Lawrence Toppman
Tomatometer-approved critic
Movies reviews only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
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Boys on the Side (1995) |
Yet there's a universal quality to its quirky humor, depiction of thorny relationships and anger at life's unfairness. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 14, 2023
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Godzilla (1998) |
This new Godzilla is about nothing but spending and making money. It has actors without charm, characters without depth, jokes without wit, science without brains, action without a hint of plausibility. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Feb 14, 2023
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The Truman Show (1998) |
As Truman's consciousness expands, so does Carrey's. By the end, he takes us to places previously uncharted -- and so, to our surprise, does the film. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Feb 03, 2023
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Wild Things (1998) |
Stephen Peters' script veers as wildly as a pilotless skiff in the Everglades. Moments of drama mingle with moments of (apparently) unintentional comedy. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Feb 02, 2023
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The Big Lebowski (1998) |
Fans (myself included) may cackle at absurd situations and in-jokes. But director Joel and producer Ethan, who write together, have never made so much clamorous ado about nothing. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jan 21, 2023
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Down in the Delta (1998) |
Some of the characters take giant strides toward happiness, some take baby steps. Some don’t move at all. But the hope with which the movie leaves us is genuine. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jan 05, 2023
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Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937) |
The animators add details where they’re not crucial: Notice the ends of the stairs in the dwarfs’ cottage carved to resemble owl heads. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 19, 2022
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Groundhog Day (1993) |
Groundhog Day is a three-quarters-baked idea, combining It's A Wonderful Life and a Monty Python sketch. It's a very near miss, coming as close to its comic target as its release date comes to the holiday itself. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 07, 2022
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Braveheart (1995) |
It’s an epic with clinches on battlefields more important than those in bedrooms or council halls. On that level, it works splendidly, if with brutal violence. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 18, 2022
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Dances With Wolves (1990) |
The story has comfortable familiarity, like a once-heard fairy tale unfolding as we expect and desire. Yet Costner's direction makes it fresh. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 07, 2022
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Carnival of Souls (1962) |
Harvey achieves a mood of dreamlike unease... - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Sep 23, 2022
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Addams Family Values (1993) |
I slightly preferred Addams Family Values to The Addams Family, because it has the courage of truly bad taste. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Sep 22, 2022
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The Land Before Time (1988) |
[Don Bluth's] new movie is much simpler thematically and less sharp visually [than his previous work], though it's still 20,000 leagues ahead of the Thundersmurf Galacticas on Saturday morning television. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Aug 23, 2022
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Rain Man (1988) |
It's a rarity for big-studio, big-star Hollywood: a $20 million picture in which nobody's ego is showing. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Aug 04, 2022
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The Last Emperor (1987) |
[The Last Emperor] has a leisurely, rocking pace over 2 hours and 46 minutes. If you fight it, you won't enjoy the trip. But if you relax and allow it to carry you -- it'll take you places you've never - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Aug 02, 2022
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Driving Miss Daisy (1989) |
Driving Miss Daisy is as exquisitely wrought as a diamond teardrop. It moves sure-footedly, through 25 years of its characters' lives, like a dancer performing an intricate ballet en pointe without making a false step. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jul 26, 2022
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The Last Temptation of Christ (1988) |
It's thought provoking, dramatic, convincing, well-made on a pinch-penny budget of $6.5 million and, finally, uplifting. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted May 05, 2022
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Mississippi Masala (1991) |
Sooni Taraporevala's script never loses its sense of humor. She and director Mira Nair, who collaborated on Oscar-nominated Salaam Bombay, understand the exile's life. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Apr 15, 2022
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The Silence of the Lambs (1991) |
As played by Anthony Hopkins in the performance of his film career, the amoral psychiatrist dominates the picture -- a remarkable feat, since Jodie Foster is the top-billed star and also does a superb job. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 23, 2022
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Titanic (1997) |
The marriage of simplistic plots and stylistic excesses is a hallmark of James Cameron’s movies, and this is his masterwork, for good and ill. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 17, 2022
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Sidewalk Stories (1989) |
Sandye Wilson is appealing as the young woman, and Nicole Alysia is a cherubic infant. Otherwise, the acting is broad. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jan 24, 2022
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Wyatt Earp (1994) |
[Lawrence Kasdan] grapples with all the significant western themes... That he succeeds most of the time is a tribute to his craftsmanship. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 21, 2021
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Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) |
Carl Franklin is the writer-director striking the sparks, efficiently condensing Walter Mosley's debut novel into 105 minutes of mystery. Washington... gives a dedicated performance as Ezekiel Rawlins. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Oct 20, 2021
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Stand and Deliver (1988) |
It is fair to wish this good, thoughtful movie had a stronger flavor of real life. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Aug 11, 2021
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Schindler's List (1993) |
