From <I>American Beauty</I> (overrated) to <I>The Night of the Hunter</I> (masterpiece), this collection of Peter Rainer’s film criticism spans the course of his illustrious 30-year career, which dates back to the early 1980s. It is drawn from a wide range of publications, including the <I>Christian Science Monitor</I>, the <I>Los Angeles Herald Examiner</I>, <I>Los Angeles</I> magazine, the <I>Los Angeles Times</I>, <I>New Times Los Angeles</I>, and <I>New York</I> magazine, and is arranged thematically with chapters such as “Overrated, Underseen”; “Some Masterpieces”; “Documentaries”; “Issues (Mostly Hot Button)”; “Comedies—Intentional and Unintentional”; and “Literary and Theatrical Adaptations.” Rainer covers films both well-known and obscure and writes in depth about many film auteurs—Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Steven Spielberg, the Coen Brothers, Mike Leigh—and New Generation icons, such as Sofia Coppola and Paul Thomas Anderson. The careers of actors ranging from Marlon Brando and Jessica Lange to Robert DeNiro are also given an extensive examination. No film buff’s collection is complete without this comprehensive compilation that showcases the best work from a master contemporary film critic.