Thursday, January 29, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film shorts

Along Came Polly

2 stars (PG-13, 90 min.) John Hamburg's "sparkless" romantic comedy is as risk-averse and unamusing as Ben Stiller's overly cautious character, who falls for flaky free spirit Jennifer Aniston. With Hank Azaria, Alec Baldwin, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing.--TM

Big Fish

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 125 min.) Billy Crudup tries connecting with dying father Albert Finney, who weaves fanciful stories about how as a young man (Ewan McGregor) he conquered the world. Tim Burton's film of Daniel Wallace's sentimental novel sinks into a treacly lake of whimsy. With Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito.--AA

The Butterfly Effect

2 stars (R, 113 min.) Like the chaos theory concept (the flapping of a butterfly's wings in China might cause a hurricane in Florida), Eric Bress and J. Mackye Gruber's debut is a dark mindbender about reality's nature. But this convoluted work, in which Ashton Kutcher tries exorcising traumatic memories by traveling back in time, suffers due to Kutcher's inadequacy. With Amy Smart, Eric Stoltz.--TM

Calendar Girls

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 108 min.) Nigel Cole's bland, true-life drama about middle-aged Englishwomen who posed nude for a charity calendar is Americanized for crowd-pleasing effect. Only Helen Mirren and Julie Walters explore the pathos of their roles.--TM

Cheaper by the Dozen

Not reviewed (PG, 98 min.) Steve Martin stays home in Illinois to care for his 12 children when wife Bonnie Hunt leaves for New York to promote her new book. Hilary Duff and Piper Perabo co-star in Shawn Levy's comedy.--AA

Cold Mountain

3 1/2 stars (R, 155 min.) Nicole Kidman's incipient romance with field hand Jude Law is interrupted by the Civil War, but she's comforted by plain-spoken Renée Zellweger. Anthony Minghella's devastatingly beautiful film of Charles Frazier's novel balances the folksy and the horrifying.--JC 7 Oscar noms: actor Jude Law, supporting actress Renée Zellweger, cinematography, editing, score, song "Scarlet Tide", song "You Will Be My Ain True Love."

The Cooler

3 stars (R, 101 min.) In Wayne Kramer's gritty, faux noir William H. Macy, employed to bring his chronic bad luck to gamblers, falls in love with cocktail waitress Maria Bello. More interesting is the backstory, with old-school casino boss Alec Baldwin clinging to his traditionalist ways in the face of corporate Vegas. A film awash in moral ambiguity and contradictions. With Maria Bello, Shawn Hatosy, Ron Livingston.--MP Oscar nom: supporting actor Baldwin.

Everest

3 1/2 stars (NR, 44 min.) Co-directed by David Breashears, this superb 1998 Imax film chronicles the disastrous 1996 climbing season when eight climbers perished in a freak storm on the world's highest peak. Narrated by Liam Neeson.--AA

Gothika

1/2 star (R, 100 min.) What Halle Berry and Mathieu Kassovitz are doing with a murky, women-in-prison movie is anyone's guess, but this melodramatic trash is unintentionally funny. Berry is unconvincing as a criminal psychologist accused of killing husband Charles Dutton. With Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey, Jr.--JC

The Haunted Mansion

1 star (PG, 87 min.) Eddie Murphy's turn in Rob Minkoff's Disneyland ride spinoff is another colossal failure. This unscary horror-comedy will engender fear for all the wrong reasons. With Terence Stamp, Jennifer Tilly.--TM

House of Sand and Fog

2 stars (R, 126 min.) Iranian exile Ben Kingsley snaps up a real estate bargain when Jennifer Connelly is evicted from her Bay Area bungalow. Connelly and love interest Ron Eldard have zero chemistry, and Kingsley's undemonstrative style jars with Iranian actress Shohreh Aghdashloo's Farsi histrionics, in Vadim Perelman's melodramatic film of Andre Dubus III's novel.--AA 3 Oscar noms: actor Kingsley, supporting actress Aghdashloo, score.

