It gains a major charge of dramatic energy from Kurt Russell's ferocious acting, almost certainly the best of his career.

It will frustrate viewers who like stories to make instant sense, but fans of provocative puzzles will have mind-teasing fun.

The computer-driven effects are impressive, but the adventure is hampered by a flat screenplay, dull acting, and just a hint as to why the dark side of the Force will eventually transform cute little Anakin into the evil Darth Vader.

Figgis still deserves credit for taking more artistic chances than a dozen ordinary directors.

It would be even more impressive if the story and characters lived up to the inventive techniques, though.

The acting is excellent, and the movie has a good-natured spirit to match its ultimate faith in the hero's deep-down goodness.

Be warned that the violence-prone Spielberg of "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List" is also on display.

The movie is Allen's most successful in years, even if you don't see it as a self-made commentary on his own career. Credit goes less to the comic dialogue than to the razor-sharp performances of an excellent cast.

Its most vivid scenes -- a visit with an insane ophthalmologist, a showdown at Anderton's supposed crime scene -- have the kind of anything-goes creativity that set "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" apart from the crowd last year.

The picture's thoughtfulness and ambition make it unusually suspenseful, gripping, and disturbing.

Bravo works too hard at extolling Castro -- The film's historical footage is compelling, though, and provides plenty to think about.

Sarandon narrates and Ormond reads excerpts from Hahn's memoir, supplemented by archival footage and interviews with the survivor herself.

It's an uneven film, but Dickens admirers shouldn't miss it.

The performances are engaging and the views of rural Brazil are captivating, making the film a solid audience-pleaser even though its story often seems familiar and sentimental.

This intellectual allegory would carry more punch if it didn't slip into melodrama so often, but it marks Aronofsky as an exceptionally promising new filmmaker.

The acting and directing are uneven, but many scenes have strong emotional and political power.

Although there's quite a bit of nudity and sex, the potentially sensationalistic story is acted with sincerity and directed with a creative eye.

The story's rambling, meandering style is just right for the melancholy subject being explored, and all the acting is excellent.

It's surprising no filmmaker has adapted Dodie Smith's novel before now, and pleasing that Mr. Fywell and company have done such a responsible job with it. It's one of the season's most captivating surprises.

Kennedy documents their efforts with skill and compassion, almost entirely avoiding the pitfalls of sentimentality and victimology. He and his likable "cast" deserve a standing ovation.

Lounguine tells the story with more discipline than you'll find in his earlier films, painting a crowded portrait of a society moving toward a future it can neither confidently predict nor look forward to with anything but nervous anticipation.

The action is light and lively all the way, poking inventive fun at everything from nosy little brothers to clueless hotel managers and romantic Romans who aren't as glamorous as they claim to be.

Splendidly acted, sensitively directed.

This unevenly paced comedy is an amusing parody of monster movies from "Them!" to "Alien."

Much of the action is as ponderous as it is predictable. Lector fans will get their fill, but be warned that the menu contains at least two scenes with over-the-top excesses that Hannibal himself might not want to swallow.

Hicks doesn't always keep the story clear and compelling, but Hopkins is in top form.

There's only one kind of movie that Spielberg has truly mastered: the kind that looks like a wide-screen video game complete with loony plot twists and mind-bending special effects. And that's Jurassic Park down to its bones. [11 June 1993, Arts, p.12]

Lively acting and stylish directing make this an engaging comedy-drama, although its attitude toward guns and violence is disconcertingly romantic.

The fast-talking Tucker and quick-kicking Chan are a surprisingly good team that manages to deliver a fun combination of highly choreographed action and comedy.

If lush landscapes and exotic wildlife are what you're after, this isn't the safari for you. But many moviegoers will respond to its mixture of family drama and Holocaust-era history.

Mahieux gives a bravura performance as the title character. Director Garrone keeps the story involving even though it doesn't quite live up to the star's strong talents.

The story wanders, the plot twists seem contrived at times, and the emotions are never as intense as they might be. But it highlights yet another facet of Hoffman's talent: a gift for monochrome, of all things! And it has a heart as good as Raymond's own. [30 Dec 1988]

Crammed with show-biz jokes that younger kids won't fathom, but the action is so quick and colorful that they probably won't mind.

More thoughtful and varied than the average Hollywood cartoon.

