Hit Men on Holiday Get All Medieval By MANOHLA DARGIS

In "In Bruges," Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes have great fun rummaging around inside Martin McDonagh's modest bag of tricks.

Mother Courage Gets Her Own Camp Follower By MANOHLA DARGIS

Stuck on a Family Hamster Wheel, Mile After Mile, Year After Year By MANOHLA DARGIS

Tamara Jenkins's "The Savages" is a beautifully nuanced tragicomedy about two floundering souls.

The Rest Was Silence, but Then Came the Sequel By STEPHEN HOLDEN

"Hamlet 2" belongs to the school of free-for-all satiric farce whose creators ball up wads of ideas, apply chewing gum and hurl them against the wall to see what sticks.

After 'Chicago,' Waiting for the Razzle-Dazzle by REBECCA TRAISTER

"Chicago" was supposed to usher in a new age of movie musicals. So where are they?

Movie Review: "The Take"
Daily Life and Its Disruption By RACHEL SALTZ

It’s a Mean-Girl World: Are You Bully or Victim? by STEPHEN HOLDEN

“You Again,” with Kristen Bell, Sigourney Weaver and Jamie Lee Curtis, is a misogynistic revenge comedy.

Those Cheekbones! That Wind-Swept Hair! OMG, It's Zac Efron! By MANOHLA DARGIS

An adult transforms into his teen idol, er, adolescent self in "17 Again."

Omigosh, Real Guys Love Sports and Musical Theater By STEPHEN HOLDEN

How lovely the American high school experience might be if it offered even a smidgen of the euphoria in "High School Musical 3: Senior Year."

A Troubled-Waters Musical as a Community Salve, by Jeannette Catsoulis

After the Storm follows a troupe of youngsters in New Orleans as they stage a benefit performance of the musical Once on This Island.

A Broken Soul Wandering Aimlessly on the Long Path to Redemption By A. O. SCOTT

In the drama "I've Loved You So Long," Kristin Scott Thomas's furious honesty rules out easy, unearned redemption.

Charades of Normalcy After Death of a Child by A. O. SCOTT

In “Rabbit Hole” Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart play grieving parents whose 4-year-old son has died.

A Dance of Two Men, Twisting and Turning With a Gun That's More Than a Gun By MANOHLA DARGIS

In the remake of "Sleuth," what was once insignificant is now insufferable.

Dreamer, Live in the Here and Now By MANOHLA DARGIS

To say that Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York" is one of the best films of the year is such a pathetic response to its soaring ambition that I might as well pack it in right now.

Swinging Singers By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

In "Naked Boys Singing!" 10 grown men (including one natural redhead) go full monty while belting out show tunes and high-kicking like muscular Rockettes.

Innocence Is Lost in Postwar Germany By MANOHLA DARGIS

"The Reader" is a scrupulously tasteful film about an erotic affair that turns to love.

Stuck on a Family Hamster Wheel, Mile After Mile, Year After Year By MANOHLA DARGIS

Tamara Jenkins's "The Savages" is a beautifully nuanced tragicomedy about two floundering souls.

A Powerful Chorus Harmonizing ‘Dark Phrases of Womanhood’ by MANOHLA DARGIS

With “For Colored Girls” Tyler Perry works very hard and gets it mostly right.

Marry in Haste, Repent at Decaying Castle With Possessive MaterBy STEPHEN HOLDEN

In its cold-eyed assessment of the English aristocracy "Easy Virtue" has none of the lurking Anglophilia found in Merchant-Ivory movies.

Movie Review | 'Yiddish Theater: A Love Story'
Fight to Keep a Language on the Stage By JEANNETTE CATSOULIS

Filmed in real time during the freezing winter of 2000, "Yiddish Theater: A Love Story" tracks eight days in the failing life of the Yiddish Public Theater.

Does Your Mother Know You Sing Abba Tunes? By A. O. SCOTT

You can have a perfectly nice time watching this spirited adaptation of the popular stage musical and, once the hangover wears off, acknowledge just how bad it is.

A Family Affair, Dysfunction Included By LAURA KERN

"The Boys" is an irresistible documentary about the inexhaustible sibling songwriting duo Richard and Robert Sherman.

Video: Exclusive Clip: 'The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond'

Mr. Frost, Meet Mr. Nixon By MANOHLA DARGIS

It's twinkle versus glower in the big-screen edition of Peter Morgan's theatrical smackdown "Frost/Nixon."

Between Heaven and Earth, Room for Ambiguity By MANOHLA DARGIS

The air is thick with paranoia in "Doubt," but nowhere as thick, juicy, sustained or sustaining as Meryl Streep's performance.

Movie Review | 'Good'
Aligning With the Nazis, Blindfold Tightly in Place By STEPHEN HOLDEN

"Good" is an anemic screen adaptation of C. P. Taylor's play about a respectable "good German" who passively acquiesces to Hitler's agenda.

Movie Review | 'Spinning Into Butter'
Crash Course in Racism at Quiet Campus By STEPHEN HOLDEN

This movie adaptation of Rebecca Gilman's play is a methodical, not to say mechanical and plodding, exploration of identity politics and language.

Plucky Apes Help to Save the Planet of the Humans By NEIL GENZLINGER

Journalism is all about having the courage to write the truth even if it will get you mocked by your relatives and co-workers, so here goes: "Space Chimps" is hilarious.

Learning to Swim in the Deep End of Life’s Pool by A. O. SCOTT

“Jack Goes Boating” tells the story of a bland livery-car driver who wants a better life.

Catfights and Class Struggles, but Not at Katz's Deli By A. O. SCOTT

Watching "The Women," you wait in vain for a moment of snappy repartee, of fresh emotion, of grace or charm or pathos. You wait, by the way, for a very long time.

When an Eloquent Voice Was Stilled in Hollywood By STEPHEN HOLDEN

Peter Askin's stirring documentary "Trumbo" gives you reasons to cheer but also to weep.