The Libertine

Not exactly a laugh riot, though it has its moments. Hell, it's damn near impossible not to have 'moments' in a Johnny Depp film, and this one delivers a couple of nice ones. But they're too few and too disconnected to add up to a good flick--especially when the ending is as much of a downer as you have here. A nice try, but ultimately not really worth it.

Sweet and Lowdown

More chameleon-like work from Sean Penn, as a heelish jazz guitarist, and an adorable performance by Samantha Morton as the mute woman who loves him. As for the story itself...you never get bored watching it, but there's also something missing. The tale just doesn't click. On the other hand, if you dig jazz, you'll love the soundtrack, and the performance sequences are amazing (you'd swear that's Penn playing those tunes).

Minority Report

The story holds together, which is more than can be said for a lot of sci-fi flicks. Cruise and his castmates acquit themselves well, but something never quite clicks with the movie as a whole. It may be the creepiness of the obvious contempt for personal freedom shown by the operative premise; though the story rebuts that premise, it seems to do so almost by accident, not for any philosophical reasons. And the product placements are absolutely grotesque for being so blatant.