Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert review five new movies and recommend a video. Two marginal thumbs up for
Maverick (1994), the genial western based on the old TV series. Both agree that its main defect is overstaying its welcome. Two thumbs way down for the dreary and depressing children's film,
Trading Mom (1994). Sissy Spacek plays four roles and is bad in all of them. Two thumbs up for the straight-to-video animated Disney sequel,
The Return of Jafar (1994). Both are pleased to see the characters from
Aladdin (1992) a second time. Two big thumbs up for
Widows' Peak (1994), an off-beat mystery tale about Irish women. It's rare for a movie to surprise movie critics, but both critics found plenty of surprises here. Two very disappointed thumbs down for Gus Van Sant's outdated and overly quirky
Even Cowgirls Get the Blues (1993). Uma Thurman's two grotesquely large thumbs did nothing for them. The "Video Pick of the Week" is
The Remains of the Day (1993).
—J. Spurlin