to pass itself off as hip , young adult entertainment .
2	Like the Chelsea 's denizens ... Burdette 's collage - form scenario tends to over-romanticize the spiritual desolation of the struggling artiste .
2	It 's basically an overlong episode of Tales from the Crypt .
1	The film makes a fatal mistake : It asks us to care about a young man whose only apparent virtue is that he is not quite as unpleasant as some of the people in his life .
1	Another in-your - face wallow in the lower depths made by people who have never sung those blues .
1	Shaky close - ups of turkey - on - rolls , stubbly chins , liver spots , red noses and the filmmakers new bobbed do draw easy chuckles but lead nowhere .
2	I ca n't quite recommend it -- it 's too patched together -- but I almost can ; it 's the kind of movie that makes you want to like it .
1	Complete lack of originality , cleverness or even visible effort
1	Though Perry and Hurley make inspiring efforts to breathe life into the disjointed , haphazard script by Jay Scherick and David Ronn , neither the actors nor director Reginald Hudlin can make it more than fitfully entertaining .
3	Something akin to a Japanese Alice Through the Looking Glass , except that it seems to take itself far more seriously .
1	It takes talent to make a lifeless movie about the most heinous man who ever lived .
0	On the whole , the movie lacks wit , feeling and believability to compensate for its incessant coarseness and banality .
1	The story and the friendship proceeds in such a way that you 're watching a soap opera rather than a chronicle of the ups and downs that accompany lifelong friendships .
1	Offers very little genuine romance and even fewer laughs ... a sad sitcom of a movie , largely devoid of charm .
0	Makes for a pretty unpleasant viewing experience .
1	The movie fails to live up to the sum of its parts .
1	Although Huppert 's intensity and focus has a raw exhilaration about it , The Piano Teacher is anything but fun .
1	It showcases Carvey 's talent for voices , but not nearly enough and not without taxing every drop of one 's patience to get to the good stuff .
1	Bad .
0	Very bad .
0	Stultifyingly , dumbfoundingly , mind - numbingly bad .
1	May reawaken discussion of the Kennedy assassination but this fictional film looks made for cable rather than for the big screen .
1	If looking for a thrilling sci-fi cinematic ride , do n't settle for this Imposter .
1	Not really bad so much as distasteful : We need kidnapping suspense dramas right now like we need doomsday thrillers .
1	The result is a gaudy bag of stale candy , something from a Halloween that died .
1	Davis ... is so enamored of her own creation that she ca n't see how insufferable the character is .
0	The Man From Elysian Fields is a cold , bliss-less work that groans along thinking itself some important comment on how life throws us some beguiling curves .
2	The messages of compassion and mercy are clearly , squarely and specifically expounded via computer animated Old Testament tale of Jonah and the Whale .
1	Determined to be fun , and bouncy , with energetic musicals , the humor did n't quite engage this adult .
2	Historical dramas fused with love triangle is a well worn conceit .
1	But this films lacks the passion required to sell the material .
2	Long Time Dead ?
2	Not nearly long enough .
2	Nothing more substantial than a fitfully clever doodle .
3	A solid film ... but more conscientious than it is truly stirring .
1	There 's not enough here to justify the almost two hours .
1	The X potion gives the quickly named Blossom , Bubbles and Buttercup supernatural powers that include extraordinary strength and laser - beam eyes , which unfortunately do n't enable them to discern flimsy screenplays .
1	Perceptive in its vision of nascent industrialized world politics as a new art form , but far too clunky , didactic and saddled with scenes that seem simply an ill fit for this movie .
1	Verbinski implements every hack - artist trick to give us the ooky - spookies .
3	McConaughey 's fun to watch , the dragons are okay , not much fire in the script .
1	An unwise amalgam of Broadcast News and Vibes .
2	Skins has a right to yawp , and we have a right to our grains of salt .
2	Who needs love like this ?
1	Hit and miss as far as the comedy goes and a big ole ' miss in the way of story .
2	Returning aggressively to his formula of dimwitted comedy and even dimmer characters , Sandler , who also executive produces , has made a film that makes previous vehicles look smart and sassy .
2	Exists then as an occasionally insightful acting exercise .
0	Trite , banal , cliched , mostly inoffensive .
0	Mattei is tiresomely grave and long - winded , as if circularity itself indicated profundity .
1	It 's not original , and , robbed of the element of surprise , it does n't have any huge laughs in its story of irresponsible cops who love to play pranks .
