At once raucously free-wheeling and meticulously contrived, picture satisfies as a boys-gone-wild laff riot that also clicks as a seriocomic beat-the-clock detective story.

An engrossing and satisfying picture, one that can be enjoyed even by people who have never before heard of its subject.

Has more than enough across-the-board appeal to attract mainstream auds unfamiliar with source material.

With equal measures of prickly wit, gleeful pride and bemused gratitude, Charles Nelson Reilly looks back at his life, and invites his audience to share the view, in this thoroughly engaging filmization of his one-man stage show.

Quaid's effortlessly compelling and engagingly earnest performance keeps pic grounded in down-to-earth reality.

What it doesn't have, to its credit, is a neat conclusion. In the end, the film appears to suggest that Aura likely will feel free to keep searching for herself, repeating mistakes and making new ones, because she has all the time in the world.

Some movie buffs will be amused to note slight but perceptible plot similarities between Daylight and, of all things, "The Tall T," Budd Boetticher's classic 1957 Western. To their credit, the filmmakers more or less acknowledge the influence in the closing credits.

Looks, sounds and fascinates like an exceptional episode of a true-crime TV series.

Enjoyably upbeat and intelligently inspiring.

Having earned his stripes by directing a few TV episodes, Frakes makes an auspicious debut as a feature filmmaker, sustaining excitement and maintaining clarity as he dashes through a two-track storyline.

An improbably effective and affecting mix of raw emotions and exciting smackdowns.

Beautifully lensed and intelligently crafted.

Ingeniously conceived and impressively executed, Pleasantville is a provocative, complex and surprisingly anti-nostalgic parable.

Immensely entertaining and unabashedly inspirational.

Feels achingly sad and frustratingly incomplete.

The Motel offers a fresh take on characters and conventions, and compels interest with shrewd, sympathy-inspiring storytelling.

One of the holiday movie season's more pleasant surprises. A mischievously clever and slickly commercial sci-fi comedy.

Genuinely clever switched-identities romp.

Slither begins briskly, gradually accelerates and eventually achieves a breakneck momentum that makes the wild ride even more exhilarating.

Grim but engrossing.

A frequently inspired hit-and-miss burlesque that definitely hits more than it misses.

A sly curve ball of a documentary best described as a sports-themed "Rashomon" with an O. Henry twist.

An impressively polished documentary by Bob Hercules and Cheri Hughes. Perhaps even more thought-provoking than its co-helmers intended, pic is bound to spark conversations and debate.

Arguably the best sports-oriented documentary since "Hoop Dreams."

Fortunately, helmer Michele Ohayon ("Cowboy del Amor") treats her tricky subject matter with sufficient sensitivity to keep doc from ever seeming offensively flip or overly sentimental.

A low-key charmer that's bound to enchant small children and amuse their parents during many hours of repeat viewings.

Sometimes shaky, sometimes smooth handheld DV lensing (by Drews and Krybus) gives the pic an immediacy that greatly enhances its dramatic and emotional impact.

Key to drama's success is the artful underplaying by Kurt Russell in the lead role of Herb Brooks.