Thursday, February 10, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Film shorts

Alone in the Dark

1/2 star (R, 96 min.) Christian Slater is a "paranormal investigator" on the trail of 10,000-year-old human/alien hybrids in this tenuous spin-off from the popular Atari video game. German director Uwe Boll lays on the blood and brutality, but when a movie begins by casting Tara Reid as an archaeologist there's really not much left to say.--JC

Are We There Yet?

1 star (PG, 92 min.) Ice Cube is back, wooing single mom Nia Long by agreeing to transport her two hell-raising kids from Oregon to British Columbia. But none of the film's four screenwriters seem capable of writing comedy, and whatever else the Cube might be, a romantic lead he's not. He's more convincing in a barbershop than in a beautiful woman's bed.--ADV

Assault on Precinct 13

2 1/2 stars (R, 109 min.) Adhering to the template (if not the artistic decisions) of John Carpenter's 1976 classic, this gritty remake is set in a near-abandoned police station under siege from a band of unknown snipers. Ethan Hawke is the traumatized Sarge and Drea de Matteo the nympho secretary with a thing for criminals. Jean-Franãois Richet directs for maximum shock and minimum survival.--JC

The Aviator

4 1/2 stars (PG-13; 169 mins.) Long, ambitious, and stunningly beautiful, Martin Scorsese's retelling of 20 years in the life of Howard Hughes is a soaring success. Leonardo DiCaprio tackles Hughes' passions--and creeping mental disorders--with ferocious energy and devastating charm. Not since The Age of Innocence has Scorsese conveyed such a sense of controlled chaos and inevitable tragedy.--JC

Beyond the Sea

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 121 min.) This fanciful and misguided biopic of '60s pop legend Bobby Darin is the latest in a long line of career missteps for its star and director, Kevin Spacey. Stuffed with irritating fantasy sequences and inept dance numbers, the movie amounts to nothing more than a superficial dash through a brief and haunted life.--JC

Coach Carter

1 star (PG-13, 130 min.) An inner-city high-school basketball team learns how to be model citizens and above-average scholars by doing push-ups for Samuel L. Jackson. Director Thomas Carter (no relation) may show little aptitude for shooting hoops but he certainly knows how to milk pathos. A true story dumbed down for formula-seeking audiences and cinematically-challenged critics.--ADV

Elektra

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 97 min.) Director Rob Bomwan's take on the Marvel character is a spectacular failure. As the paid assassin alternately moping over her unhappy past and drop-kicking mystics and other assorted enemies, Jennifer Garner keeps her succulent body on view and her daddy issues in the background. Not even Terrence Stamp as a blind martial arts teacher can raise this above the level of a video game.--ADV

Everest

4 stars (NR, 44 min.) Co-director David Breashears' harrowing, 1998 Imax documentary chronicles the disastrous 1996 climbing season, when eight climbers perished in a freak storm on the world's highest peak. Featuring Jamling Tenzing Norgay, Ed Viesturs. Beck Weathers. Narrated by Liam Neeson.--AA

Faster

3 stars (NR, 103 min.) Mark Neale's documentary (narrated by Ewan McGregor) about the Motorcycle Grand Prix five-continent world championships during the 2001 and 2002 seasons isn't structured for maximum dramatic effect. Lots of people will be bored. But it throws you into the world of high-speed motorcross racing so thoroughly that it achieves its kick on its own terms. We get to know about a half-dozen competitors and come to understand why they're so willing to risk their life for a chance to feel fast.--ADV

Fat Albert

2 stars (PG, 93 min.) The characters from Bill Cosby's 1972-84 cartoon series come to life to help friendless high-schooler and track-star hopeful Kyla Pratt. More concerned with moral values than cinematic ones, Joel Zwick's movie preaches a false gospel: that belief in yourself is all it takes to win. Tell that to all the self-assured kids who lose competitions.--ADV

Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag

Not reviewed (NR, 45 min.) The film follows Capt. John Stratton, an F-15 Eagle pilot, as he participates in Red Flag exercises, an intense training regimen for U.S. and allied forces.

