Thursday, March 17, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

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

Be Cool

2 stars (PG-13, 114 min.) Contrived sequel to 1995's Get Shorty, with loanshark John Travolta now trying his hand at the music business. Shamelessly courting the widest urban demographic, the irrelevant plot features a Latina singer, assorted rap and hip hop artists, and a smattering of refugees from Pulp Fiction and "Def Comedy Jam." One of the most cynical acts of commercialism since the Spice Girls.--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

Born Into Brothels

3.5 stars (R, 85 min.) Treading the line between exploitation and missionary humility, Zana Briskie's moving, Oscar-winning documentary details her work with the children of Calcutta's notorious red-light district. Teaching them photography, she gives them a different way to view the squalor and hopelessness of their lives. By turns ethically troubling and joyfully inspirational.--JC

Bride & Prejudice

2 stars (PG-13, 111 min.) A piece of rainbow-hued candy with a suprisingly sour center, Gurinder Chadha's second feature attempts to merge Jane Austen's social satire with the bombast of the Bollywood musical. Flitting from London to L.A. to Goa, a gold-digging Indian family tries to snag rich husbands for its four marriageable daughters. The cast is likable but the director's scornful treatment of Indian culture feels calculated to please American audiences.--JC

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

Cursed

1 1/2 stars (PG-13, 96 min.) The talents of horror veteran Wes Craven and makeup genius Rick Baker are completely wasted in this watered-down werewolf movie. After Shannon Elizabeth is eaten following a road accident, fellow crash victims Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg are injured just enough to cause disturbing lifestyle changes. Sadly, all the real gore has been left on the cutting-room floor alongside Corey Feldman.--BG

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.

Hitch

2 stars (PG-13, 115 min.) Will Smith is a "date doctor" who helps klutzy, unappealing men land women who are out of their league; Eva Mendes is the hardboiled gossip columnist who gets his stethoscope in a twist. Opting for coolness over emotional humility, Andy Tennant's contrived romantic comedy is a denial of the very assumption on which this entire genre rests: the wayward ungovernability of romantic fate.--JC

Hostage

2 stars (R, 102 min.) The most stylish piece of sadism to appear this year. An over-emoting Bruce Willis plays a traumatized ex-hostage negotiator forced back into harness when three punks invade the home of a shady accountant (Kevin Pollak). An ultraviolent rote thriller that's nonetheless queasily watchable.--JC

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

Inside Deep Throat

3 stars (NC-17, 92 min.) Filled with fascinating revelations and lively interviews, Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato's documentary shows how a mediocre porn flick became the standard-bearer for the First Amendment. While the usual suspects--Mailer, Vidal, Paglia, Jong--are predictably pompous, Deep Throat's original cast and crew are as bizarre and irreverent as anyone could wish.--JC

The Jacket

2 1/2 stars (R, 102 min.) A time-traveling sci-fi thriller that looks marvelous but never untangles itself from its own ambitions. Adrien Brody is a Gulf War vet with shock-related amnesia; Keira Knightley is a messed-up woman trailing the damage of her dead mother. Add a murder, an insane asylum, and disturbing glimpses of the future, and psychiatrist Jennifer Jason Leigh won't be the only one who's confused.--JC

Kinsey

4 stars. R, 118 min.) Bravely tackling the man who exploded the myth of vaginal orgasm, director Bill Condon sympathetic and perceptive film about zoologist turned sex researcher Alfred Kinsey seems to liberate Liam Neeson, who crackles from the spires of his ferocious crew-cut to the soles of his Hush Puppies. The film opens with Kinsey at Indiana University, where he is appalled by the sexual ignorance of his students. He begins teaching a groundbreaking course on marriage which leads to a huge impact on a society schooled in moral barbarism. Laura Linney, drabbed down and scrubbed of makeup as his patient wife, is marvelous. --JC

Man of the House

1 star (PG-13, 97 min.) No fewer than seven producers--including star Tommy Lee Jones--and five writers were required to bring this hack job to the screen. When a hard-ass Texas Ranger (Jones) is assigned as live-in protection for five University of Texas cheerleaders who have witnessed a drug killing, it's not long before his vapid charges have him rollerskating to ABBA and learning how to accessorize.--MP

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

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.

Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior

3.5 stars (R, 101 min.) Thailand's first major cinematic breakthrough is an enthralling martial arts saga that uses neither computer fakery nor stunt doubles. Tony Jaa is a muay thai expert who gets involved in underground fight clubs when he's sent to Bangkok to retrieve a stolen Buddha head believed to possess rainmaking power. A breathtaking balance of expert choreography and realistic violence.--MP

The Pacifier

1 1/2 stars (PG, 91 min.) You can't fault Vin Diesel for stretching himself beyond brain-dead action movies, but he needs a better vehicle. Playing a Navy SEAL officer assigned to protect the children of a dead government scientist, Diesel's dialogue is limited to brawny military-speak and sentimental drivel. Obviously influenced by Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten Cop, Diesel should remember that branching out means resisting typecasting, not conforming to it.--MP

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