Few films have ever dealt so chillingly with what philosopher Hannah Arendt called "the banality of evil." - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Apr 15, 2021
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Girlfight (2000) |
Kusama handles the fights especially well: We look out of Diana's eyes, her opponent's, even the ref's. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 24, 2021
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Daughters of the Dust (1991) |
Daughters of the Dust has its own indefinable rhythm, an undertow that sucks you in. Dozens of small ideas and emotions ebb and flow around you. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 23, 2021
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Clueless (1995) |
A gently zany comedy that will catch open-minded viewers by surprise. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 15, 2021
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Wayne's World (1992) |
They have not alas learned Rule No 1 For No-brain Humor. It is: Ten minutes long - funny. Ninety minutes long - not funny. Especially when the 90 minutes has virtually no plot. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Mar 11, 2021
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Hidden Figures (2016) |
Spencer gets most of the laughs, and Monáe has the showiest speeches, so they've been nominated for most of the awards. But Henson has the hardest role: a prodigy ill-used by a society that barely knows she's alive. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jan 05, 2017
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A Monster Calls (2016) |
Bayona understands the forces that bind families together and the ones that tear individuals apart. His real domain is childhood itself, and few storytellers summon its fears and fury so faithfully. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Jan 04, 2017
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Fences (2016) |
The entire cast is worthy of praise and, in Davis' case, beyond it: Her downcast eyes speak volumes. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 22, 2016
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Sing (2016) |
Like many musicals from time immemorial, "Sing" slouches along when characters speak and shoots heavenward when they burst into a tune. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 22, 2016
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Passengers (2016) |
The final failure comes in a climax that defies science, good taste and common sense. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 20, 2016
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La La Land (2016) |
Chazelle creates a realm that suspends disbelief, forestalls cynicism and lets us open our hearts to emotion that's as real in this setting as in any naturalistic drama. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 15, 2016
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Collateral Beauty (2016) |
Most movies today remind us dates in high school are hard to come by, superheroes can beat up aliens, or serial killers are scary dudes. A movie that wisely contemplates how to deal with profound sadness deserves our respect for that alone. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 14, 2016
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Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) |
Star Wars movies have been dazzling, infuriating, heartbreaking, silly, witty, convoluted, gripping and overblown. But until Rogue One: A Star Wars story, I don't think "dull" was the most appropriate adjective. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 13, 2016
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Miss Sloane (2016) |
The portrait of Elizabeth Sloane grabs your interest, partly due to the presence of Jessica Chastain in the title role. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 07, 2016
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The Eagle Huntress (2016) |
Aisholpan, who has a merry face to go with her sturdy frame, holds the camera without playing to it, and the barrenly beautiful landscape holds your eye. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Dec 01, 2016
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Moana (2016) |
Cravalho shows spunk and a generically lovely voice, though she's saddled with assembly-line anthems Disney has done better elsewhere. Johnson has exuberance, deft timing and a passable singing voice. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 22, 2016
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The Edge of Seventeen (2016) |
Like kids being told a new but familiar fairy tale, we can sit back and enjoy the telling. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 16, 2016
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A Street Cat Named Bob (2016) |
Bob gets my vote as the most appealing newcomer of the year. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 16, 2016
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Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) |
The directing-editing team of David Yates and Mark Day did the last four Potter movies, and they understand how to evoke the atmosphere of that world without replicating it in a different setting. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 16, 2016
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Arrival (2016) |
I have seen no movie to which I felt more deeply connected this year. But I won't tell you exactly why. To discuss most particulars of this movie is to defeat its purpose. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 08, 2016
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Moonlight (2016) |
It may cast a spell on anyone who has known loneliness, exclusion, feelings of inferiority or a desire to be encased in a hard shell to protect a soft interior. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 02, 2016
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Doctor Strange (2016) |
You know you're in a top-drawer Marvel Comics adaptation when even the Stan Lee cameo is clever. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Nov 02, 2016
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Certain Women (2016) |
What "Certain Women" is really about is a filmmaker who had one marvelous story to tell and linked it to 45 minutes of filler to make a feature film. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Oct 27, 2016
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Inferno (2016) |
When do the Dan Brown adaptations stop? - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Oct 27, 2016
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Jack Reacher: Never Go Back (2016) |
Even the casting consists entirely of clichs: the chief conspirator with the sneeringly smug grin, a belly-thrusting small-town sheriff who smells of corruption, the lean and wolflike gunman known as The Hunter. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Oct 20, 2016
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The Accountant (2016) |
A few pieces can't be made to fit, and two of those are big ones. But the rest of the story has been well-constructed, and the picture it gradually reveals keeps you guessing up to the final scene. - Charlotte Observer
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| Posted Oct 12, 2016
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