Current Releases
THE GAME PLAN After his film career began floundering, action star Vin Diesel turned to the family audience with The Pacifier and ended up with a $113 million hit. Along the same lines, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson now throws himself on the mercy of the small fry and their easy-to-please parental units with The Game Plan, an innocuous mediocrity whose biggest sin is its punishing running time. Rocky stars as Joe Kingman, a narcissistic quarterback who's blindsided when 8-year-old Peyton (Madison Pettis) shows up on his doorstep claiming to be his daughter. Livin' la vida loca with a lavishly designed bachelor pad, a European model for a girlfriend, and a flashy sports car to complement his lifestyle of the rich and famous, Joe (whose clunky gridiron nickname is "Never Say No Joe") learns that in order to become an effective parent (which he does so begrudgingly), he has to accept a pink tutu being placed on his bulldog, his football trophies getting BeDazzled, and his mode of transport getting downsized to a station wagon. Considering that The Game Plan holds next to no surprises for anyone who's ever seen a movie before, a 90-minute length would have been plenty; instead, this gets mercilessly stretched out to 110 minutes. Pettis mostly relies on calculated precociousness, but Johnson actually proves to be Rock-solid as Kingman, displaying modest but sufficient amounts of charm and comic timing. **
GOOD LUCK CHUCK Upchuck would have been a more accurate title for this nauseating effort – not only does its mere existence instantly elevate the already high standing of such accomplished "raunchy comedies" as The 40-Year-Old Virgin and There's Something About Mary, it also makes them seem as refined as an Ernst Lubitsch farce from the 1930s by comparison. Dane Cook, whose popularity continues to elude me, plays Chuck, who was long ago placed under a hex which states that whenever he sleeps with a woman, she will then marry the next man who woos her. This allows Chuck to have sex with all sorts of buxom babes (and, in a couple of cruel sequences straight out of Norbit, obese ones as well) without worrying about commitment issues. But he grows tired of such a shallow lifestyle, especially after meeting Cam (the eternally vapid Jessica Alba), a klutzy penguin specialist he's afraid he'll eventually lose to the curse. The central premise is no more farfetched than those exhibited in such frothy comedies as 13 Going on 30 and Big, yet Good Luck Chuck forgoes quirky charm and endearing characters in order to focus on bottom-of-the-barrel gross-out gags involving sex with grapefruits, stuffed penguins and a woman with three breasts. Cook and Alba generate about as much chemistry as a mongoose paired with a rattlesnake, while Dan Fogler, as Chuck's foul-mouthed best friend, will likely endure as the movie year's most obnoxious sidekick. *
GOYA'S GHOSTS Eight years was too long to wait for the next film from the great Milos Forman (Amadeus, Hair, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest), and the fact that Goya's Ghosts isn't better feels like an outright betrayal of our collective patience. Directing his first picture since 1999's underrated Man on the Moon, Forman (who also co-scripted with Jean-Claude Carriere) has crafted a visually stunning but dramatically sloppy drama that kicks off in Madrid at the end of the 18th century, when Brother Lorenzo (Javier Bardem) emerges as a major player in the Spanish Inquisition that led to the torture, imprisonment and (often) deaths of innocents falsely accused of sinning against the Catholic Church. One such victim turns out to be Ines (Natalie Portman), a lovely lass whose refusal of pork at a local tavern (she doesn't like the taste) brands her as a "Judaizer." Stellan Skarsgard is effective as artist Francisco de Goya, who bears witness to the film's events, and it's a pity he doesn't rack up more screen time. Bardem is quietly menacing while Portman earns our sympathy – at least until she's saddled with a second role during the picture's final hour. Indeed, what had been working as a somber study of absolute power corrupting absolutely gets derailed when the story leaps forward 15 years, presenting us with jarring tonal shifts and wallowing in implausible melodrama. The total immersion into the film's staggering production values helps a great deal, but even it can't obscure a storyline that turns so silly, you half-expect Mel Brooks to show up reprising his "Inquisition" musical number from History of the World Part I. **1/2