A ruthless dissection of suburban malaise.

The film's power grows from its dark-toned portrayal of the World War II era and from its evocative use of flashbacks, which show more interest in the characters' emotional lives than in story devices like surprise and suspense.

Although it isn't very original in style, this heartfelt account is always instructive and frequently very touching.

This grim Danish-Swedish production is socially revealing and artistically creative, both coldly realistic and infused with compassion for its heroine and her youth culture.

The story of Laurel Canyon doesn't ultimately live up to the technical polish Cholodenko brings to it, but it's worth a visit if you want to check out the latest emotional vibes emanating from the Hollywood Hills.

The visuals are amazingly realistic, filling the screen with authentic effects.

The story of this Spanish thriller is weak in psychological credibility but strong in suspense, novelty, and imagination.

Fans of Robert Altman's hit "Gosford Park" will find similar pleasures here: colorful characters, multiple story lines, and clever blends of comedy and drama.

Sincere acting and heartfelt filmmaking add energy to this unassuming Tunisian drama.

The story raises hard moral questions relating to the relative value of human lives and the overwhelming debt that may be felt by those who benefit when others sacrifice. But the movie falls short of excellence because it doesn't so much explore these issues as finesse them in an action-filled climax.

Heartfelt performances make up for some stodgy dialogue and corny moments, though. And it's nice to know some filmmakers still have a foot firmly planted in old-fashioned humanistic storytelling.

Some will find it exhilarating fun.

The film's real appeal won't be to Clooney fans or adventure buffs, but to moviegoers who enjoy thinking about compelling questions with no easy answers.

The story is silly, the acting is campy, the effects are amusingly tacky. A mildly entertaining romp that pokes refreshing fun at its own occasional violence.

(Jonze and Kaufman's) work is so bold, funny, and original that it's hard to believe they aren't wide-screen veterans.

The film may be too talky for action-minded viewers and too fantastic for more serious spectators, but it brings appealing twists - including a feminist sensibility - to the venerable martial-arts genre.

One of the most inventive offerings so far this season.

Too intense for the youngest viewers, but teenagers will enjoy it -- an ill-smelling "stink-god" character is almost worthy of a Kevin Smith gross-out movie -- and grown-ups should find it diverting, if not exactly deep.

Frankenheimer doesn't recapture the magic he once created in movies like "The Manchurian Candidate," but he does cook up an effective thriller in the "French Connection" vein.

The ultimate challenge of making a first-rate caper movie is dishing up often-used ingredients with enough novel twists to make them seem familiar and fresh at the same time. Mamet soars over the hurdles with energy and imagination to spare.

Mamet's screenplay is full of savvy satire and the cast couldn't be better.

It's not a pretty picture, but it won't be soon forgotten by thriller fans with nerves and stomachs steely enough to take its violence in stride.

Adaptation is sort of like the mythical Ourabouros mentioned in the screenplay -- the snake that eats its own tail -- or like a series of mirrors repeating their images to infinity.

What helps Lin's feature-directing debut is his insight into the dark side of living up to "model minority" stereotypes in a materialistic culture.

The film's underwater views are breathtaking, as are its drawings and photographs of the Titanic's original splendor.

The plot switches gears every time it threatens to run out of energy, which keeps the show as lively as it is preposterous.

This cleverly structured Argentine heist movie isn't as original or ingenious as it tries to be, but it's fun watching the chicanery veer down one unexpected pathway after another.

The movie is strong in sound and fury, weak in nuance and insight.

Strikingly original movie.

The most original and amusing animation in recent memory. Kids will love its fantasy and adventure, and grownups should appreciate its whimsical humor.

Always energetic and sometimes cockamamie enough to be genuinely fun, Hulk is the blockbuster to beat this season.

The movie makes up in sweep and splendor what it lacks in psychological depth and dramatic impact.

The most refreshing aspect of Red Dragon is its reliance on old-fashioned acting instead of computer-aided gizmos. Hopkins overdoes his role at times -- his vocal tones are almost campy -- but his piercing eyes are as menacing as ever, and Ralph Fiennes is scarily good as his fellow lunatic.

Färberböck has directed the story with a canny blend of liveliness and taste.