2	Whenever its story is n't bogged down by idiocy involving the CIA and a lost U.S. satellite , Hunter -- starring Irwin and his American wife/colleague , Terri -- is a movie children should enjoy .
1	It offers little beyond the momentary joys of pretty and weightless intellectual entertainment .
1	A sequence of ridiculous shoot - 'em - up scenes .
0	Nothing in Waking Up in Reno ever inspired me to think of its inhabitants as anything more than markers in a screenplay .
1	I 'm just too bored to care .
1	Irwin is a man with enough charisma and audacity to carry a dozen films , but this particular result is ultimately held back from being something greater .
2	As befits its title , this PG-13 - rated piffle is ultimately as threatening as the Snuggle Fabric Softener bear .
1	Attempts by this ensemble film to impart a message are so heavy - handed that they instead pummel the audience .
0	It all feels like a Monty Python sketch gone horribly wrong .
1	Nervous breakdowns are not entertaining .
1	Scorsese does n't give us a character worth giving a damn about .
2	A beautifully made piece of unwatchable drivel .
0	Like being trapped at a perpetual frat party ... How can something so gross be so boring ?
0	This is so bad .
2	Even film silliness needs a little gravity , beyond good hair and humping .
2	I felt sad for Lise not so much because of what happens as because she was captured by this movie when she obviously belongs in something lighter and sunnier , by Rohmer , for example .
1	Prurient playthings aside , there 's little to love about this English trifle .
1	This is a train wreck of an action film -- a stupefying attempt by the filmmakers to force - feed James Bond into the mindless XXX mold and throw 40 years of cinematic history down the toilet in favor of bright flashes and loud bangs .
1	The film flat lines when it should peak and is more missed opportunity and trifle than dark , decadent truffle .
1	It 's played in the most straight - faced fashion , with little humor to lighten things up .
0	The heavy - handed film is almost laughable as a consequence .
2	Van Wilder brings a whole new meaning to the phrase ` comedy gag . '
1	At least one scene is so disgusting that viewers may be hard pressed to retain their lunch .
1	A disappointment for those who love alternate versions of the Bard , particularly ones that involve deep fryers and hamburgers .
1	The film tries too hard to be funny and tries too hard to be hip .
1	The end result is a film that 's neither .
1	Every nanosecond of the The New Guy reminds you that you could be doing something else far more pleasurable .
1	Something like scrubbing the toilet .
1	Or emptying rat traps .
1	Or doing last year 's taxes with your ex-wife .
3	Scooby Dooby Doo / And Shaggy too / You both look and sound great .
1	/ But Daphne , you 're too Buff / Fred thinks he 's tough / And Velma - wow , you 've lost weight !
1	Is the time really ripe for a warmed - over James Bond adventure , with a village idiot as the 007 clone ?
1	There 's enough melodrama in this Magnolia Primavera to make PTA proud yet director Muccino 's characters are less worthy of Puccini than they are of daytime television .
1	However it may please those who love movies that blare with pop songs , young science fiction fans will stomp away in disgust .
0	The humor is n't as sharp , the effects not as innovative , nor the story as imaginative as in the original .
1	But it could have been worse .
1	Some of their jokes work , but most fail miserably and in the end , Pumpkin is far more offensive than it is funny .
0	Even horror fans will most likely not find what they 're seeking with Trouble Every Day ; the movie lacks both thrills and humor .
0	comes off like a rejected ABC Afterschool Special , freshened up by the dunce of a Screenwriting 101 class .
1	... Designed to provide a mix of smiles and tears , " Crossroads " instead provokes a handful of unintentional howlers and numerous yawns .
1	it seems to me the film is about the art of ripping people off without ever letting them consciously know you have done so
1	It 's just disappointingly superficial -- a movie that has all the elements necessary to be a fascinating , involving character study , but never does more than scratch the surface .
1	The title not only describes its main characters , but the lazy people behind the camera as well .
2	Sometimes it feels as if it might have been made in the '70s or '80s , and starred Chevy Chase and Goldie Hawn .
1	Schaeffer has to find some hook on which to hang his persistently useless movies , and it might as well be the resuscitation of the middle - aged character .