Critic consensus:A charming romantic comedy with political bite, Rob Reiner's American President features strong lead performances and some poignant observations of politics and media in the 1990s.

Numbered reviews:1. Neither bad nor unwatchable, The American President is nevertheless the second straight disappointment from director Rob Reiner.
2. When it comes right down to it, high office does not guarantee high comedy.
3. The American President becomes a pretty darn entertaining and affecting movie after its first simpering 20 minutes.
4. A well-modulated charmer.
5. Painless fun.
6. Great entertainment.
7. Got the same zip as When Harry Met Sally.
8. Frothy.
9. The American President will make you laugh and make you smile. But it probably won't make you change your vote.
10. You can't dislike this movie, but you won't be swept away by it either.


Critic consensus:Pedro Almodovar's fourth film with Penélope Cruz isn't his finest work, but he brings his signature visual brilliance to this noirish tale, and the cast turns in some first-class performances.

Numbered reviews:1. Above all, "Broken Embraces" shows how deeply Almodóvar is in love with movies, not just as things to be watched and enjoyed, but to be felt deep in the bones.
2. Gives us few reasons not to stay to the ending, but the ultimate revelation of Blanco's pain ... disappoints.
3. A very worthy close-out for his remarkable output of the last decade.
4. A cliche-ridden exercise that never exhibits any real heart and focuses on characters who never come alive, it also never comes close to living up to the promise of the names in the credits.
5. In Almodóvar, the past is reckoned by characters of the present, a layering over which we revel.
6. Almodovar dives into this knotty, plotty mess the only way he can - with utter abandon and what might be best described as a kind of artful recklessness.
7. The end result is less than the sum of its parts, a smoke 'n' mirrors melodrama that peters out just when it should be revving into high gear.
8. The unbeatable Oscar-winning combination of legendary Spanish writer/director Pedro Almodovar and international superstar beauty Penelope Cruz makes this lavishly mounted melodrama a cinematic gem.
9. Sex, cinema and fate -- three of Pedro Almodovar's favorite subjects -- are lovingly examined in his Broken Embraces.
10. By this point, the phrase 'Un Film de Almodovar' connotes a genre unto itself, as identifiable by its themes, character types and visual trademarks as a Western, Hammer horror movie or vintage screwball comedy.


Critic consensus:Berry's acting talents can't save Gothika from its preposterous plot and bad dialogue.

Numbered reviews:
1. An ceaseless stream of Fake Scares, Dream Sequences, and Shrieking Halles.
2. Berry's grating screams might send you to looney land too.
3. The burning question I'm still asking myself: What does Gothika mean? Now that I think of it: I could care less.
4. Succeeds in making every plot twist more unbelievable and irrational than the last.
5. Grisly, disturbing, extremely violent horror film.
6. This shoddy B horror movie doesn't deserve a national theatrical run, much less the capable talent assigned to it.
7. Berry struggles to retain some shards of dignity as she dutifully plods through the contrivances of Gothika.
8. The same story was told much more skillfully-and with a lot more scares-three years back, when it was called What Lies Beneath.
9. Gothika est donc un autre film d'horreur qui semble sortir tout droit d'un programme créant des scénarios. Heureusement que l'on peut en rire.
10. ... the 80-minute setup for the shock has nothing to do with engaging the deep-seated fears and emotions that really plague us all, at some level, every day.