Tomato 3.5/4 |
W. (2008) |
"Brolin not only gets the cadence of Bush's Texas malaprops but also the sincerity that Bush truly believes he's doing the right thing - even when the results are devastatingly wrong." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
The Wackness (2008) |
"Despite interesting performances by Kingsley, Thirlby and Mary-Kate Olsen as a flower child, Peck's blandly apathetic air becomes contagious." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Wah-Wah (2006) |
"The lush African setting sets this coming-of-age saga apart - it's too bad Grant didn't use it for more than picture-postcard backdrops." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1/4 |
Waiting... (2005) |
"McKittrick's parade of genitalia humor and poor filmmaking skills make for a movie that's crude in more ways than one." |
Sean Means |
Tomato |
Waking Life (2001) |
"Everyone has an opinion, nobody has the answers, but everyone (including the audience) gets energized by considering the questions." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story (2007) |
"[It] restores the good reputation to the genre spoof, which has been so long sullied by juvenile garbage like Scary Movie." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Walk on Water (2005) |
"What holds all the divisions of Walk on Water, and the rest of Fox's ambitious but slightly far-flung agenda, together is Ashkenazi's stirring performance." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Walk the Line (2005) |
"Phoenix nails Cash's little-boy charm and pantherlike intensity, while Witherspoon reflects June's show-biz savvy, maternal sensibility and world-weariness. Together, they make one of the most combustible screen couples in recent memory." |
Sean Means |
Splat |
A Walk to Remember (2002) |
"Moore is not a great actress (though next to the ridiculously inexpressive Shane West, she's Meryl Streep), but she radiates a girl-next-door charm." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 4/4 |
WALL-E (2008) |
"Wall-E never feels preachy or pushy, instead letting the witty storytelling and expressive animation transport audiences to another world." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005) |
"The final 30 minutes is as exciting and thrill-packed as any action blockbuster, and as inventive as anything in Wallace's workshop." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Wanted (2008) |
"The effects and bloodshed gradually lose their power to provoke, and become thuddingly tedious - and with nothing else going for it beyond mere eye candy, Wanted leaves you wanting." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
War of the Worlds (2005) |
"Stunning. ... Fanning gives such an authentic portrayal of a terror-stricken child that you might want to call Family Services on her behalf." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
The War Within (2005) |
" Castelo, working with a meager budget and few familiar faces..., adroitly turns Hassan's moral and religious struggle into a tension-building experience." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Warrior (2005) |
"Director Asif Kapadia mixes suggestions of violence (mostly off-screen) with sumptuous cinematography and a touch of the mystical." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
Warriors of Heaven and Earth (2004) |
"The movie has so much that's great that you forgive when it veers into Indiana Jones territory." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Watchmen (2009) |
"It's a buffet of well-crafted nihilism, made by a director who knows how to depict bloody destruction - but, like Dr. Manhattan, lacking the humanity to understand why it should not be taken lightly." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
The Water Horse: Legend of the Deep (2007) |
"[It] isn't the child-friendly romp you might think." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1/4 |
Way Off Broadway (2004) |
"America's appetite for these yuppie-filled tales has worn down, but not soon enough to stop this collection of self-absorbed twentysomethings." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
We Are Marshall (2006) |
"A strong cast [is] shortchanged by a director who can't trust his audience to feel anything not loaded with exclamation points." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004) |
"For all the acting pyrotechnics, the people in We Don't Live Here Anymore scarcely exist outside the confines of their marital turmoil." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
We Own The Night (2007) |
"[The movie] shines as it illuminates that haze of conflicting emotions and motivations within the confines of a powerful police thriller." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
We Were Soldiers (2002) |
"We Were Soldiers is a far cry from Apocalypse Now -- a movie that extols war's manly virtues, not its madness." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
The Weather Underground (2003) |
"It's hard not to feel a little deja vu watching this informative documentary." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Wedding Date (2005) |
"My suspicion is [the filmmakers] started out making a raunchy, R-rated Bridget Jones's Diary sort of movie, but ... the suits got nervous and demanded a PG-13 cut." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 2.5/4 |
A Wedding for Bella (2001) |
"You can guess what happens next, though you may forgive the movie for it because everyone is so earnest." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1.5/4 |
Welcome to Mooseport (2004) |
"Instead of letting Romano face big-league pitching (which I think he can handle), the filmmakers reduce the rest of the cast to playing softball." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Whale Rider (2003) |
"Caro manages the neat trick of making a movie universal in its emotions and unique in its setting." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
What a Girl Wants (2003) |
"About as perfect a pop confection as you could want: sweet, funny, sly, hip, surprisingly touching -- and a showcase for the dynamic Amanda Bynes." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
What Alice Found (2003) |
"Ivey delivers a sassy, no-nonsense performance and Grace shows herself a sensitive young actress, but neither overcomes Bell's pretensions or digital-video limitations.
