What caught me off guard I think was not making the connection between how much money we had and what it would translate to. When you say we have a big movie, we have a big budget script and a small-budget, um, budget.

The structure and layered storytelling make Gone Baby Gone richly satisfying.

A big, bold Hollywood movie that won't be winning any awards for subtlety but can't be denied its popcorn appeal.

A resonant Pacino...though ultimately a misfire, suggests that there are worse things to call a movie than 'a curiosity.'

Pacino at the top of his game...[but] the film's lack of faith in its audience is glaringly apparent.

Tunneling underground notwithstanding, a heist movie shouldn't feel this much like drudgery.

An inspiring rebel yell from four girls unwilling to recede into the background as passive sacrifices to the MTV culture.

In and of itself, the story offers rich dramatic material that Haggis exploits well, but the writer-director's unsubtle condescension to his audience represents small thinking.

Markovics expertly projects every craven instinct and heartfelt yearning of the complex protagonist, making The Counterfeiters an experience as satisfying emotionally as intellectually.

A sort of cinematic comfort food: it's the mac and cheese of the cineplex.

The film gets a full 'This is a work of fiction' disclaimer, even noting that any resemblance to any person living or dead is unintentional. That tells you something about how much trust to put in these historical CliffsNotes.

Series creators Todd A. Kessler, Glenn Kessler and Daniel Zelman put a premium on giving every episode at least one major plot twist...generally a satisfyingly suspenseful ride.

The only real problem with the film is that it isn't long enough...wild story, complex and crammed plot, far-reaching cast of characters, terrific voice work, and sophisticated themes...

[Taylor:] Often you can use a director who doesn't speak English just as a mirror for your own instincts. Even though he couldn't tell me exactly what was wrong, it was really my job to...do what I thought was best...

[Emmerich:] It's a little bit like a time travel...these hunter-gatherer people meet the first farmers meet the high culture.

A kid's movie for adults, a charming notion for a time of postmodern ennui.

A straight-ahead suspense melodrama, complete with villain and a climax with satisfyingly clean lines. But Gilroy constantly elevates the material with surprise gifts.

Inflated talk of American Gangster as a modern masterpiece--or even an Oscar-worthy picture--ignores the fact that there's not a single memorable setpiece in the film.

Lee provides no such easy comfort, instead keeping audiences constantly off-kilter, purposefully frustrating them with character behavior that's just...wrong.

Eastern Promises' unusually ambiguous character study makes for a different kind of crime drama, a striking if not entirely satisfying one.

The dichotomy of Rickles' customary matador-theme entrance and tongue-in-cheek but true theme song "I'm a Nice Guy" captures Rickles' secret of success: you gotta love him.

A study in isolation and, yes, paranoia...The mesmerizingly beautiful images--often in slo-mo--glide to evoke Alex's primary pursuit of skating.

One of the film's prime strengths is its wordless willingness to let the principal characters express themselves through music and mime to overcome cultural barriers.

Though it panders shamelessly, it's not entirely unwelcome in a time when the PG movie is an endangered species.

It's a dicey proposition to reverse-engineer a story, and Across the Universe shows the strain...[nonetheless] a very impressive music-video anthology.

An historical story of consequence and consequences around an enduringly lively social argument.

After these 97 minutes, resting in peace sounds pretty good.

Sets the tone with an opening suite of scenes that put a kitty in danger.

Kon marries visual dazzle to unblinking pop existentialism in ways that make viewers' heads hurt so good.

Deluxe tribute to the playwright gets by, surprisingly, as much by romantic poignancy as farce...it's hard to dislike a picture so in Love with its subject.

Once I started crying I couldn't stop...And when I stood up, everyone was just standing there in sheer--just silence. Franco said, 'Cut'...and he put his arms around me and said, 'You're gonna love Rome.'

Michel Gondry: 'Keep your money for yourself. Be creative and meet friends. And have a better life.'

Were the film not so insistent on conventional payoffs, The Great Debaters could have been much more satisfying. As it is, it's a pleasant holiday film with a positive message.

Sends the endlessly bickering couple to Paris, where the great director Roman Polanski gives them a rectal exam. I wish I were kidding.

Verhoeven doles out his customary boobs, bombs, and blood, but the tension between thrills and serious consequences splits Black Book's difference.

Charms in large part due to the performances of the two stars.