Ms. Moncrieff's low-key directing is matched by fine acting from Agnes Bruckner as Meg and David Strathairn as her mentor. Aside from a somewhat schematic climax, this is as smart a debut as we've seen in a long while.

Has social, psychological, and ultimately mystical overtones that raise it leagues above most other teen-centered comedies.

They vary enormously in style, quality, and ideas, but the best of them -- by Gitai, Chahine, and Iñárritu, among others -- pack an enormous emotional and intellectual punch.

Ross's comedy isn't as inventive as "The Truman Show," which it resembles in some ways, but it explores interesting ideas with nimble humor.

Noe's despairing view of human nature is as thoughtful as it is grim, limning the most appalling aspects of earthly experience in terms recalling Dante and Bosh, among other apocalyptic artists.

Deliciously acted and good-humored to its core, it's one of the summer's very best surprises.

This unconventionally structured thriller moves at an energetic pace, spurred by a string of clever variations on conventional film narrative.

Has undertones of serious commentary on American violence, thanks to the screenplay by Larry Cohen, who often uses horror-film plots to explore cracks and contradictions in society.

The parody would be more memorable if it satirized a broader section of the folk-music scene instead of limiting itself to commercialized acts of the Kingston Trio and Peter, Paul & Mary ilk. But it is as accurate as it is funny.

Slums of Beverly Hills is less a hard-edged exposé than a mood-shifting satire, though approaching its subject with a wryly ironic touch.

The movie is surprisingly strong despite its potentially flaky plot, combining '80s-style humor with a sincere romantic story.

A well-made entry in the fashionable caper-movie genre, which has gathered steam lately with "Ocean's Eleven" and others.

Smart and entertaining almost every step of the way.

At heart, this is an old-fashioned monster flick decked out with Hollywood's full battery of high-tech visual effects. It's as goofy as it is gory -- stay away if you don't like in-your-face mayhem.

Intolerable Cruelty is a romantic comedy, but it has enough dark, strange, and cynical moments to qualify as a full-fledged part of the Coen canon.

One of the most violent films this year, it's no more so than many of the Asian kung fu flicks it pays homage to. Don't be surprised if it slaughters its action-film competition in this overcrowded movie season.

A fascinating account, if less urgently compelling than it might have been.

Its greatest assets are imaginative camera work and top-flight performances from Pam Grier as the heroine, Samuel L. Jackson as the deadly boyfriend, and Robert Forster as the bail-bondsman who falls battily in love with her.

The characters are so convincing and the mood so light and flaky that it's hard not to find it a delicious little hors d'oeuvre of a movie.

Paltrow's performance in Sylvia doesn't have Oscar- worthy depth, but it's a solid, sincere portrayal that captures enough sides of Plath's complex personality to enrich the movie, directed with impressive visual power by New Zealand filmmaker Christine Jeffs.

Grim and sordid though it often is, the film has a steady flow of visually absorbing images. It's an art movie for the masses.

Thanks to director Zucker, this is by far the best installment yet -- there's less bathroom humor and more "Airplane!"-type lunacy.

Detailed, compassionate, humane.

Although overlong, the picture has a fair measure of jolts and surprises.

Suicides are proliferating in the city -- is the song to blame, or is it the tenor of the times?

The results are unsparingly perverse and oddly spellbinding.

Hovering between vivid countryside documentary and understated melodrama, this almost wordless film is a unique excursion into fascinating territory.

Rodriguez makes a promising debut with this unsentimental drama. If she keeps working on her screenwriting skills, she could become a filmmaker to reckon with.

You may find the film as outrageous as it is outlandish, and Bowery would have taken that as a compliment.

The movie peaks about halfway through, when town officials try to stop Perry from revealing what's going on.

The screenplay by director Bell is packed with surprises, and the acting is excellent.

Movies like this are meant to amuse and entertain, though, not instruct. Meyers's latest is worth seeing for its offbeat story, its tantalizing settings, and most of all, its spot-on acting, especially by Keaton and Nicholson.

If you can endure watching it, you won't forget this grim cautionary tale for a long time.

Hogan's version brings out the story's somber side, showing how the mischief of unworldly characters like Peter and Tinkerbell can do real damage, and how refusing to grow up is an awful idea if you actually try it.

Brooks endows Japanese Story with a fair measure of suspense, pathos, and romance, despite the challenge of conjuring these qualities from only two main characters and not much else to look at in many scenes but sand, sand, sand.