THE HEARTBREAK KID The Farrelly Brothers have a reputation for pushing the envelope when it comes to risky business, but in the case of The Heartbreak Kid, they seem only marginally more daring than Robert Wise helming The Sound of Music. That's because the 1972 original is one mean-spirited movie, a prickly comedy about an unlikable nebbish (Charles Grodin) who abandons his plain-Jane wife (Jeannie Berlin) on their Miami honeymoon once he spots a beautiful blonde WASP (Cybill Shepherd). The movie stings because the bride hardly deserves the cruel treatment she receives, while the protagonist is selfish, insensitive, and due for a comeuppance that he never really gets. The picture was well-received and earned Oscar nods for Berlin and Eddie Albert (terrific as Shepherd's dad), but in today's climate, only the least commercially minded filmmakers would attempt such a poison-laced satire. And the Farrellys, who've mellowed over the years, wouldn't be those filmmakers. So here, the groom (Ben Stiller) is a nice guy, his bride (Malin Akerman) is an outright nightmare, and the beach bunny is no longer a callow, self-centered brat but a sweet, down-to-earth gal (Michelle Monaghan). That's not to say the siblings have completely backed away from their raunchy roots: There's plenty of salty language, some acrobatic sex scenes (though why is it that in American movies, a healthy sexual appetite is always depicted as a vice or a disease to be shunned?), and one startling crotch shot. Much of it is funny, some of it merely infantile, but Akerman proves to be a real trouper as she degrades herself in the name of modern movie comedy. **1/2
THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB I've always despised the sexist and demeaning term "chick flick," and I was pleased that Susan Sarandon shared my view when I interviewed her years ago. If so-called women's films were dismissed as "chick flicks," she stated, then why aren't so-called men's films dismissed as "dick flicks"? To me, there are no such things as "chick flicks" (or, for that matter, "dick flicks"). There are only good films, bad films, and the ones that fall in between. The Jane Austen Book Club is an example of a good one. It's intelligent, entertaining, emotional and amusing. It sports its share of rough passages, but those flaws derive from unfortunate shortcuts taken in the screenplay (or the source material, a novel by Karen Joy Fowler), not from the topic at hand or the fact that most of the principal players are (gasp!) women. As the title blurts out, this centers on a group of people (played by, among others, Maria Bello, Emily Blunt and Hugh Dancy) who come together to discuss Jane Austen's literary canon. Both the letter and spirit of Austen infiltrate these club members' lives, as they not only apply the author's words to modern living but also note similarities between the novels' characters and their own particular sets of circumstances. All too often, writer-director Robin Swicord relies on whopping coincidences to move the story along, but in most respects, she follows Austen's template of tracking budding (and confusing) love. And, atypically for a mainstream release, the picture allows many characters the sort of second chance usually not accorded in comparable films. Now that's a novel idea. ***
THE KINGDOM Overshadowed by another current movie focusing on Middle Eastern tensions (In the Valley of Elah), this is basically a Rambo retread outfitted with a thin veneer of topical import. Director Peter Berg appears to be an American apologist at heart, which may explain why, after a fascinating title sequence illustrating the United States' complicated ties to Saudi Arabia (and, of course, its riches), the movie quickly devolves into a standard us-against-them revenge flick. The film opens with a shocking sequence in which a base for American families in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is destroyed by terrorists, thereby prompting a group of elite FBI agents to undergo a secret mission to find the culprits once the Saudi and U.S. governments both balk at creating an international incident. The four agents (Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman) are devoid of much in the way of personality, but that's OK: Their only purpose in this story is to kill Middle Easterners. Lots of them. The message of this 110-minute movie is revealed in its very last line, meaning it arrives about 100 minutes too late. Because of this lack of clear intent, the picture has no choice except to work as a visual and aural assault on our senses. In that respect, it succeeds in much the same way as The Brave One, as a cathartic palate cleanser that allows us to watch bad guys plowed down without sullying our own hands. There's a sympathetic Saudi officer (Ashraf Barhoum, very good) who, by providing the few moments of warmth, might diffuse arguments that Berg's movie isn't anti-terrorist but anti-Middle East – a huge difference, for those who didn't realize. **1/2
