Here are the Mini Reviews from Cineman Syndicate for films opening Christmas week, 2008:

BEDTIME STORIES. In this tepid family-friendly film, Adam Sandler's hotel handyman discovers that the bedtime stories he invents while babysitting his niece and nephew are coming to life. Director Shankman spirits the fanciful saga to the screen with none of the verve that characterized his prior movie Hairspray, shortchanging talents like Keri Russell, Guy Pearce and Russell Brand in favor of numerous reaction shots of a giant-eyed guinea pig. Although the material fails to exploit fully its dreams-into-reality premise, Sandler nails a few humorous zingers. Still, his latest foray into heartwarming holiday fare is so middling overall that it seems primarily designed to put one to sleep. (PG) FAIR COMEDY. Director - Adam Shankman; Lead - Adam Sandler; Running Time - 95 minutes. Capsule review by Nick Schager.

THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON. The idea of a man whose body ages in reverse sounds gimmicky, yet this elegant rendering of an F. Scott Fitzgerald story is anything but, thanks to technically flawless execution. The film's lyrical profundity is enhanced by Alexandre Desplat's score and Brad Pitt's self-effacing turn as a son of New Orleans born a shriveled octogenarian who grows physically younger as the decades pass. Why the fantasy narrative enthralls isn't easy to pinpoint. That it doesn't seem fantastic at all is a testimony to its emotional power. Cate Blanchett's presence is an asset. So too is the absence of any manipulative sentimentality. (PG-13) GREAT DRAMA. Director - David Fincher;  Lead - Brad Pitt; Running Time - 159 minutes. Capsule Review by John P. McCarthy

LAST CHANCE HARVEY. Romantic comedies about and for the 40-plus crowd are rare. This delightful example pairs two actors you'd never imagine making witty and amorous music together. Dustin Hoffman plays a composer of advertising jingles who travels to London for his daughter's wedding. Job pressures exacerbate the anticipated stresses of the occasion, including seeing his ex-wife and her husband. Emma Thompson plays the British quasi-spinster he falls for, though not in a corny way. Yes, they meet the way people only do in the movies. Yet writer/director Hopkins' dialogue is unforced and the two leads such pros that the movie is tasteful and true. (PG-13) GOOD ROMANTIC COMEDY. Director - Joel Hopkins; Lead - Dustin Hoffman; Running Time - 99 minutes. Capsule Review by John P. McCarthy.

MARLEY & ME. You'd have to be a real Scrooge to dislike this adaptation of John Grogan's autobiographical bestseller. It's admittedly corny but surprisingly moving. And like the pup of the title, it practically licks your face with its desire to please until you succumb, guilt-free. Shaggy dog Owen Wilson plays a newspaper columnist whose mischievous pooch slowly casts an influence over his personal and professional life. Marley & Me wins the year's "Worst Marketing Campaign" award. Endless shots of canine carnage dominate the trailers, which overlook the melancholic avenues and realistic depictions of familial struggle the movie embraces. Bring an open mind... and tissues. (PG) GOOD COMEDY. Director - David Frankel; Lead - Owen Wilson; Running Time - 115 minutes. Capsule Review by Sean O'Connell.

REVOLUTIONARY ROAD. Making moviegoers squirm is all well and good, but saying something original is better. Richard Yates' 1961 novel incisively dissected 1950s conformity. This adaptation reunites Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet to portray his unhappy Connecticut couple. While certainly scalding, it expresses only a generalized loathing of suburbia and a knee-jerk hostility toward the institution of marriage. Since there's scant psychological detail, its power to illuminate and relevance to the present day are neutralized. Moreover, the direction by Winslet's real-life husband Mendes (American Beauty) is stagier than that in many a converted theater piece, including two -- Doubt, Frost/Nixon -- also vying for Oscar accolades this year. (R) FAIR DRAMA. Director - Sam Mendes; Lead - Leonardo DiCaprio; Running Time - 119 minutes. Capsule Review by John P. McCarthy.

THE SPIRIT. Frank Miller, author of the graphic novels Sin City, 300, and The Dark Night, makes his solo directorial debut with a superhero spoof based on Will Eisner's 1940 comic book series. All over the map, it shows that creating worthwhile movies requires a different set of talents -- no matter how visually oriented a writer's imagination. Gabriel Macht's eponymous crime-fighter is a cross between The Shadow, The Green Hornet, and an underwear model. Samuel L. Jackson plays his kooky nemesis and Scarlett Johanson and Eva Mendes (dis)grace the ensemble. There are a few snappy lines and one legitimately campy scene. Otherwise, it's a dispiriting mess. (PG-13) BORING COMEDY-DRAMA. Director - Frank Miller; Lead - Gabriel Macht; Running Time - 108 minutes. Capsule Review by John P. McCarthy.

VALKYRIE. Without learning more about the high-ranking German officers who conspired to assassinate Hitler, and why, it's difficult to immerse yourself in this glossily mechanical recreation of their July 20, 1944 plot. Cruise plays the gutsy colonel spearheading the attempt. Hitler's monstrosity is a given, but what about those who felt he was defiling the Fatherland? By not considering their motivations in depth or their prior culpability at all, the movie becomes a reasonably tense procedural with a known, bleak outcome. British actors fretting over Adolph and fawning over Cruise (as does director Singer's camera) seems slightly ludicrous, no matter how historically accurate the project or upstanding its intent. (PG-13) FAIR THRILLER. Director - Bryan Singer; Lead - Tom Cruise; Running Time - 120 minutes. Capsule review by John P. McCarthy.

WALTZ WITH BASHIR. After listening to a friend's nightmare, filmmaker Ari Folman realized he couldn't remember anything about his Israeli military service during the 1982 war with Lebanon. This discovery instigated a quest for memory recovery that, in this semi-documentary, is depicted through animated recreations of real-life events, dreams and nonfiction interviews. Folman's computer-drawn style is strikingly surreal and evocative, and serves as a distancing device akin to the way his mind used concealment to shield him from horrific traumas. Yet the director makes his point early on and then restates it repeatedly and, when the action shifts to numerous back-and-forth chats between Folman and pals, quite drearily. (R) FAIR DOCUMENTARY.  Director - Ari Folman;  Running Time - 87 minutes. Capsule Review by Nick Schager.

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(Poster: Marley & Me. © 2008 Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation. All Rights Reserved.)