The sensationalistic beginning and needless mumbo-jumbo ending aside, this is a female buddy film with bite.

The movie is as adolescent as it sounds, but Kahn keeps your eyes popping with truly nonstop action and some of the most outlandishly inventive effects you've ever seen. And of course Cube is so supercool it's worth the price of admission just to watch him.

The analytical discussions don't run very deep, but eyes will shine and toes will tap whenever this picture is shown.

The story is sweet by animé standards, although it has harsh elements as well.

A third aspect of The Tracker is less successful. In a badly calculated move, Mr. de Heer and singer Graham Tardif fill the soundtrack with songs full of clichés, platitudes, and truisms.

Isn't as funny as it wants to be, but it has a sheer pleasantness that stands out in this season of heavy-handed entertainments.

Don't miss this harrowing movie if you're in the mood for adventure more thrilling than anything Hollywood has to offer these days.

Siegel calls it a talking-heads film about the talking cure, and that pretty well sums it up. The nonfiction scenes are most interesting, and could have easily sustained the whole picture.

Like its subject, the movie is a tad overzealous, but often fascinating and revealing.

Belvaux tells this seamy story with great energy, and gives an all-stops-out performance in the leading role. Also fine are Catherine Frot as Bruno's former girlfriend and Dominique Blanc as the addict.

Best when it recreates the cultural and political ferment of the era, capturing the idealism that made youths push against the social boundaries imposed on them by elders.

Wilson is the main reason to see The Big Bounce, where he's perfect as a reasonably smart guy who often seems to have no idea what he's getting into. The other reasons are a solid supporting cast.

The story is amusing and the animation is first-rate, but there's less sparkling originality than in "Toy Story."

Violence Hitch would have found way beyond what's necessary. Horror fans will find effective shivers, though.

Four stories with automatons as important characters...The last is the most touching, but all are skillfully made.

Acted and directed with a savvy understatement that perfectly matches the eccentric story.

Still packs an entertaining punch with its blend of old-movie formulas, new-age philosophies, and video-game visuals. A small amount of new material, added for the 20th-anniversary reissue, is fun to look for but doesn't make much difference to the story or its impact. [Special Edition]

The drama is a gentle, witty parable of the mixed feelings some people show toward free choice when it confronts them not in theory but in everyday life.

To its credit, the movie has as little patience for nonessential nonsense as the women it portrays.

The action is talky and philosophical but in sweet celebration of everyman going nowhere.

Isn't glossy, but it has a thought-provoking mix of skepticism, hopefulness, and respect for all but its most scurrilous characters. Hollywood could learn from its canny blending of psychological and multicultural insights.

The results are ragged, disjointed, and endearing.

Its best moments are as exuberant and insightful as anything the screen has given us this season, and its passionate concern for believable characters in a recognizably real world offers a refreshing change from the current spate of feel-good fantasies.

Depp gives a smart, subtle performance, and Turturro is terrific as a foe who's both exactly what he seems and exactly the opposite. Koepp's makes his (literally) corny tricks seemfresh and surprising.

Heartfelt acting and a sometimes tragic but ultimately life-affirming story make this an unusually touching Israeli production.

Directed and cowritten by a veteran of Denmark's no-frills "Dogma 95" movement, this is a quiet, no-frills drama with simple human values at its core.

The picture makes up in energy and high spirits what it lacks in structure and style.

Coil up with a tub of popcorn, get a stranglehold on your soda - this is a creepy, action-packed boat ride down a jungle river with lots of huge snakes dropping by for man-sized snacks.

Quirky, heartfelt acting makes this a superior entry in the perennial teenage-misfit genre.

The music and camera work are dazzling, and the story has solid sociological insights into a fascinating pop-culture period.

Lavishly produced animation makes imaginative use of familiar formulas, filling the screen with handsome images accompanied by sprightly songs and lively voice-performances.

The screenplay has flashes of real wit, and Perlman is perfect in the title role.

Old-style animation slows down after a snappy start, but it's lively enough to keep kids from fidgeting too much.

Quite appealing, thanks to good-humored acting and to Martha Coolidge's quiet directing style. She lets romance and comedy bubble up from the characters instead of imposing gimmicky twists on the story.

