Film shorts

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

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

Because of Winn-Dixie

4 stars (PG, 100 min.) At a time when kiddie cinema is focused on talking babies and animated superheroes, this gentle, human drama is a welcome change of pace. A 10-year-old girl (Annasophia Robb) and her preacher father (Jeff Daniels) adopt a lively mutt that helps them deal with their abandonment by the girl's troubled mother. Sentimental without being sappy, the movie addresses themes of loneliness and forgiveness the old-fashioned way: with careful storytelling and not a talking baby in sight.--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

Constantine

4 stars (R, 121 min.) Keanu is back, saving the world from the spawn of Satan in the guise of a chain-smoking paranormal gumshoe with a need to buy his way into heaven. Whether chasing demons or bargaining with the angel Gabriel (Tilda Swinton), Keanu's fabulousness is upfront and center. Intellectually cheeky and visually audacious, Constantine is best enjoyed by ignoring the Milton-heavy mythology and surrendering to the movie's lush atmosphere and wicked performances.--JC

Diary of a Mad Black Woman

2 stars (PG-13, 116 min.) Veering from ghetto to church, bling worship to community barbecues, Atlanta playwright and former music video director Darren Grant neglects no Southern black stereotype in his bid for African-American approval. When Kimberly Elise is dumped by no-good husband Steve Harris, she rebuilds her life with faith and a doting new boyfriend--and a Glock-toting, transvestite granny whose sole purpose is to provide secular relief from the movie's earnest evangelism.--MP

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

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

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

The Merchant of Venice

3 stars (R, 138 min.) British director Michael Radford's engrossing adaptation of Shakespeare's most uncomfortable play understands its vengeful passions and closeted desires. Shot in Venice for maximum dankness, the movie's portrayal of the monstrous, flesh-seeking Shylock (an intense Al Pacino) builds to a riveting courtroom climax. With Jeremy Irons as the tremulous Antonio and Joseph Fiennes as his beloved Bassanio.--MP

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.

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

The Sea Inside

3 1/2 stars (PG-13, 125 min.) Training a narrow lens on a complicated subject, Chilean director Alejandro Amenábar weaves a spellbinding film from the true story of a 55-year-old quadriplegic (Javier Bardem) fighting for the right to die. Loading the dice in favor of their own opinion, the filmmakers miss the opportunity to broaden their argument; but Bardem's weariness and passion provide a visceral understanding of the life his character is mourning.--ADV

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

Son of the Mask

1 1/2 stars (PG, 86 min.) Considering its target demographic was in diapers when the original was released, it's anyone's guess how this belated, $100-million-plus sequel to The Mask came to be released. Replacing Jim Carrey and Cameron Diaz with hyperactive computer animation and a characterless Jamie Kennedy, this unnecessary exercize in money-grubbing is so family-values friendly you'll swear it was bankrolled by some morals-obsessed millionaire.--MP

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

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