All Intensive Purposes

Ben Yagoda:

[Michiko] Kakutani doesn't offer the stylistic flair, the wit, or the insight one gets from [Pauline] Kael and other first-rate critics; for her, the verdict is the only thing. One has the sense of her deciding roughly at Page 2 whether or not a book is worthy; reading the rest of it to gather evidence for her case; spending some quality time with the Thesaurus; and then taking a large blunt hammer and pounding the message home.

This and the rest of his take on Kakutani sounds right to me. I rarely want to read her reviews unless I have a particular interest in the book.