It's hard to find a current release that so effectively teases the mind and emotions.

Dumont's methods are radical, but there's a fascinating method to his seeming cinematic madness.

Tarantino has always been an inventive director, and in Kill Bill: Vol. 2 he's at his cinematic best, showing an ingenuity that nothing in his monster hit "Pulp Fiction" surpasses.

This high-quality Disney animation combines strong pictorial appeal with amiable voice-performances.

Rich atmospherics and an all-star British cast make this a superior melodrama if you can handle the heavy-breathing sex scenes.

Strong acting and smartly tuned-in directing turn a run-of-the-mill detective story into a striking, sometimes harrowing blend of horror and suspense.

The movie works fairly well as a pitch-dark comedy, and very well as a dead-on satire of upward mobility and its discontents.

The screenplay by Tina Fey -- head writer for "Saturday Night Live" -- is marvelously smart, though, and the ensemble cast is uncannily in sync with it.

Watching Demme's documentary is both a crash course in the nation's tumultuous past and a provocative visit with one of its most colorful citizens.

In sum, this is hardly an "Iliad" adaptation for the ages. But if you're hankering for sand, sandals, and swordplay, this could be the movie for you.

Harrowing, realistic, humanistic.

A series of vignettes...Some are weak, some are superb -- there's a priceless one with Alfred Molina and Steve Coogan as Brits with different feelings about learning they're cousins -- but they get better as they go along.

Taylor is utterly believable even when the screenplay (from an Anne Tyler novel) is too self-consciously quirky, and Pearce nicely portrays the guy she obsesses over.

The story is dramatic and Béart gives one of her best performances, even if Téchiné's style has its usual sense of distance.

At its best, this "Shrek" sequel draws up a brilliant new blueprint for all-ages animation, blending fairy-tale whimsy with edgy social satire. Too bad it ends with worn-out homilies far less imaginative than the story as a whole.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy are attractive stars, but what's most appealing about the picture is the value it puts on sharing ideas and feelings through language.

Much of the style strains too hard to be cute, but true romantics may shed copious tears of sympathy and empathy.

The material is vivid and harrowing, although the movie provides little analysis or larger-scale context.

From its restlessly moving camera work to its heartfelt acting by a splendid cast, "Azkaban" is a horror movie for mature kids.

This colorful time capsule of a movie was directed by Van Peebles's son, who appeared in "Sweetback" as a child and doesn't minimize the difficulties his father's underfinanced dream entailed for his hard-pressed family and friends.

Excerpts from Schroeder's long video documentary about him, and from the flawed melodrama "Barfly" they made together, add more variety.

The kind of breezy teen-pic that youngsters flock to nowadays, and this particular specimen is imaginative enough to explore an environment off Hollywood's beaten path. It's also broad-minded enough to portray the evangelical milieu with flair, satirize its foibles with restraint, and respect its ideals even as it shows how individuals may fall short.

Stylishly directed and smartly acted, especially by the filmmaker-star, who gives one of his best performances as the unerring swordsman.

She emerges as an energetic, narcissistic, and totally self-deluded woman.

Straightforward and informative, but overlong and repetitious.

May not make you laugh out loud - it's too sly and subtle for that - but it will have you smiling every minute, and often grinning widely at its weirded-out charm. Nerdiness will never seem the same.

Light, lively, informative, fun.

Lively acting, eye-catching cinematography, and funny dialogue lift this fantasy a notch above the average until love-story cliches and horror-movie shocks bog it down.

The movie is lively, funny, and endearing until melodramatics and sentimentality take over in the last few scenes.

The real heroes are cinematographer Stephen H. Burum and editor Bill Pankow, who help the picture keep popping even when its plot and dialogue go into a slump.

The movie is sociologically rich, if not very memorable in the personalities it depicts.

The story isn't as funny as it tries to be, but it grows increasingly winning as it goes along.

The animal action is often gripping and suspenseful. As a whole, a giant step beyond Annaud's earlier animal movie, "The Bear," a more gimmicky film of 1988.

Imagine a sexually charged "Heart of Darkness" by way of Denmark's bare-bones Dogme 95 and you'll have an idea of what this dark, moody melodrama is like.

This is one of Haneke's least powerful films, although the excellent cast is interesting to watch.