In America

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 103 min.) Irish immigrants Paddy Considine and Samantha Morton move to New York with daughters Sarah and Emma Bolger, who befriend terminally ill Djimon Hounsou. The adults in Jim Sheridan's autobiographical story are great, but the Bolger sisters' heart-melting guilessness sets this far above average.--AA 3 Oscar noms: original screenplay, actress Morton, supporting actor Hounsou.

The Last Samurai

2 stars (R, 154 min.) After Edward Zwick's unoriginal sushi Western, with Tom Cruise as a disillusioned U.S. soldier learning the way of the Samurai in 1870s Japan, one wonders--will Tom now honorably commit career hara-kiri?--AA 4 Oscar noms: supporting actor Ken Watanabe, art direction, costumes, sound mixing.

The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 200 min.) Frodo and Sam (Elijah Wood, Sean Astin) are led to Mordor by the duplicitous Gollum (Andy Serkis); Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli (Viggo Mortensen, Orlando Bloom, John Rhys-Davies) awaken the Army of the Dead; Gandalf (Ian McKellen) heads for Minis Tirith; and Galadriel and Arwen (Cate Blanchett, Liv Tyler) complete their five minutes of screen time. The images are scandalously beautiful. Peter Jackson's single-handed resurrection of the epic fantasy is an astonishing achievement.--JC 11 Oscar noms: picture, director, adapted screenplay, art direction, costumes, makeup, editing, sound mixing, visual effects, score, song.

Lost in Translation

4 1/2 stars (R, 105 min.) Sofia Coppola's Tokyo drama observes the chance connection of two dislocated souls: fiftysomething actor Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, wife of workaholic photographer Giovanni Ribisi. A film about how traveling alone encourages introspection.--JC 4 Oscar noms: picture, director, original screenplay, actor Murray.

Love Actually

2 1/2 stars (R, 135 min.) Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson head the cast of Richard Curtis' Christmas crowdpleaser, whose nuggets of emotional gold drown in a sea of schmaltz.--AA

Love Don't Cost a Thing

Not reviewed (PG-13, 105 min.) Nerdy high school student Nick Cannon pays cheerleader Christina Milian to pose as his girlfriend, in the hope of joining the in-crowd, in Troy Beyer's remake of 1987's Can't Buy Me Love.--AA

Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 138 min.) Russell Crowe stars in Peter Weir's splendid maritime adventure, set in 1805 and based on Patrick O'Brian's novels. But not even his presence turns a shallow sea story into an epic of depth. With Paul Bettany.--AA 10 Oscar noms: picture, director, cinematography, art direction, costumes, makeup, editing, sound editing, sound mixing, visual effects.

The Matrix Revolutions

3 stars (R, 129 min.) Neo, Morpheus, Trinity and Niobe (Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Jada Pinkett Smith) battle the Machines while Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) continues his infestation. The Wachowski brothers deliver the expected elements in their trilogy's dull finale. [Also in cut Imax version.]--JC

Mona Lisa Smile

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 119 min.) A film about the empowerment of women should be impervious to criticism. But Mike Newell's saccharine drama, with Julia Roberts miscast as a Wellesley art history teacher in 1953, deserves vilification. With Kirsten Dunst, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Julia Stiles.--AA

Monster

3 stars (R, 108 min.) To appreciate Patty Jenkins' feature about serial killer Aileen Wuornos, you must negotiate the shock and awe of Charlize Theron's appearance and the monstrousness of a performance that steamrollers the entire film, including Christina Ricci's magnificent turn as her gay lover. Avoid confusing a great performance with a great movie.--JC Oscar nom: actress Theron.

My Baby's Daddy

Not reviewed (PG-13, 86 min.) Confirmed bachelors Eddie Griffin, Anthony Anderson and Michael Imperioli all learn they're about to be fathers, in Cheryl Dunye's "comedy."--AA

Mystic River

4 stars (R, 137 min.) In South Boston, a brutal murder forces a reunion between boyhood buddies Sean Penn, Kevin Bacon and Tim Robbins, a severely damaged adult whose wife (riveting Marcia Gay Harden) is losing her grip. Clint Eastwood's dark film of Dennis Lehane's novel is a police procedural that illuminates a close-knit community poisoned by its own bitter history. With Laura Linney.--JC 6 Oscar noms: picture, director, adapted screenplay, actors Penn, Robbins, supporting actress Harden.

