Movie Reviews

Redbelt can’t quite score a knockout with critics. While many find much to admire in David Mamet’s fight movie, most also concede it’s a flawed affair, and some outright disliked it. In the New York Times , Manohla Dargis described it as “a satisfying, unexpectedly involving B-movie,” that sadly “never marshals its estimable parts, its exciting fight sequences and juicy side characters into a transcendent whole.” More »

The Wachowski brothers’ Speed Racer is a flashy ride that would be great for kids—if it weren’t “like C-SPAN set in an arcade,” writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times . Endless, aimless dialog, she says, dominates the “juvenile and hermetic” pastiche about a Grand Prix driver avenging his brother's death in a futuristic world that looks like the inside of a pinball machine.  More »

The new romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas probably should have stayed in Vegas, most critics think—or "in Hollywood, where such lamebrained ideas are hatched," writes Bill Goodykoontz in the Arizona Republic . Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher star as a couple who get hitched after a drunken night out and are then ordered to stay together by a judge. More »

Destined for the chick-flick oblivion guaranteed by opening on the same day as a superhero blockbuster, Made of Honor has critics expressing a range of emotions—from indifference to loathing. Most sink their teeth into the My Best Friend's Wedding -with-a-gender-switch angle and chomp down: "Unfortunately, the filmmakers add nothing new, funnier or more engaging," writes Bill Zwecker of the Chicago Sun-Times. More »

Iron Man rockets into theaters tomorrow, and it’s so good it “practically dares the competition to measure up,” Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone . Critics are nearly unanimous in praising the latest superhero flick, admiring its “raw vitality” and “pitch-perfect casting.” Robert Downey Jr., in particular, “brings so much creative juice to the party that Iron Man achieves instant liftoff.” More »

Deception is a twist-filled thriller, but critics say the cloak of deceit will be paper-thin to anybody familiar with the genre. Ewan McGregor stars as a dull accountant whose life gets spicier after an attorney, played by Hugh Jackman, introduces him to a secret sex club. Soon after, the thriller cliches roll out, and "it's genre time," writes Desson Thompson in the Washington Post. More »

Sometimes it's hard not to laugh at the slacker/stoner comedy Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay , writes James Berardinelli in ReelViews. At other times, it's hard not to cringe at the film, a sequel to Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle . That's because the humor in Escape , about the anti-heroes being mistaken for terrorists, "is uneven in the extreme," Berardinelli writes.  More »

Critics don't seem thrilled about the arrival of Baby Mama , which tells the story of an overachieving, infertile career woman (Tina Fey) who hires a rough-around-the-edges high school dropout (Amy Poehler) to bear her a child. The movie's not "laugh-out-loud funny," writes Ann Hornaday in the Washington Post . "It's more quiet-chuckle funny, which is fine." More »

They may be two of the most admired American actors ever, but Al Pacino and Robert De Niro's latest films don't exactly do credit to their respective legends, writes Patrick Goldstein in the Los Angeles Times . The two "have become parodies of themselves, making payday movies and turning in performances that are hollow echoes" of past work. More »

Race underscores the stoner misadventures of Harold and Kumar—whose second film comes out tomorrow—but it’s not the point. The movies, about two friends who “just happen not to be white,” set a multicultural standard that Hollywood hasn’t figured out, writes Mark Olsen in the Los Angeles Times . When it comes to cultural issues, “filmgoers are a bit savvier than they are given credit for,” says a co-director. More »

Happy endings don't ensure box-office sales, but Hollywood still snubs sad or complex finales—even if they better fit the film, David Ansen writes in Newsweek . Filmgoers don't need movies to end on a smile: Take Titanic or The Third Man . But this year's summer fare, like Iron Man and Get Smart, is no doubt back-loaded with upbeat, sequel-sparking endings. More »

The Forbidden Kingdom , packing the one-two punch of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, is "great fun," David Edelstein writes in New York, once the martial-arts flick gets past "the clunky prologue." Other critics are a little more reserved in praising the film, about a modern-day teenager who's magically transported to ancient China and swept up in adventure. More »

Forgetting Sarah Marshall is another raunchy romantic comedy from Judd Apatow's repertory company, with an important difference: star/screenwriter Jason Segel. His performance as a clueless spurned boyfriend is "awkward and embarrassing," yet "sweet" and "disarming," writes Scott Tobias of The Onion A.V. Club. Segel contributes "a laugh-a-minute, Flavor Flav-approved screenplay," writes James Verniere of the Boston Herald. More »

Critics like the big-name actors in family serio-comedy Smart People —especially Dennis Quaid, who stars as a cranky professor with much to learn about people—but think they might have been smarter to choose a different script. Screenwriter Mark Jude Poirier "is aiming for Scrabulous dialogue but his movie is barely of Boggle quality," Carrie Rickey writes in the Philadelphia Inquirer . More »

Street Kings doesn't get a lot of love from critics, who say it resorts at times to the worst of cop-flick cliches. Keanu Reeves plays a cold-hearted, vodka-swigging LA vice cop who's hunting down his former partner's murderers. And while screenwriter James Ellroy's pulp machismo has worked before, here Reeves comes off "like the host of an infomercial trying to do the impersonation of a badass," writes Owen Gleiberman in Entertainment Weekly .  More »

Gone are the days when film critics swayed the culture and sparked serious debate, Anne Thompson laments in Variety . None of her college film students can name a critic besides Roger Ebert, though all are intense cinematic aficionados. Instead, most turn to review roundup sites, or “get their movie info straight from the studio marketing departments.” More »

The spectacular scenery in Nim's Island impressed the critics, as did the film's focus on the pluck and intelligence of its young heroine (Abigail Breslin). Multiple storylines, however —about Nim's life in a Pacific paradise, her lost-at-sea father, and her relationship with an agoraphobic writer (Jodie Foster)—end up "diluting its assets," writes Carrie Rickey in the Philadelphia Inquirer .  More »

As the lead in My Blueberry Nights , Grammy-winning jazz-pop chanteuse Norah Jones doesn't exactly dazzle. Her performance as a waitress, who ditches New York City for the open road after being ditched by her boyfriend, is "agreeable but bland," writes Todd McCarthy of Variety and "oddly behind the beat," observes Michelle Orange of the Village Voice .  More »

Critics seem to want to like Leatherheads , a screwball comedy about pro football's early days, directed by and starring George Clooney. The Roaring '20s costumes, sets and music are terrific, notes Kirk Honeycutt of the Hollywood Reporter . Clooney, as an aging player/team owner, and his leading lady, Renée Zellweger, as a spitfire newspaper reporter, "play off each other nicely," writes the Philadelphia Inquirer 's Steven Rea. More »

There’s a problem with 21 , a movie based on a true story (and the book it inspired) about some MIT math nerds who set up an elaborate system to beat the house in Las Vegas. “None of the main stars is remotely convincing as a smart person,” writes Josh Bell of Las Vegas Weekly . And the storytelling is far from gangbusters, critics complain. More »