The sequel is more exciting and surprising than the 2002 original, thanks largely to Molina's excellent acting. Only the strenuously comic scenes fall as flat as one of Spidey's leftover webs.

Redford gives one of his best performances ever in this taut, emotionally engrossing thriller.

Bridges is fun to watch, Fanning emerges as Hollywood's best 6-year-old actress, and Rogers's talents are wasted. A likable drama within its limitations.

John Sayles's offbeat western shows how public controversies often overlap with private grudges and conflicting memories.

This is not a happy tale, and its ending will have moviegoers reaching for every handkerchief they can find. But its compassion is as clear as the talents of the folks who made it.

Like its precursor, U.S. Marshals has lots of action and the Jones groupies are likeable. Though the overall picture isn't as fine-tuned or character driven, it still delivers what moviegoers want to see - a fast-paced and entertaining chase.

This is more than enough material for two hours of summer-movie fun, and The X-Files delivers said fun reasonably well. The action scenes are bigger and bolder than their small-screen counterparts.

Harrelson hits just the right sardonic note in this self-mocking crime drama, but look out for grisly touches along the way.

Waters fills the movie with his usual touches of outrageously bad taste, but beneath the sophomoric shocks his story has a serious message about self-absorbed artists who care more about their own careers than the privacy of the people around them.

The acting is fine, the filmmaking is honest, and the class-conscious story couldn't be more timely.

The filmmakers are more interested in spinning an entertaining yarn than probing the spiritual dimensions of their important subject.

Less ambitious than "Blade Runner" but more coherent than "Artificial Intelligence: A.I.," which it vaguely resembles, I, Robot is best during homely moments when Smith shows his human side.

Michael Douglas and Annette Bening head the well-chosen cast, but what gives the movie substance is its willingness to take real stands on real political issues.

Kevin Spacey gives a richly nuanced performance as the accused killer, and director Clint Eastwood makes the sometimes sordid story less sensationalistic than it might have seemed in less accomplished hands.

The parallel stories don't always dovetail with each other smoothly, but the acting is strong and the atmosphere is powerful.

James Mangold follows up the promise of his excellent "Heavy" with this smartly written, superbly acted melodrama.

Poignant, witty, historically illuminating.

Braff makes a striking directorial debut while leading a superb ensemble cast.

This intensely topical satire tackles a wide range of important issues, from corporate whistle-blowing to the toll sexual license takes on stable family structures.

Denzel Washington is stellar, and so is Tak Fujimoto's cinematography, which is as edgy and antsy as the story it tells.

Full of bright colors, offbeat people, tuneful sounds.

Leconte justifies his vaunted reputation by lending freshness and feeling to what could have been a gimmicky tragicomedy.

Its discussions don't go very deep, and moviegoers with strong religious values may wonder why it comes down for humanism over spirituality.

On the surface, The Game is an unusually imaginative thriller that bends its offbeat plot into so many twists that you actually have to pay attention - something few Hollywood movies demand nowadays - to understand its evolution and enjoy the multiple payoffs at the end.

Stylishly made, if less intellectually resonant than first-rate Mann films like "Ali" and "The Insider."

The story suggests a more violent "Seven Samurai," full of jungle mayhem and eloquently filmed action-movie suspense.

Not always compellingly made, but intelligent and perhaps prophetic.

Gentle and life-affirming, if too sentimental in the end.

Not a deep movie. It is a very honest one, though - there's not a cheap cinematic trick in sight - and it's a graceful one, energizing its small-town story with eloquent camera work and ingenious musical touches.

Combines a celebration of tolerance with an affirmation of family and community values, and a surprising amount of laugh-out-loud hilarity.

The gently told comedy-drama is more colorful than you'd expect, using wry humor and lively music to keep sentimentality at bay.

An enjoyable movie that marks a rattling good directorial debut for Stephen Fry, the English actor who's best known for starring in "Wilde" seven years ago.

While serving up music so free of thought that the best of it seems to crystallize our thoughtless, tightly wound era.

Imagine a bolder "Bully" blended with a more probing "River's Edge" and you'll have some idea of this little drama's strong dramatic and emotional power.

A diverting dramatic comedy.

The characters are sharply etched but the plot is made deliberately ambiguous, suggesting that family life is so emotionally intricate that no single story can contain or explain it.