Ocean Wonderland 3D

Not reviewed (NR, 44 min.) Filmed in the Bahamas and on Australia's Great Barrier Reef, the latest IMAX documentary features rays, sharks, dolphins and other marine life in glorious 3D.--AA

Paycheck

1/2 star (PG-13, 118 min.) Ben Affleck, whose memory is erased after he works on secret projects, escapes a deadly conspiracy. With leaden dialogue and non-special effects, John Woo goes through the motions in an unsuspenseful Philip K. Dick adaptation. With Aaron Eckhart, Uma Thurman.--AA

Peter Pan

Not reviewed (PG, 104 min.) Jeremy Sumpter is the boy who wouldn't grow up in P.J. Hogan's live-action version of J.M. Barrie's beloved children's play. With Rachel Hurd-Wood, Lynn Redgrave.--AA

Something's Gotta Give

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 136 min.) Aging playboy Jack Nicholson (masterfully sarcastic) has a heart attack and is nursed by lover Amanda Peet's mother Diane Keaton. Combining 1970s Woody Allenesque wit with compelling passion, Keaton proves there's hope for older actresses, in Nancy Meyers' battle-of-the-sexes comedy. With Frances McDormand, Keanu Reeves.--TM Oscar nom: actress Keaton.

The Station Agent

3 stars (R, 88 min.) Thomas McCarthy's crowdpleaser is insanely contrived: There's a dwarf who likes trains (Peter Dinklage), a voluble Cuban (Bobby Cannavale) taking care of his sick father's hot dog cart and a distracted artist (Patricia Clarkson) grieving for her dead son. A slight film about the risks and rewards of human connection.--JC

Stuck on You

1 star (PG-13, 118 min.) Bobby and Peter Farrelly's "comedy," with Greg Kinnear and Matt Damon as conjoined twins, strains too hard for laughs. How the Farrellys roped in Cher, Seymour Cassel, Eva Mendes and Meryl Streep is a mystery. Money apparently talks.--AA

Teacher's Pet

Not reviewed (PG, 67 min.) [a.k.a. Disney's Teacher's Pet] Timothy Bjšrklund's animated musical TV spinoff has Nathan Lane reprising his role as (the voice of) Spot the dog, who hopes to become a real boy with help from mad scientist Kelsey Grammer. With Estelle Harris, David Ogden Stiers, Wallace Shawn.--AA

Torque

Not reviewed (PG-13, 81 min.) Biker Martin Henderson battles drug dealer Matt Schulze, who frames him for the murder of the kid brother of rival bike gang boss Ice Cube. Joseph Kahn's drama, written by Matt Johnson, is co-produced by Neal Moritz (The Fast and the Furious) and co-stars Monet Mazur.--AA

21 Grams

4 stars (R, 124 min.) Alejandro González Iñárritu arranges three strangers (mathematician Sean Penn, recovering addict Naomi Watts, born-again ex-con Benicio Del Toro) around an obliterating car accident. But instead of a linear timeline, he juggles his scenes in seemingly random order, leaving us to put them back together. The actors are off-the-charts remarkable and Iñárritu's bravura is justified.--JC 2 Oscar noms: actress Watts, supporting actor Del Toro.

Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!

3 stars (PG-13, 96 min.) Checkout girl Kate Bosworth wins dinner with Hollywood hunk Josh Duhamel who, to the chagrin of lovelorn store manager Topher Grace, moves to her West Virginia hometown. Robert Luketic's comedy has all the genre conventions, but also offers nicely sketched characters and clever dialogue. Not groundbreaking, but it sure is swell.--TM

The Young Black Stallion

Not reviewed (G, 50 min.) Simon Wincer's Imax prequel to Carroll Ballard's 1979 adventure, set in postwar north Africa, stars Biana Tamimi as a girl separated from her family who bonds with a wild horse.--AA

Reviews by: AA: Anthony Allison; JC: Jeannette Catsoulis; MP: Mike Prevatt; TM: Tammy McMahan