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Thoroughbreds
America's class system goes under a bloody scalpel.
"...debut feature by writer/director Cory Finley began as a script for stage, not screen, and that shines through in..."

March 9, 2018 Movie Review by Richard Whittaker

Kung Fu Panda 3
Now a kung-fu master, the panda is no longer a grasshopper
"...setting without resorting to crude cultural caricature, although the script itself is only serviceable, ticking off preapproved-for-kids themes of..."

Jan. 29, 2016 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Interstellar
Majesty and mawkishness combine in Christopher Nolan's film about humans' last-ditch attempt to find a habitable planet in another galaxy.
"...an adult by Jessica Chastain, poorly served by a script that mostly asks her to stare at chalkboards and..."

Nov. 7, 2014 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Man of Tai Chi
Keanu Reeves’ directorial debut sizzles with mandible-cracking action, political intrigue, and electrifying martial physicality.
"...dialogue (not to mention Michael G. Cooney’s tight, transnational script), Man of Tai Chi works on its own playing..."

Nov. 1, 2013 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Oz the Great and Powerful
Neither a besmirching nor a instant classic, this sometimes clunky prequel in which James Franco plays the Wizard when he was a mere, young huckster also has Sam Raimi's ravishing visuals.
"...a thorough workout. Less creativity is discernible in the script department, however. The screenplay by Mitchell Kapner and David..."

March 8, 2013 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

No Strings Attached
Natalie Portman and Ashton Kutcher play characters who test whether a relationship can remain purely sexual.
"...the original title of Elizabeth Meriwether's buzzy, Black List script). The arrangement predictably snags when Adam realizes he wants..."

Jan. 28, 2011 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

The Green Hornet
This Hornet's a cheesy and borderline-boring cream puff of a vigilante.
"...it Mr. Gondry's film seems hardly fair, though; the script, by Rogen and Evan Goldberg, has the miscalculated bromance..."

Jan. 14, 2011 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Going the Distance
Drew Barrymore and Justin Long explore the difficulties of long-distance relationships in this rom-com.
"...American Teen) seems to have few trustworthy instincts. The script by first-time screenwriter Geoff LaTulippe offers only a litany..."

Sept. 3, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Brooklyn's Finest
Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, and Don Cheadle star in this clichéd police drama that's capped by an outlandish third act.
"...are let down by this film’s rudimentary and cliché-ridden script by first-timer Michael C. Martin. Fuqua’s visual flash and..."

March 5, 2010 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

When in Rome
Kristen Bell stars as a woman who pulls three coins from a fountain … and three new beaus in the process.
"...are involved in the shepherding of a film from script to screen, you’d think at least one could be..."

Feb. 5, 2010 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Amelia
Hilary Swank stars as Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair's big-budget biopic.
"...else in Ronald Bass and Anna Hamilton Phelan’s hackneyed script is writ so large you see it coming a..."

Oct. 30, 2009 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Amreeka
In this delightfully human and sweetly comic ode to the contemporary immigrant experience in a post-9/11 “Amreeka,” a Palestinian mother and son create a world of possibilities.
"...overall tone – Dabis is working from her own script – is no coming-to-America nightmare. It's a more gentle,..."

Sept. 25, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Next Day Air
A misdelivered package of concealed cocaine kicks off events in this comic film starring Donald Faison, Mike Epps, and Mos Def.
"...doc director Boom chose an easy first-out with a script from debuting screenwriter Blair Cobbs. You can easily imagine..."

May 15, 2009 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Hostel: Part II
Roth has accomplished the near impossible: He's crafted a vastly superior sequel to Hostel, one that supersedes the original's sadistic quotient, gore effects, and narrative subversiveness.
"...also upstaging its own outrageous gore effects with a script that's smart, vicious, and occasionally, gleefully subversive. Hostel: Part..."

June 8, 2007 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Slow Burn
Slow Burn – starring Ray Liotta, LL Cool J, and Mekhi Phifer – becomes one of those movies that’s so bad, it’s almost entertaining. Almost.
"...manual on the art of the cliché, writer/director Beach’s script is rife with inanities. And ultimately, Slow Burn becomes..."

