It would be easier to like Poolhall Junkies – a serviceable rehash of every other billiards movie ever made, courtesy of writer-director-star Mars Callahan – if Callahan didn’t like himself so much. As a hustler looking to go legit, the lanky, cocky actor has a lively presence, yet he’s not enough to make the movie

An ungainly book adaptation, the kind whose awkward scene transitions and clunky story lines are in dire need of chapter headings. Flashes of the film suggest there’s a good story here, about the reconciliation of a New York City playwright (Sandra Bullock) and her boozing, Southern belle of a mother (Ellen Burstyn), but the filmmakers

This anti-American Pie, a relatively wholesome teen romance about down-on-their-luck college students in New York City, is so dull that it had me longing for another Road Trip. Jason Biggs and Mena Suvari star as humdrum lovers-to-be with humdrum problems standing in their way. Writer-director Amy Heckerling has made movies that are far better (Clueless,

This reworking of It’s a Wonderful Life, in which a Ferrari-driving bachelor (Nicolas Cage) gets to experience how much more fulfilling his life would have been if he’d started a family with his college sweetheart (Tea Leoni), has some respect for the minivan world. Unfortunately, the few moments of truth – particularly Leoni as a

Among the many absurdities of The Girl Next Door – this is, after all, about a porn star (Elisha Cuthbert) who moves into a high-schooler’s neighborhood – perhaps the most absurd is the film’s serious tone. This wants to be a touching romance, when the status of dumb teen sex comedy would be a lofty

The church at the center of The Gospel is in Atlanta, but its address might as well be on Melrose Place. This is a soap opera through and through, with church politics in place of sexual dalliances. Scattered throughout are appearances by actual gospel stars, but the genuine emotion in their performances only further emphasizes

After winning his Oscars, Kevin Spacey was offered the corniest roles in Hollywood, and unfortunately he accepted a lot of them. This time Spacey plays Prot, a patient at a psychiatric hospital who claims to be from outer space. Offering otherworldly words of wisdom and even curing his fellow patients, Prot is a shameless showcase

Beyond Oscar bait – more like one of those ludicrously bright fishing lures that turn a pond into a glistening discotheque – Pay It Forward shamelessly caters to American cinema’s top award both with its Oscar-friendly cast (Helen Hunt, Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment) and in its blatant emotional manipulation (there’s a death here that’s

If a good con man should never be smug – that would reveal he’s up to something – neither should a good con movie. Confidence oozes a sense of self-satisfaction, from its smarmy lead performance by Edward Burns to its overly clever plot. Burns plays the head of a con team whose latest scam involves

Charlize Theron may look to be mining for another Oscar here – she plays a defiant litigant in a fictionalization of one of the United States’ first sexual harassment lawsuits – but it is her movie that’s really after the gold. Theron delivers a tough, authentic performance, while director Niki Caro (Whale Rider) repeatedly trots