Movies directed by Tom Shadyac

Certain ideas are excellent material for short features on programs like Saturday Night Live or In Living Color. Properly padded, it's possible that a few of those premises could even make passable 1/2 hour television programs. However, stretchin...

Are a few good laughs worth wasting 100 minutes of time? For me, the answer is a resounding "No!" There are far more promising avenues to explore in the quest for laughter than the dead-end represented by Jim Carrey's latest endeavor, Bruce Almig...

Finally, a 2007 sequel that's demonstrably better than its predecessor! Alas, considering how bad Bruce Almighty was, that's damning with faint praise. The central problem with Evan Almighty is that the filmmakers pack too much plot into what sho...

While watching Liar Liar, it occurred to me that the chief problem with this film is that it has a script. If Jim Carrey had been unleashed without such silly, incidental constraints as plot and dialogue, who knows where things might have gone? A...

Eddie Murphy does not make "comebacks", because, according to him, he hasn't been out of the spotlight. But, following three critical and box-office flops (The Distinguished Gentleman, Beverly Hills Cop III, and Vampire in Brooklyn), Murphy is hop...

What is the difference between a bad melodrama and a good one? The key lies in the emotional response. If the viewer feels that he or she is being forced into reacting in a particular way because of "button pushing," the film makers have erred. ...