Splat 1/4
Jackass: Number Two (2006)
"A solid hour-and-a-half, plus outtakes, of gratuitous violence and endless stupidity."
Stephen Whitty
Tomato
The Jacket (2005)
"A sci-fi fantasy with an unusual bit of gravity and style."
Tomato 2.5/4
The Jane Austen Book Club (2007)
"There isn't an actress here who isn't perfect."
Japanese Story (2004)
"A film of small surprises."
Jarhead (2005)
" The movie is so good you wish it were even better, particularly in its characterizations."
Splat
Jeepers Creepers 2 (2003)
"The new JC is more consistent and efficient than the first, with classier monster effects, but less compellingly weird."
Bob Campbell
Splat 2.5/4
Jellyfish (2008)
"It would be easier to recommend it if only, like its characters, it didn't drift quite so easily, aimlessly knocked about by the tide."
Jersey Girl (2004)
"This modest little date-movie may feel like a refreshing relief."
Jersey Guy (2003)
"We're supposed to find this loser [Jack] likable?"
Splat 2/4
Jesus Camp (2006)
"It knows what it's looking for and, once it finds it, it serves it up to its own chosen audience of Blue Staters. It's the flip side of its own subjects. It's preaching to the unconverted."
Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood (2004)
"Within 40 minutes, though, you may realize you've had about as much fun as you're going to -- and that the movie is barely halfway done."
Jimmy Carter Man From Plains (2007)
"Every so often, though, Demme decides to make a documentary about something he not only knows but admires. And the results are admittedly intimate, but so uncritical that they amount to two-dimensional portraits, all shadows bleached away."
Tomato 3/4
Jindabyne (2007)
"Gabriel Byrne is the fisherman who won't interrupt his trip; Laura Lin ney is the wife who finds his actions hard and, finally, horrifying to comprehend. And for the most part it works."
John Tucker Must Die (2006)
"... slightly smarmy."
Johnny English (2003)
"It's all safe, predictable stuff -- so predictable that the only people who won't have things figured out 10 minutes into the film are those who left after five."
Johnson Family Vacation (2004)
"Things feel choppy and unfinished, and there are signs of desperate, post-production efforts to do a quick fix -- badly looped dialogue, awkwardly inserted closeups, too much music."
Tomato 3.5/4
Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple (2006)
"Director Stanley Nelson goes beyond those outlines... to give us a measure of Jones' appeal and surprising power."
Joshua (2007)
"It's not exactly light summer entertainment. With its emphasis on paranoia and perversion, Joshua is closer in spirit to fringe films like Eraserhead than mainstream horror movies like The Omen."
Lisa Rose
Journey to the Center of the Earth (2008)
"It has a just-rebellious-enough kid, just-goofy-enough hero, a cute competent heroine and plenty of bumper-car chase scenes and house-of-shocks surprises."
Joyeux Noël (2006)
"It tells an evocative story that withstands the sentimentality of the film-making."
Julia (2008)
"Like any beautiful, heartbreaking wreck -- we can never take our eyes off Julia. Or the fierce and uncompromising actress bringing her to awful, astonishing life."
Julie & Julia (2009)
"It's Julia who truly delights, and who we want seconds of. Like the food she dishes up, she's warm and spicy, hearty and satisfying."
Junebug (2005)
"Junebug addresses familiar themes in an intriguingly understated way."
Just Friends (2005)
"With its slapstick car wrecks and sports injuries, the movie is like a Michael Bay take on Garden State. It wants to be painfully funny, but it really is just plain painful to watch."
Splat 1.5/4
Just Like Heaven (2005)
"It's popcorn entertainment with a heavy political-medical agenda."
Just My Luck (2006)
"Lindsay Lohan may be all grown up in the tabloids, but her latest movie doesn't reflect any newfound maturity."
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