If you've read any of Nicholas Sparks' tear-jerking novels or watched the equally swoony big-screen renditions of The Notebook, Nights in Rodanthe or Message in a Bottle, you've already got a pretty good idea of what to expect with Dear John.
While the movie's trailer definitely had that lackluster, made-for-TV feel, perhaps it's the presence of fresh faces Kristen Bell and Josh Duhamel, not to mention their winsome chemistry, that caused When in Rome to surpass my expectations.
Did you enjoy Mel Gibson in Payback or Ransom? He's on that level in Edge of Darkness. It's a decent comeback, if those movies are your idea of a good time. But it's truncated rather than taut, sluggish rather than satisfying, and dull rather than edgy.
Extraordinary Measures is helped immensely by an affecting lead performance from Brendan Fraser as John Crowley, and by the inclusion of faith elements (however briefly mentioned) that put a little air under the story's wings.
If you think the sight of The Rock in a pink tutu and oversized sparkly wings is funny, well, The Tooth Fairy is the movie for you. After all, the screenwriters get a lot of mileage out of seeing the former wrestler play a has-been hockey star forced to reveal his softer, fairy side.
If you're a serious evangelical filmmaker, there's one response you do not want to hear: For a Christian movie, that was pretty good. Yet when it comes to the more impressive motion pictures produced by churches and ministries, this backhanded compliment remains the most ubiquitous—and often, the most deserved.