" |
Sean Means |
Splat 1/4 |
What Happens in Vegas (2008) |
"Like many Vegas weddings, this mean-spirited "romantic comedy" only makes sense if you're drunk." |
Sean Means |
Splat 0/4 |
What the Bleep!? Down the Rabbit Hole (2006) |
"Only the truest of true believers would want to sit through it again." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
What Would Jesus Buy? (2007) |
"Watch it, then cut back on your credit-card purchases and say Hallelujah! to Reverend Billy." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
Whatever Works (2009) |
"David and Allen seem to be straining to create caricatures of the other's screen persona - and the results are inevitably self-negating, a comedic black hole from which not even laughter can escape." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
When Did You Last See Your Father? (2008) |
"Though ... well-acted by Firth, Broadbent and Juliet Stevenson, the slow pacing makes it feel as if everyone is walking through a waist-deep bog of emotional reserve." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) |
"Spurlock applies his brand of humorous social activism to the War on Terror, and the results are funny and humanist." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3.5/4 |
Where the Wild Things Are (2009) |
"For grown-ups, Jonze's exploration of Max's imaginary world is a wonder." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
Whip It (2009) |
"First-time director Barrymore has a sharp eye for the rough-and-tumble grunginess of roller derby, and a warmhearted appreciation of the girl power that fuels it." |
Sean Means |
Splat 0/4 |
White Chicks (2004) |
"Aims to offend, but the people most offended may be moviegoers who expect movies to actually work for their laughs." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
White Countess (2005) |
"A little too emotionally repressed to suit its melodrama -- imagine Casablanca with Paul Henried miscast in the Bogart role." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
White Oleander (2002) |
"Lohman plays each mood with precision, then brings them all together as Astrid weathers the changes and grows into adulthood." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1/4 |
The Whole Ten Yards (2004) |
"The extra yard in the title is, apparently, the amount of rope necessary for this unwanted franchise to hang itself." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Why We Fight (2006) |
"Fahrenheit 9/11 for tweedy liberals who disdain Michael Moore's in-your-face persona." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1.5/4 |
The Wicker Man (2006) |
"LaBute saves his big guns for the ending - but by the time you've seen Cage in a bear suit and Burstyn in Braveheart blue-face, no ending is going to save him." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
Wicker Park (2004) |
"Wicker Park's nifty jigsaw puzzle of a story is done in by unfortunate casting choices." |
Sean Means |
Tomato 3/4 |
Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself (2004) |
"These fragile, self-destructive people, practically in spite of themselves, manage to charm their way into our hearts." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2/4 |
The Wild (2006) |
"On the surface, The Wild too closely resembles Madagascar. ... Scratch the surface, and The Wild too closely resembles Finding Nemo." |
Sean Means |
Splat 1/4 |
Wild Hogs (2007) |
"[The filmmakers] overload on shaky slapstick and unvarnished homophobia, and they stage the phoniest romantic subplot ever." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill (2005) |
"Director Judy Irving works her central metaphor, comparing the birds' untamed but non-native status to Bittner's wandering bohemian history, a little harder than it deserves." |
Sean Means |
Splat 2.5/4 |
The Wild Thornberrys Movie (2002) |
"You will be seeing it on your DVD player soon enough." |
Sean Means |
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