Splat 1.5/4 |
Lady in the Water (2006) |
"This isn't nitpicking. Every bit of the tale is as full of holes as a wool sweater at a moth convention, and Shyamalan telegraphs each potential surprise." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
Ladykillers (2004) |
"Hanks traded on his common-man status to reach stardom, but this is the most uncommon acting he's done: He gets deep inside the mind of an eccentric none of us would ever meet in real life and makes us believe in him." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
Lagaan (2001) |
"A good example of the 'masala' type of Indian filmmaking, where politics, romance, class consciousness and long musical numbers are stirred together in an entertaining stew." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Lake House (2006) |
"I knew The Lake House was a fairy tale, and not one aimed at my half of the gene pool. Nonetheless, I enjoyed this languid romance between Chicagoans separated by two years." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
Lantana (2001) |
"A direct, affecting movie, one where every character hangs suspended between loneliness and the possibility of love." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (2001) |
"This is one badly made picture with a star whose charisma is its only positive value." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
Last Chance Harvey (2008) |
"Writer-director Joel Hopkins adheres to the timeworn Hollywood pattern with clumsy determination, never daring to freshen the romantic comedy formula." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Last Holiday (2006) |
"Last Holiday floats along on the broad shoulders of one of our most able dramatic comedians. Without her, it would sag like a punctured souffle." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
The Last Kiss (2002) |
"The vigorous, unsubtle acting provides consistent pleasure, once you stop expecting it to seem realistic." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Last Samurai (2003) |
"Toll's subtle cinematography and the forceful performances persuade us that we're in a real, unusually interesting world." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
The Last Sin Eater (2007) |
"Folks wanting to hear the usual New Testament message will be pleased; others may feel that the tension dissolves in homilies and wish the main character weren't led around by a blonde-haired little angel in a white dress." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
Late Marriage (2001) |
"[Koshashvili] sometimes drags [the ideas] out (the film needs tightening), but they're worth considering all the same." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Laurel Canyon (2003) |
"McElhone and Bale are more overt, acting mostly with rigid faces, tousled hair and at least 64 shiny, well-displayed teeth." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
Laws of Attraction (2004) |
"A souffle that never rises." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Layer Cake (2005) |
"Full of quirky types who populate Guy Ritchie movies but set forth with more clarity and higher style." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (2003) |
"What a riveting movie The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen might have been! And what a rickety mess it turned out to be when the people responsible lost faith in the origin of the material!" |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
Leatherheads (2008) |
"Writers Duncan Brantley and Rick Reilly, who sold the first version of this debut script back in 1991, want to celebrate the innocence of those early days -- both pro football's and modern America's -- and the feeling that anything was possible back then." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Left Behind - The Movie (2001) |
"How you respond to it will depend mostly on whether you accept the idea of a Rapture or think we're approaching the 'end times,' as some apocalyptic Christians say." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White and Blonde (2003) |
"The sequel's virtually a photocopy of the 2001 surprise hit." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
The Legend of Bagger Vance (1999) |
"[Redford] tells this superficial fairy tale with warmth and expert care." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
The Legend of Drunken Master (1994) |
"Jackie Chan movies are popcorn: light, devoid of nutritional value, something you can gobble for 90 minutes without filling up." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Legend of Zorro (2005) |
"You must cast aside all rules of our space-time continuum to appreciate a fantasy like this one, though even then you might consider 130 minutes to be too much of a good thing." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004) |
"Silberling doesn't trust us to get the main point of these books, so he reinforces it with a ponderous, homily-filled climax in which the orphans and the audience are patted on the head like kindergartners." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Let the Right One In (2008) |
"A tale that proves there's life in the undead yet, when they fall into the hands of imaginative storytellers." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Letters From Iwo Jima (2006) |
"Letters covers less emotional ground than its predecessor, because Eastwood and first-time writer Iris Yamashita (who shares a story credit with Paul Haggis) allow Japanese soldiers only three modes of behavior." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Libertine (2005) |
"There follows much groping and fondling and talk of debauchery, all of it slightly less erotic than integral calculus." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
License To Wed (2007) |
"For all the Hollywood obviousness of the reassuring ending, [director] Kwapis and his writers put over the subversive message that marriage can be maddening." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
Life (1999) |
"The bickering of the two leads is funny in a loose, maybe improvisational way." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou (2004) |
"If that's true, maybe Anderson is wearing his heart on his sleeve for the first time: He could be paying wry tribute to the medium, showing real love for the process that lets him use his offbeat gifts. But I wouldn't bet on it." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Life Before Her Eyes (2008) |
"Studio movies rarely depict Christians as fallible, thoughtful people who've been strengthened by faith but don't take it for granted." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
The Life of David Gale (2003) |
"Like a comfy, handsome $12 sweater. On first wearing, it seems like a bargain. Pull just one string, and it swiftly unravels in your hands." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
Life or Something Like It (2002) |
"It has the fizzy good spirits of a flavored bottle of seltzer water, if not champagne." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Lilya 4-Ever (2003) |
"You'll see superb acting by two teens." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
The Limey (1999) |
"Steven Soderbergh is my hero." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Lions for Lambs (2007) |
"The movie remains so unspecific that it often sounds like sloganeering, however well developed the arguments." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The List (2007) |
"The List is an accomplished piece of filmmaking with a serious goal." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
Little Children (2006) |
"[Little Children] benefits from mostly good acting but is not recommendable on any other level." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Little Miss Sunshine (2006) |
"This indie favorite came out of the 2006 Sundance festival with its highest price tag ever ($10.5 million, paid by Fox Searchlight) and audience raves. Fox and the fans were right." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Little Nicky (2000) |
"It will settle forever theological discussions about whether Hell is a physical entity. It is, and I inhabited it for 90 minutes Tuesday." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
Little Otik (2001) |
"Devilishly funny." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Little Secrets (2001) |
"It's a fable that descends rapidly into nonsense, a long lie in which the moral theme can be reduced to 'lying is bad.'" |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
The Little Vampire (1999) |
"Watchable family films are so rare these days that we shouldn't put a stake through one with so much heart." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Longest Yard (2005) |
"An enjoyable, reasonably faithful but over-the-top successor to the original." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Longshots (2008) |
"We're left with an unforced, sweet-natured story about people who find small ways to touch others and rediscover the good in themselves." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World (2006) |
"There's nothing more painful than watching comics tank, and Looking for Comedy in a Muslim World is a 95-minute wince." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato |
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) |
"To wait that long [for the next installments] is to feel like a child whose father has closed a beloved book at bedtime and refuses to finish reading it for a whole year." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 4/4 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) |
"Return is the equal of the magnificent opening episode, The Fellowship of the Ring." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002) |
"Seeing The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers is like having a second date with a woman who made you fall in love at first sight." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat 2/4 |
Lords of Dogtown (2005) |
"Superficial and chaotic." |
Lawrence Toppman |
Splat |
Lost in Translation (2003) |
"Coppola lacks a firm grip on this material, and it starts to get away from her midway through." |
Lawrence Toppman |
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