Finding Neverland

2 1/2 stars (PG, 106 min.) Director Marc Forster's lusciously produced bio of James W. Barrie (Johnny Depp) allows us to understand the personal connection between the Victorian playwright/novelist and his writing of Peter Pan. But the film is infuriatingly ambiguous. You never understand what drives this Barrie to hang around four preadolescent boys all day (to the point of destroying his marriage), or what exactly the nature is of his relationship with the boys' mother (Kate Winslet). It's okay for a Victorian to suppress issues, but when a filmmaker does it, it's unforgivable. Julie Chrisite plays a stuffy, proper prig, and, considering her fame as a 1960s social rebel, it's a delicious Hollywood in-joke.--ADV

Haunted Castle

Not reviewed (PG, 38 min.) Aspiring rock star Jasper Steverlinck visits dead mom's spooky English mansion and learns that rock 'n' roll really is the devil's music, in this 2001 3-D Imax horror flick from Belgian director Ben Stassen.

Hide and Seek

1 1/2 stars (R, 105 min.) When Robert De Niro's wife commits suicide, he takes his traumatized 9-year-old daughter (Dakota Fanning) to the countryside to recuperate. Instead, she conjures up an imaginary friend and a very real murderer. De Niro is as good as the screenplay permits, but it's no fun watching an innocent child suffer just so we can be entertained.--ADV

Hotel Rwanda

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 121 min.) The horror of the 1994 Rwandan genocide is viewed through the actions of hotel manager Paul Rusesabagina (Don Cheadle), who single-handedly saved more than 1,000 people from certain slaughter. Though ignoring the larger political picture, Terry George's well-meaning film deserves to be seen, if only to remind us of the cost of looking away.--JC

House of Flying Daggers

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 119 min.) Zhang Yimou's affecting and artistically ambitious film combines a Romeo-and-Juliet story with his trademark technical and visual flair. Set in China at the end of the Tang dynasty, a rebel group battles corrupt officials who retaliate by kidnapping the visually impaired daughter of its leader. A complex and ambiguous work that manages to stir both the head and the heart.--MP

In Good Company

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 106 min.) Dennis Quaid plays a 51-year-old Manhattan ad man suddenly demoted to second banana when 26-year-old Topher Grace becomes his boss. A funny, touching comedy that tries to highlight both sides of the corporate equation: the heartlessness of youthful ambition and the dangerous rigidity of older employees. In the end, though, big business is more complicated than the filmmakers are willing to admit.--ADV

The Incredibles

5 stars (PG, 115 min.) A dynamic and immensely entertaining computer-animated adventure comedy from Pixar, as inspired as it is inspiring. The Parrs are a quintet living like any other household, except that each of them was born with powers they're supposed to keep suppressed. They don't. Pixar has outdone itself with visuals, excitement and human characterizations. With the voices of Craig. T. Nelson, Holly Hunter, Samuel L. Jackson, and Jason Lee.--MP

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events

3 stars (PG, 108 mins.) For those who like their fairy tales on the creepy side, Jim Carrey's latest follows three orphans as they try to escape the nightmarish mansion of their villainous uncle. Despite repetitive comedy and a stagnant plot, the movie is redeemed by imaginative imagery and an uproarious Meryl Streep.--ADV

Meet the Fockers

2 stars (PG13, 114 min.) This lame sequel takes us to Miami where Ben Stiller's parents (Dustin Hoffman and Barbra Streisand) struggle to overcome the scriptwriters' fascination with the word "Focker." Streisand can still rattle off a line with the gusto of an urban yenta, but you'd think that after an eight-year screen absence she'd return with more self-respect.--ADV

Million Dollar Baby

5 stars (PG-13, 138 min.) A tour de force of stark, pared-to-the-bone craftsmanship, Clint Eastwood's Baby is a movie where formulas don't apply. Hilary Swank is the white-trash waitress who dreams of being a boxer; Eastwood is the trainer who dreams of a life without guilt. If you think you know where this film is going, believe me, you don't.--JC

NASCAR: The Imax Experience

2 1/2 stars (PG, 48 min.) Simon Wincer's flagrant promo flick is expensive entertainment that requires tiresome 3D glasses to watch. But it delivers some of the visceral, ear-shattering excitement of race day. Narrated by Kiefer Sutherland.--AA

National Treasure

3 stars (PG, 100 min.) Nicolas Cage plays an eccentric treasure hunter who can't convince the FBI that someone is about to steal the Declaration of Independence. So he steals it first. Winds up he was right. So now both the good guys and bad guys are after our star. There's not much suspense or chase or romance or good acting. (Remember when Cage used to be a real artist?) But the story's locations take us to historical halls, passageways, ventilation shafts and catacombs that played a major role in our nation's birth. It's a fun education trip disguised as a caper movie.--ADV

Ocean Wonderland 3D

Not reviewed (NR, 44 min.) Filmed in the Bahamas and Australia, this Imax doc features rays, sharks, dolphins and other marine life in 3D.

