Problem: 1. To quote that great pugilist Terry Malloy, this is a one-way ticket to Palookaville.
2. El mejor episodio desde aquella pelea del 76, tal vez porque no se parece en nada a los 4 ъltimos rounds.
3. The ol' lug can't be blamed for wanting one last victory lap, but if you've got nothing to offer except benign nostalgia, just let the gloves stay on the glory-days shelf.
4. Realizando seu melhor trabalho como diretor desde sua estrйia na funзгo no уtimo Rocky II, A Revanche, Sylvester Stallone volta sua atenзгo para o desenvolvimento dos personagens, alcanзando уtimos resultados.
5. The unfortunate effect is that of an invisible angel of death hooking Rocky's mouth with a fishing line and implacably reeling him in.
6. A nostalgic rush-job filmed for a quick buck.
7. ... saura satisfaire autant les fans inconditionnels de la sйrie que les spectateurs qui auront bien voulu lui donner sa chance par simple curiositй
8. The film meanders along this path for a long, slow while, a primitive soap opera dressed up as street poetry.
9. Even goodwill can't make this look like anything more than a glorified TV special. Surely it's time for the audience to throw in the towel?
10. Ridiculous, but nonetheless enjoyable, this drags a lot for the first half but rallies for the final act with a crowd-pleasing one-two of training montage and fight sequences.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: Implausible but entertaining and poignant, Rocky Balboa finds the champ in fighting form for the first time in years.


Problem: 1. Even in a time when weight gains and losses in the service of a role have become commonplace, Bale has accomplished an astonishing change.
2. Anderson tightens the screws of suspense, but it's Bale's gripping, beyond-the- call-of-duty performance that holds you in thrall.
3. The Machinist gave me a more thoughtful than usual walk to my car.
4. Bale provides us with images that we won't soon forget. The script, however, is never nearly as good as the film's indelible images.
5. Although The Machinist may at times seem to be derivative of those films, and is inferior to them, it is nevertheless a harrowing experience for those to whom this sort of story appeals.
6. A grimy, excessively art-directed psychological horror flick.
7. As its stricken hero's prominently posed copies of Kafka and Dostoyevsky suggest, the movie takes itself more seriously than it should.
8. Covers familiar ground with elegance, teasing out its twists and turns in a way that seems natural rather than contrived.
9. Reduces tragedy to a mere punch line, and as such its lead character exists less for himself and more for the gratification of the Memento fan club.
10. A fairly standard issue psychological thriller, although Christian Bale's physical transformation for this film is truly astonishing.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer: Brad Anderson's dark psychological thriller about a sleepless factory worker is elevated by Christian Bale astonishingly committed performance.


Problem: 1. Rudd and Carell turn out to be a near-perfect double act, with Rudd's exasperated, manic nice guy act a perfect foil for Carell, who gives the kind of broad, nutty, idiot man-child performance we haven't seen from him since his Anchorman days.
2. Remarkably, they have managed to take a very funny original film, some very talented comedians and created an experience akin to a dentist visit.
3. It's hard to feel sorry for someone who seems to instigate so many of his own problems.
4. Steve Carell and Paul Rudd fizzle in this dire, painfully overlong comedy bomb.
5. Dinner for Schmucks, while not as instantly iconic and defined as [Jay Roach's] previous work, still delivers a lot of entertainment.
6. The humour is spasmodic, but for a new target audience of 18 to 34 year olds (not the same crowd that loved the original) the film may offer a simplistic escape and some oddball ideas
7. A comic misadventure that unfolds like a never-ending series of dastardly mistakes.
8. Dinner For Schmucks is hilariously entertaining. Its pointed messages, meanwhile, make it even more meaningful.
9. It wasn't going to be Anchorman 2 but we still expected more from Brick Tamland's reunion with Brian Fantana.
10. A sweet and sentimental comedy that has the potential to be plum duff but too often is just duff.
What is the consensus?
****
Answer:
It doesn't honor its source material -- or its immensely likable leads -- as well as it should, but Dinner for Schmucks offers fitfully nourishing comedy.