Disarming-misfit story, which combines elements of a road movie, romance, small-town idyll, and police procedural.

Intending to study the degree to which social class would determine the subjects' destinies, the series actually documents something more filmable--the degree to which the subjects believed social class would determine their destinies and the degree to which they believe it has.

A sense of authenticity overshadows any contrivance in this subtly classic drama.

Persuasive stylized drama.

Favreau, who also plays the long-suffering Bobby, mixes elements of drama into this appropriately annoying comedy.

Kempner's lighthearted yet not apolitical collage conveys how Greenberg's success as an athlete in the 30s and 40s contradicted an ethnic stereotype.

This gorgeous expressionist drama makes the comparisons so effectively at the outset that by the end they seem belabored.

Despite a melodramatic score that at times seems almost facetious, the movie's tone is sober and sincere, its unlikely ending persuasive.

The characters--their motives at once obvious and obscure--are almost painfully fascinating.

The bitterly beautiful black-and-white industrial and residential landscapes reflect the sense of anonymity felt by the characters.

Realist fairy tale.

The narrative--a complex structure of flashbacks and shifts in perspective that's part inspirational story, part courtroom drama, part character study, part exposé--never makes it seem that history is being oversimplified.

The behind-the-scenes revelations are thoroughly convincing.

Largely free of generic horror-movie elements, such as exploitative torture and murder scenes. Those it does contain draw attention to the difference between the conventions of psychological drama and those of pulp horror.

Funny, moving, and insightful look at questions about identity and community.

The characters have been designed to make fun of themselves, disguising the craft of writer Neil Cuthbert and director Kinka Usher in getting us to laugh at them.

This is a sensitive and at times gently humorous love-and-war story; the flight scenes are exciting and exquisitely crafted, the characters lovingly drawn.

Though the jokey lines seem out of place, the somber tone of this 1998 action movie makes the political subtext -- nearly obscured by the expected double crosses, extravagant destruction, and incongruous-buddies shtick -- more sincere and less grandiose than usual.

Exciting, clever sequences driven by surprisingly little plot and culminating in a climax full of the transmogrification animation was invented for.

A judicious mix of the lightly gory, the generously cartoonish, and the unexpectedly atmospheric makes for action that's scary yet unintimidating.

Depp conveys his character's ambivalence and ambiguity with utter conviction, and though the annoying score tries to throw Pacino's monologues over the top, his persuasive, low-key performance puts the violins in their place.

The coincidences that bring some characters together and keep others apart in this romantic comedy are plotted with musical grace.

The fluidity with which the story frequently makes the transition between the different characters' perspectives is refreshing, even daring.

The conventional ghost-appeasement scenario isn't very suspenseful, which may be part of the reason it's so gripping.

Shtick isn't all this movie has to offer.

Though hypocritical in the way it sensationalizes sexuality, this serious and funny 1998 movie about a 15-year-old coming to terms with her body and her family in 1976 is, refreshingly, never coy or ironic.

There's charm and insight in the candid depictions of the teenagers' sexual experiences and discussions.

At first Costner seems to distrust the hokey character he plays, but his performance and the movie's slanted humor, rash melodrama, and ludicrous action soon become riveting.