Problem: 1. Boarding Gate's surfaces are often so staggeringly beautiful that its superficiality becomes forgivable, with the pleasant distractions of Assayas' multi-layered frames, Argento's sinewy allure, and snippets of Brian Eno ambience on the soundtrack.
2. The picture grows on you, as does its laconic leading lady, whose slurry delivery conceals an ever-alert mouse handily equipped to beat the cat at his own game.
3. Call it a cinema of guilty pleasure, and don't worry if you fall asleep in your seat after the sex scene is over. You won't be alone.
4. Boarding Gate plays with various genre codes and conventions very differently than most run-of-the-mill modern thrillers.
5. This one is just murk.
6. Boarding Gate's decadent fancies are appalling.
7. It's not a perfect movie. At times, it's not even a movie. Yet the overall taste Boarding Gate leaves behind is intriguing enough to appreciate the whole elongated enterprise.
8. Boarding Gate, B-movie heir to Phil Karlson and Ingmar Bergman, screws any pretence of naturalism for hallucinatory confrontations.
9. If this is the effect Mr. Assayas wanted to achieve, he has succeeded admirably.
10. A mostly dull and nonsensical attempt at a revenge thriller that trips and falls flat on its face far too many times to stand up to some of [Assayas'] stronger work.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: Boarding Gate has little substance beneath its faux-thriller surface, and marks a step down from director Olivier Assayas' usual work.


Problem: 1. It's slick girlie stuff, but the cast makes it go down easy.
2. Its makers have been so busy running around trying to push all the preprogrammed buttons that the tender father-daughter theme at the picture's core seldom feels like anything more than another opportunity to alter the frantically changing pace.
3. Bynes proves herself to be quite the comedienne, intertwining a performance of physical shtick and cutesy gesticulation...uses a dependable formula that'll definitely deliver "What a Girl Wants"
4. What a girl wants, according to screenwriters Jenny Bicks and Elizabeth Chandler, is a father. What a girl needs, however, are better filmmakers.
5. As much of a rip-off as the film is ... it's still an enjoyable outing.
6. Jolly good fun.
7. Excellent news for Bynes's youthful fans, who may never have a better chance to bask in her perky presence. It's not so great for the rest of us, since the film has nothing else to offer.
8. Compared with this, the similar Princess Diaries is a tough-minded work of realism, yet on its own narrow terms What a Girl Wants works well enough.
9. The story is one of those laboratory concoctions in which you can tell the conclusion from the opening scene.
10. It may feel to other people like a adorableness overdose, but its intended audience will enjoy it very much.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: Little girls will definitely enjoy it, but it's too syrupy and predictable for adults.


Problem: 1. What makes a movie like this work is how much you care for the characters, and each one here is very well-drawn and fully dimensional.
2. A spicy, well-written comedy about family, food and independence.
3. Lee and his fine ensemble of actors will soon enfold you in a journey of delightful twists and turns. And in the end, a family you'll long remember.
4. Eat Drink Man Woman may not just amuse and entertain you. It's likely to make you very hungry, too-perhaps for more than food.
5. That guarantee of good taste is, finally, a bit of a downer; there are plenty of surprises, but no hint of risk.
6. A remarkably assured comedy-drama of domestic life in Taiwan.
7. Mildly charming.
8. The study of social manners and suppressed feelings became Lee's specialty.
9. Ambitious and entertaining.
10. Ang Lee's two-generational soap opera displays the most elaborate food preparation and the most delectable meals since Like Water for Chocolate.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer:
A richly layered look at the complex interactions between a widowed chef and his daughters, Ang Lee's generational comedy Eat Drink Man Woman offers filmgoers a tasty cinematic treat.