Movie Reviews

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 »

While some critics are calling Stop-Loss , Kimberly Peirce’s long-awaited Boys Don’t Cry follow-up, earnest and, at times, riveting, none of them seem to see it as the definitive Iraq war film. But the picture, about some GIs who’ve completed their tours of duty only to be told they’re being sent back to the front, still “strikes a universal chord that transcends politics,” writes Peter Travers in Rolling Stone . More »

Irina Palm , about a frumpy grandmother who resorts to prostitution so she can pay for her desperately ill grandson's operation, is winning over critics, both because of its unsentimental portrayal of the sex trade and because of the performance given by its star, singer/songwriter/actress and '60s icon Marianne Faithfull. More »

Combine the talents of the creative team behind Superbad and Knocked Up with the considerable charms of actor Owen Wilson and what have you got? The "dispiritingly mediocre tweener comedy" Drillbit Taylor , writes Marc Savlov of the Austin Chronicle . He's far from alone in his assessment of the movie, about three dorky freshmen who hire a homeless Army deserter (Wilson) to protect them from a bully. More »

Director Michael Haneke uses Funny Games to toy with his audience—and that can make the "mockingly sadistic and terrifying watch-the-middle-class-writhe-like-stuck-pigs thriller" tough viewing, Owen Leiberman writes in Entertainment Weekly . Critics are split on the merits of Haneke's remake of his disturbing 1997 German-language original—about a vacationing family terrorized by two men—but few could look away. More »

The big-screen adaptation of Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! succeeds in large part because the film's actors are not seen. "Unlike those behind the recent live-action grotesqueries The Grinch and Cat in the Hat ," observes Carrie Rickey of the Philadelphia Inquirer , the makers of the CG-animated Horton succeed by calling on "the great, good medic of metrical writing."  More »

The prehistoric adventure 10,000 B.C. isn't just a spectacle of cutting-edge effects, it's "a tedious bore in which grubby people stand around muttering in a variety of badly chosen accents," writes Josh Tyler in Cinema Blend. Unfortunately for writer/director Roland Emmerich ( Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow ), most other critics seem to agree. More »

You probably won't ponder The Bank Job once you've left the theater, but most critics say you're likely to enjoy it while you're there. The heist film, very loosely based on a real bank robbery that happened in London in 1971—which captivated the public because of its rumored connection to the royal family—is "fun but instantly forgettable," writes Jamie Russell in Total Film. More »

Satirist Alan Abel has spent decades laughing at Americans who fell for hoaxes such as his "euthanasia cruises" and a school for training beggars. Abel Raises Cain , a documentary made by his daughter now out on DVD, is a "hysterical look at a gifted comic," even if it doesn't explain how he funded his grand schemes, writes Joe Keohane in Slate. More »

Penelope , a romantic fantasy that casts Christina Ricci as a socialite "princess" cursed with a pig's nose, draws mixed reviews. "First-time director Mark Palansky is trying for a deft, hip, modern fairy-tale feel, but the odd material, sprawling story, and complicated tonal balancing act get away from him," writes Tasha Robinson for the Onion A.V. Club. More »

The Other Boleyn Girl is anything but a dry history lesson about the 16th century, critics say—don't take it too seriously, and you'll be all right. It "probably shouldn't be the way in which high-school kids learn about Henry VIII and his court, but it's a fun movie," writes Bill Goodykoonts in the Arizona Republic . Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson star as Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary. More »

Semi-Pro , a comedy set in 1976 that stars Will Ferrell as the owner/coach of and player for a losing professional basketball team, is the cinematic equivalent of an air ball, say critics, who call the film erratic, repetitive, and dull. "If you're on the prowl for a Ferrell yuk-fest, you'd do better renting one of his more successful comedies than spending money on this faux sports dud," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews. More »

It may lack depth, but critics admit that Vantage Point packs a lot of excitement. The thriller, which begins by showing the same assassination from eight different perspectives, "fails the 'reality test' but maintains a certain intensity for its entire running length," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com. "It's entertaining in the same way that an episode of 24 is entertaining." More »

Charlie Bartlett , about a charming but troubled high school student who dispenses advice and prescription medication to his classmates, is being given mostly passing grades by critics. Sure, the teen film hits the expected themes of "angst, alienation, loneliness, disenchantment, and drug use," writes the Hollywood Reporter 's Kirk Honeycutt. At the same time, it maintains a deft comic touch through "keen observation." More »

The Jack Black comedy Be Kind Rewind isn't predictable, but at times it's not coherent either, critics say. The film—about a guy who inadvertently erases a video store's VHS inventory, then, using a camcorder, re-creates popular movies for the store to rent—"never stops experimenting, even when the experimentation works against the movie's best interests," writes James Berardinelli of ReelViews.com. More »

Justin Timberlake will take a swing at minor league ballplaying in the upcoming flick The Open Road , the AP reports. Adding to his Hollywood resume, Timberlake will play Carlton Garrett, a made-up member of the Houston Astros’ farm team, the Corpus Christi Hooks. Timberlake, aiming for authenticity, has attempted—so far unsuccessfully—to discuss his role with real Hooks players. More »

Critics by and large are enchanted with The Spiderwick Chronicles . It's "a well-crafted family thriller that is truly scary and doesn't wimp out," writes Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times . The fantasy, based on the best-selling books, follows twins (played by Freddie Highmore) and their sister ( In America's Sarah Bolger) as the recipients of a forbidden book that might save the world. More »

Definitely, Maybe, the story of a soon-to-be-divorced dad whose 11-year-old daughter wants to hear how he met her mother, is definitely a cut above most romantic comedies, critics say. "It's a lot fresher and a bit more sophisticated than the ordinary run of maudlin chick flicks," writes Ken Fox of TV Guide . More »