Review Roundup: Weekend of 2/16/2007

Welcome to President's Day Weekend, where the multiplexes are stocked with a few pounds of new product, including an FBI espionage drama, a family-friendly kidventure flick, another Tyler Perry concoction, a flashy supehero epic and a sweet 'n' sunny rom-com. Dig in!

Breach -- 80 positive / 22 negative reviews at RottenTomatoes.com.

Pro: "There are some neat, almost delirious scenes of suspense, most of which play against cliche." -- Ty Burr, Boston Globe

Con: "A movie that urgently asserts itself as a spy thriller, but can never quite escape the Bureau's true preoccupation with who is getting the window offices." -- Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News

Pro: "While Breach plays effectively as a cat-and-mouse espionage thriller, its real drama derives from the murky moral and ethical frontier it crosses." -- Geoff Pevere, Toronto Star

Con: "The big suspense sequence revolves around whether Hanssen will notice that his briefcase has been moved a smidgen, hardly on a par with Goldfinger giving 007 a laser beam vasectomy." -- Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune

Bonus! "Has real excitement and true craft behind it, which is just one part of the reason why it's such a pleasure to watch." -- James Rocchi, Cinematical

Bridge to Terabithia -- 66 positive / 12 negative at RT.com.

Pro: "A painfully grounded tale of the stripping away of naivete that is adolescence, and how heartbreakingly excruciating an experience that can be." -- MaryAnn Johnason, The Flick Filosopher

Con: "One wonders if the makers of Bridge to Terabithia actually have something against all the people who loved reading Katherine Paterson's award-winning book as children." -- Chris Barsanti, FilmCritic.com

Pro: "Mark my words: it is that rarified breed of masterpiece with a shelf life destined to span many generations." -- Dustin Putnam, TheMovieBoy.com

Con: "The whole affair has been unnecessarily coated in computer-generated magical kingdom fairy dust, no doubt in deference to the perceived needs of a young audience in a post-big screen "Chronicles of Narnia" environment." -- Mary F. Pols, Contra Costa Times

Bonus! "A heartfelt, respectful and remarkably well-done film." -- Kim Voynar, Cinematical

Daddy's Little Girls -- 9 positive / 25 negative at RT.com.

Pro: "Happily, Perry's strength as a filmmaker is that he genuinely loves his actors, and they love him back." -- Carrie Rickey, Philadelphia Inquirer

Con: "An almost cruel slickness has replaced the rough-edged enthusiasm, giving Perry's faith-based medicine an awfully bitter aftertaste." -- Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News

Pro: "You come to a film like this knowing what you're going to get. And you can't say Perry doesn't deliver." -- Randy Cordova, Arizona Republic

Con: "There's nothing in the film I would consider "inspirational" or "educational," as Perry's sycophants would like his critics to believe these venomous pictures are at their core." -- Brian Orndorf, OhMyNews.com

Bonus! "Often heavy-handed without much lighthearted comedy to provide respite." -- Jette Kernion, Cinematical

Ghost Rider -- 13 positive / 43 negative at RT.com.

Pro: "Whether you like it, hate it or just don't get it, this at least makes "Ghost Rider" an intriguing, witty/nutso acting experiment from beginning to end." -- Bob Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News

Con: "Despite all of the flames and devastation that fill just about every frame, "Ghost Rider" is free of any sense of excitement." -- Dan Lybarger, eFilmCritic.com

Pro: "Sure, it may fall under the heading of a guilty pleasure, but there is nothing wrong with that -- few movies can even make that much of a promise." -- Pam Grady, Reel.com

Con: "You would have to be somewhere beyond deep-geek to defend "Ghost Rider"'s unholy melding of religious mumbo-jumbo to motorcycle worship, western folklore, father-son psychology, and Elvis Lives wish fulfillment." -- Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press

Bonus! "Every plot turn is slavishly predictable, and certain lines of dialogue telegraph themselves. The CG effects are all too obvious and cheap-looking, especially the ghost head..." -- Jeffrey M. Anderson, Cinematical

Music and Lyrics -- 84 positive / 46 negative at RT.com.

Pro: "There are an unusual number of two-person scenes, giving the actors the chance to show their charm, work off each other and develop the nuances of interaction." -- Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

Con: "Blatant lack of onscreen chemistry indicates, however, that nobody really wants to see these two make out..." -- Connie Ogle, Miami Herald

Pro: "Drew Barrymore and Hugh Grant should work with each other more often." -- Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine

Con: "It's all rather nauseatingly pleasant, hard to find offensive but easy to get sick of -- sort of like an insipid pop song." -- Josh Bell, Las Vegas Weekly

Bonus! "Disposable, even if you are left with it stuck pleasantly in your head for the next few days." -- James Rocchi, Cinematical

Next week: The Abandoned, Amazing Grace, The Astronaut Farmer, The Number 23 and Reno 911: Miami.