A vital, sexy and touching movie that goes to the heart of what human caring is all about.

Neither a "gay" movie nor a straight one; it is simply a funny one.

Has its awkward and rough edges, but there's a purity here, a goodness of intention and a commitment to justice.

They talk and talk, and somehow it's delightful.

Beatty has fashioned a hilarious morality tale that delivers a surprisingly potent, angry message beneath the laughs.

Turns out to be the most unnerving film of the year. Easy.

Potentially oppressive subject matter is redeemed by impeccable moral integrity and stunning artistry.

Altman has delivered a lot of surprises in his long directing career, and his new comedy, Cookie's Fortune, is one of the most refreshing -- not because it's so good, but because it's so sweet and affectionate.

Leigh is perfectly cast as the game-pod goddess.

Under Fontaine's direction, family dysfunction is an intense experience with unexpectedly positive repercussions, even if the steps between are painful and potentially deadly.

Digs up both laughs and chills from timeworn material.

It turns out that Pepe Le Moko is even better than "Algiers."

Best movie of the summer.

You leave Cinema Paradiso with that feeling that's kind of like getting kicked in the stomach, but nice. It's one of those breathless, swept-away-by-a-movie experiences that you might have once a year, if you're lucky. [16 February 1990, Daily Notebook, p.E-1]

An actors' feast.

The kind of picture to whip out the clichés for: Surprisingly original. Delightful. Brilliant. Funny as all heck. When 1989 is through, sex, lies, and videotape may well be remembered as the best film of the year. [11 Aug 1989, Daily Datebook, p.E1]

They are naturals at acting, not because they're good at lying but because they can't be phony.

It is not merely a thriller but a shocker. It will separate hard-core Jet Li followers from the fair-weather fans.

Has an odd mix of quickly grabbed handheld shots and scenes of striking beauty.

Midnight Run has thrills, excellent performances, touching moments, slick plotting, lively dialogue, plenty of laughs, beautiful locations and finely detailed direction. It's an across-the-board success, the best new movie I've seen in years. [20 July 1988]

Burns has created an endearing gathering of people we all know, and every one of them is so much fun that leaving the theater at the end elicits a touch of regret.

One of the most haunting and vital movies of the year.

It's shockingly funny - you don't sit there deciding to laugh. Your own laughter catches you by surprise. [14 Apr 1989]

Jim Jarmusch has come up with something strange and amazing.

A further, captivating extension of Oshima's marriage of the oblique and the erotic.

The comic contrast between the genteel snobbery of von Bulow, a Danish aristocrat, and Dershowitz's dry contempt for his well-tailored client is treated with understated but stinging wit in Nicholas Kazan's brilliant script. [9 Nov 1990]

The pieces of the drama are put forth like the shapes of the five fingers of a hand, and finally they find a kind of awkward unity that was predictable from the start. And yet, the gesture of it all is utterly captivating, the way a dream would be if it ever really came true. [27 Feb 1987, Daily Datebook, p.74]

Breaks the formula for teen romances. Martin Short, as the vain and zany drama teacher, does not disappoint.