April 20, 2007 Movie Review by Toddy Burton

The Reaping
Pardon the pun, but audiences will reap little from this satanic backwoods juju thriller.
"...and he’s not afraid to use it, while the script (by Carey and Chad Hayes, who brought you the..."

April 6, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Premonition
Sandra Bullock again turns toward the supernatural in this thriller in which she plays a housewife who's uncertain whether her husband is alive or dead.
"...but its solemn tone suggests otherwise.) As Bill Kelly’s script becomes more preposterous as it goes along, you find..."

March 23, 2007 Movie Review by Steve Davis

Alpha Dog
It’s a soggy true-crime drama – too serious to be trashy, too trashy to be serious.
"...the epic scale of Scarface. Cassavetes directs his own script as contemplatively as if he’s channeling his father, John,..."

Jan. 12, 2007 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

The Holiday
Nancy Meyers’ follow-up to Something’s Gotta Give mines the same go-girl terrain but is far less interesting, featuring stock characterizations and a blandly upbeat vibe.
"...self-doubt they have discussed at length in the talky script (“I’m not sure I fall in love. Not like..."

Dec. 8, 2006 Movie Review by Marrit Ingman

Inside Man
Although with Denzel, Jodie, and Clive in tow it would be difficult to go wrong, Spike Lee and screenwriter Russell Gewirtz have created a truly original film from various shopworn genre clichés.
"...in on it, but screenwriter Russell Gewirtz's cunning, tight script doles out droplets of information at a painfully slow..."

March 24, 2006 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Blue Butterfly
The Hallmark homilies are all there in this family-friendly feature about a cancer-stricken 10-year-old searching for the elusive morpho butterfly, but when the principals arrive in rainforest country, the film shifts gears and begins to breathe.
"...far more satisfying– than in Pool's last outing, from script and performance to camerawork and vision. This family-friendly film..."

Feb. 10, 2006 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

Three ... Extremes
This lush and horrific anthology film from three of the finest craftsmen working today – Fruit Chan, Chan-wook Park, and Takashi Miike – is an instantly memorable and squirm-inducing assemblage.
"...from Wong Kar-Wai regular Christopher Doyle, an intellectually chewy script by Lilian Lee, Kwong Wing-chan’s distressing score, and masterful..."

Oct. 28, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Fog
This hazy remake pales in comparison to John Carpenter's original fogbanks from 1980.
"...favorite. Like Carpenter’s 1980 original, Wainwright’s film (from a script by Cooper Layne) posits a seaside California fishing village..."

Oct. 21, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Monster-in-Law
This banal and lukewarm slice of romantic comedy is as soft and ephemeral as any colorized Ted Turner outing.
"...think, would be time enough to find a comeback script worthy of Fonda’s edgier talents. Apparently not. Monster-in-Law is..."

May 13, 2005 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

The Polar Express
Chris Van Allsburg’s magical tale of the Christmas Eve re-education of a Santa-doubting adolescent gets the motion-capture treatment.
"...One. There’s Christmas magic in Zemeckis’ film (from a script by William Broyles), but there’s also a bizarre, palpable..."

Nov. 12, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Cellular
Feels like a B-picture, but a smart, finely tuned one that wouldn’t have been out of place in Roger Corman’s mid-Seventies stable.
"...us, helmed by Final Destination 2’s Ellis from a script by Chris Morgan. Cohen only nabs a "story by"..."

Sept. 10, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Catwoman
The fur flies as Halle Berry tempts us in leather.
"...entire time, this is basement-level trash with a schizophrenic script that mirrors the fractured psyche of timid protagonist Patience..."

July 23, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Twisted
Ashley Judd thriller is routine at best.
"...time someone shook her out of it with a script that doesn’t require her to wear a shoulder holster..."

March 5, 2004 Movie Review by Marc Savlov

Marci X
A hip-hop artist and a Jewish American Princess discover that bling-bling makes the world go ’round.
"...country. Marci X is not that movie, however. The script by Paul Rudnick (In & Out) has no bite,..."

Aug. 29, 2003 Movie Review by Marjorie Baumgarten

Gigli
"...Scent of a Woman), who wrote an incoherent, incompetent script and further mangled it with his direction. The plot,..."

Aug. 1, 2003 Movie Review by Kimberley Jones

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