Ocean's Twelve

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 106 min.) A nasty entrepreneur (Andy Garcia) tracks down the crooks who swindled him in 2001's Ocean's Eleven, and they, plus one, must figure out a way to pay him back. I went into director Steven Soderbergh's sequel wanting enjoyable junk entertainment, and that's what I got. With Casey Afleck, George Clooney, Matt Damon, Elliott Gould, Bernie Mac, Brad Pitt, Carl Reiner, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones.--ADV

The Phantom of the Opera

3 stars (PG-13, 140 min.) Spoiled by poor casting and a superficial screen treatment, Joel Schumacher's film is all visual opulence and momentary pleasures. Emmy Rossum is a charismatic lead, but the love-triangle plot suffers from Gerard Butler's inability to convey emotional torment. Nevertheless, the movie's lavish production numbers sometimes capture the broad wink of musical comedy.--ADV

Ray

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 152 min.) Jamie Foxx embodies Ray Charles so completely in look, mannerism and speaking voice that he magnetizes our gaze. Unfortunately, Taylor Hackford's film takes a trite, by-the-numbers approach that ticks off the major plot points of Charles' life with more thoroughness than imagination. Strong supporting performances by Kerry Washington as the long- suffering wife, and Regina King as his lover and back-up singer.--JC

Saw

3 1/2 stars (R, 100 min.) Two men--a nervy twentysomething photographer (played co-writer Leigh Whannel) and an older cancer surgeon (Cary Elwes)--are imprisoned in a dank and filthy bathroom with no memory of how they came to be there. Between them is a corpse, a gun and a tape recorder. There are clues as to how they can escape. A clock is ticking, a psychopath is lurking. How badly does each of them want to live? Co-writer/director James Wan's film is more than a stunt yet less than its hype. Though at times muddled and incoherent, its gripping, grisly plot is one of the most ingenious set-ups the serial-killer genre has yet produced.--JC

Sideways

3 1/2 stars (R, 123 min.) Paul Giamatti, who has something of a lock on crumpled manhood, plays a sad, divorced middle school English teacher who joins his about-to-be married best friend (Thomas Haden Church) on a tour of California wineries. Their bonding agenda turns into a couple of serious hookups with two intelligent women (Virginia Madsen and Sandra Oh). The acting is wonderful, the script, virtually seamless, and Alexander Payne's direction, full of insights into how people react to their environments and each other. But everything feels just a bit too carefully crafted and frustratingly obvious.--JC

Spanglish

2 1/2 stars (PG-13, 131 mins.) Supposedly concerned with immigrant fear and the compromises of assimilation, James L. Brooks' comedy is really a sour study in racial stereotyping. Adam Sandler is appealingly low-key as a husband trying to resist his earthy Mexican housekeeper; Téa Leonie is cruelly mocked as his neurotic, insecure wife. Cloris Leachman plays the most functional alcoholic ever filmed.--JC

Vera Drake

5 stars (R, 125 min.) Neither an "issues" film nor a pro-choice polemic, Mike Leigh's moving study of a 1950s London abortionist derives its power from stunning performances and the director's obsessive attention to detail. Imelda Staunton is magnificent as the bustling, cheery Vera, dispensing tea and reproductive freedom to women faced with a law applicable only to the poor.--JC

The Wedding Date

Zero stars (PG-13, 90 min.) A neurotically insecure Manhattan woman (Debra Messing) hires a sensitive male escort (Dermot Mulroney) to accompany her to a London wedding, then falls for him. Intended for frustrated women everywhere whose needs are not being met by men who come free of financial obligation, this female-made movie only proves women are equally capable of insulting their own sex.--ADV

White Noise

1 star (PG-13, 101 min.) I hear dead people. When architect Michael Keaton is contacted by his dead wife via the airwaves, it's only the beginning of his problems with beyond-the-grave--and before-the-grave--requests. What begins as a promising horror film soon devolves into a preposterous and funereal exercise in technical trickery.--ADV

Reviews by: AA: Anthony Allison; ADV: Anthony Del Valle; JC: Jeannette Catsoulis; MP: Mike Prevatt; RC: Robert Chancey