The Reader is significant because -- like another film opening today, "Valkyrie" -- it asks us to see not just the Jews but the whole German people as victims of the Holocaust, and to view Nazism as more a product of explicable ignorance than inexplicable evil.

The results are being billed as a reunion of the "Titanic" star team, but anyone expecting a similarly gushy romantic idyll is in for a shock: it is an uncompromisingly dreary view of two self-deluded people incapable and unwilling to understand one another.

With his usual intelligence, technical virtuosity (the reverse-aging effects are astounding) and storytelling panache, director Fincher gives the film a power and unity that make nearly three hours go by in a flash and pulls its diverse elements together to be something unique for a Hollywood movie -- a true spiritual experience.

The movie works like a clock. A few minor quibbles aside (the casting of Hitler, for instance), Valkyrie is a highly intelligent and deeply engrossing historical drama and, frame for frame, the year's most suspenseful nail-biter.

Despite a few places where the air of déjà vu is a bit too thick, it's a class act, with a textured script, one of the series' more stunning title sequences.

Forster carries the movie with an effortless grace and professionalism, creating a character of surprising nobility who is the very opposite of the Willy Loman caricature that's been the de rigueur salesman stereotype in movies of the past 50 years.

Works mostly off Quaid's performance.

Too bad they didn't skip the gags and one-liners, along with the songs, and go the distance in making this an authentic dinosaur world.

A powerful experience, filled with dazzlingly executed action sequences that generally avoid the rock music and drugged-out conventions of "Apocalypse Now," and even exude a certain core of humanity.

She's foul-mouthed, trashy, a legal pit bull ... and she's wonderful.

Although it's often uneven and rambling, its sum conveys an unusual richness and satisfaction. While most films these days are about nothing, this film seems to be about everything that's plaguing the human spirit in a relentlessly globalizing world.

At 160 minutes, it's a bit long and uneventful for anyone who is not at least a moderate fan of the musicals.

An endearing comedy that could well end up being one of the year's big hits.

Melancholy, haunting and riveting true-crime saga.

Jewison handles this rich tapestry of non-linear scenes with the skill of the old pro he is, and carefully modulates the drama to create the maximum emotional impact.

Has the sensibility of a Hollywood "woman's picture" of the '40s -- the weepie saga of a married woman trapped in an untenable situation.

A suspenseful, fascinating movie that milks the premise for all it's worth.

It has a terrific retro style, it's well-directed and it makes an engrossing showcase for its trio of stars.

Many will find the subject matter disturbing, but it's clearly one of the holiday season's richest and most daring movie entries.

As a goofy little fantasy, however, this film has loads of charm.

Its overall effect is haunting, hypnotic and moving in a profound and unexpected way.

An extraordinarily absorbing neo-realistic tragedy.

Goes down like a cool glass of lemonade on a hot day.

Above all, the film is just wonderfully ... well, Fellini-esque. It looks like nothing the cinema has seen since then.

It's a beautifully crafted, almost perfectly sustained little drama that skillfully makes a subtle, bittersweet point.

Covers this exact same territory, but does it with such refreshing, clearheaded honesty and skill it seems like a revelation.

Skillfully crafted, flawlessly paced, intellectually challenging tension of classics like "Bad Day at Black Rock."

Not quite a masterpiece perhaps, but a visually stunning mountain drama, and an absorbing look at a dying culture.