It is an important work, and a very good one.

"The Big Sleep" and "The Maltese Falcon" echo loudly throughout.

Misses some creative opportunities to really drive this story home, but it's a naturally haunting story nonetheless.

The drawbacks to Little Voice might sink a lesser movie, but not this one.

Certainly it isn't about to give "Das Boot" a run for its money - but nevertheless it is irresistible entertainment.

About as warm, pleasing and inviting as a film about divorce, infidelity and terminal cancer can be.

There's not a whole lot to Waking Ned Devine, but it may be enough for those who like their quirky comedies from the British Isles - a burgeoning genre now - both atmospheric and gentle.

The emphasis is on comedic interaction, not plot - too bad, "48 HRS" had both - but the pair adds spice to the predictable opposites-detract gags.

The weird thing about the films David Mamet has directed is that they have about as much emotion as a cyborg in a science fiction movie, yet by the end of the picture it isn't necessary; by then the audience has supplied their own.

Perhaps a bit miscast, and with a penchant for too many double-takes, Perry nonetheless is game.

This overall good feeling helps smooth over the sometimes shocking lapses in logic.

It succeeds because of the frenzied, kinetic direction by Mike Newell, one of the most interesting big-hit directors.

But then, just when it appears the race is lost, Steve James' love for his character and art form kicks in and wins the day, and, though flawed, Prefontaine is an engrossing portrait of a complex figure.

Fallen Angels is proof that Wong will try anything, and the result is an eclectic mix of images and disjointed editing, sounds and rhythms that are at times as powerful as any piece of filmmaking likely to be seen all year. It can also, every once in awhile, be tedious and trying.

What could have been an insightful, irresistible movie is instead a simple, self-contained fable, pleasing to look at but meaningless

Dreamy and elegantly filmed.

The writer-director has come up with a sumptuous, happy piece of fluff.

Now "Rod Tidwell," with Jerry Maguire as a supporting character, would be a movie to pay to see.

If you buy the gross, it's surprisingly funny .

Troubling and troubled.

Solondz's greatest success is the pederast, heartbreakingly played by Baker...Had Solondz reached that apex in the other stories, it would have been a masterpiece.

The movie is meant to be uplifting and to the degree that you can ignore its unquestioning treatment of mental illness, I suppose it is.

Nicolas Cage gives one of the best performances of his strange, courageous career.

Like sitting on the beach under a cozy, warm afternoon sun. The view is beautiful, but not much is happening and soon you drift peacefully to sleep.

Competent, to be sure, with some good lines.

Cholodenko's strategy of having the actors, in every scene -- whether it involves Lucy, the boyfriend or the Frame editors -- perform with an intonational flatness approaching monotone pretentiously undermines the effectiveness of her subject matter.

It's a movie drenched in narcissism and wish-fulfillment, almost a textbook on how to make a formulaic, romantic film.

An independent film so enamored of itself it refuses to have any fun.