FILM / The Critics

DEATH BECOMES HER

'With Death Becomes Her, (Robert) Zemeckis makes a welcome return to his early low standards. The film is an inspired exercise in bad taste that should appeal to everyone who has ever paid good money to see a freak show or rubbernecked at a traffic accident . . . Having become the biggest grossing director of all time, Zemeckis now seems determined to be simply the grossest.' Stephen Amidon, Financial Times

'Must all Hollywood 'fun' movies nowadays end with bloated, frenzied, interminable finales? It seems so . . . laughter ultimately dies on the lips, killed by the old enemy: Hollywood excess.' Geoff Brown, The Times

THIS IS MY LIFE

'Unfortunately, Nora Ephron, whose pen could drip acid when she wrote the screenplays When Harry Met Sally and Heartburn, seems to prefer syrup now that she is directing her own material . . . To make matters worse, the film is woefully unfunny. If comedy is all about timing then Ephron's directorial watch needs winding.' Stephen Amidon, Financial Times

'Ephron directs for the first time here and proves particularly adept at getting good performances from her cast. But this is just the kind of intelligent, if small-scale, picture that has a hard time in the cinemas.' Derek Malcolm, The Guardian

'It is very disappointing that This Is My Life should have turned out to be such a mushy affair. All the more so since the film deals, often intelligently, with a very real problem faced by any woman trying to balance the demands of motherhood against the claims of her career.' Hugo Davenport, Daily Telegraph

SLACKER

'Linklater's experiment captures aimless youth in a fashion impossible when American movies play safe.' Geoff Brown, The Times

'. . . has considerable charm and real style . . . Fans of Godard and Wayne's World will find much to treasure here, though ageing hippies and other fogies may well feel like the character who, when asked to come to a party, declines by explaining he has 'less important things to do' than engage in 'premeditated fun'.' Stephen Amidon, Financial Times