MICHAEL CLAYTON Far easier to follow than its impenetrable trailer would lead one to believe, Michael Clayton plays like Erin Brockovich without the populist appeal – it centers on the title character (George Clooney), a law firm "fixer" who's always called upon to clean up messy problems for the company's clients. Hating his job but stuck with it due to massive debts and an expensive divorce, Michael finds himself caught in the middle when Arthur Edens (an excellent Tom Wilkinson), Michael's good friend and the firm's best attorney, seemingly goes bonkers and threatens to derail their most important case: defending an agrochemical company against a lawsuit filed by ordinary citizens. Michael's boss (Sydney Pollack) orders him to talk some sense into Arthur, but it turns out that the agrochemical company's chief counsel (Tilda Swinton) is willing to go to more extreme lengths to silence the wayward lawyer. Tony Gilroy, adapter of the Jason Bourne novels, makes his directorial debut here (as well as writing the script), and it's an assured first effort. Almost everything about the movie is muted – the settings, the exchanges, the emotions – and this decision gives the story a real-world gravitas that makes the odious executive actions seem even more plausible than they already are. Gilroy steadfastly avoids including anything that can be deemed extraneous or overreaching, preferring to rest his faith – and the picture's fate – in the hands of his accomplished actors and in the strength of his own script. There are no real surprises in Michael Clayton, just the awareness of a job well done. ***
THE SEEKER: THE DARK IS RISING The dark may have been rising, but my eyelids were repeatedly falling as I struggled to stay awake during this interminable and exhausting film. Based on one of the books in Susan Cooper's award-winning fantasy series, The Seeker comes across less as a faithful adaptation of a beloved story than as a cash-in-quick product meant to appease small kids who can't abide the waits between Harry Potter or Narnia flicks. The story concerns itself with Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig), an American kid living in a quaint British burg with his large family. Young Will learns from Deadwood's Ian McShane and other village protectors that he's the only person who can enter the eternal fray between "the light" and "the dark" and protect the planet from being conquered by an evil entity known as The Rider (Christopher Eccleston). This designation allows Will to draw upon his heretofore unknown abilities to travel through time, telekinetically start fires, and make a mean martini (OK, just kidding on that last one). About the best one can say regarding The Seeker is that at least it's preferable to last year's Eragon, another Fox fantasy yarn with variable special effects, a vapid youth for a lead, and a tendency to plagiarize at will. But when the movie's not excruciatingly dull, it's downright cheesy, thanks to the sort of stylistic flourishes (slo-mo action, deliberately shaky camerawork, frame-filling close-ups of furrowed brows) that inspire giggles when the material doesn't warrant such pseudo-hipster treatment. The smallest children might indeed be wowed by The Seeker, but everyone else will be seeking the nearest exit. *1/2
2 DAYS IN PARIS Not to be confused with the Paris Hilton porn flick One Night in Paris (yes, let's not make that mistake), 2 Days in Paris is a romantic comedy in which both the romance and the comedy are of the sour-pucker variety. The romance is diluted by the sort of emotional outbursts, petty tirades and jealous rages that often define real-life relationships: As we watch 30-something lovers Marion (Julie Delpy) and Jack (Adam Goldberg) spend a couple of testy days in the title city, we wonder if they'll make it through the picture together, let alone remain a couple for the rest of their lives. As for the humor, it's smart and tart, not only springing from the lovers' innate insecurities but also from the xenophobic attitudes that seem to run rampant in every city in the world. Delpy, who's been appearing in movies since she was a child (she's 37 now), exhibits great multitasking capabilities by serving as star, director, scripter, co-producer, editor, score composer and co-writer of the end credit tune. A vanity project? Hardly; more like the work of an accomplished filmmaker who knew exactly what type of movie she wanted to make. Besides, her generosity toward her co-stars is apparent throughout the film: Goldberg is allowed to match her quip for quip, while her real-life parents, Albert Delpy and Marie Pillet, steal scenes as her character's folks. A bit less starry-eyed than Richard Linklater's European twofer, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset (both starring Delpy opposite Ethan Hawke), 2 Days in Paris nevertheless displays a generosity of spirit, even if it's tempered with a pinch of melancholy. A problematic relationship is indeed sad, the film seems to say, but luckily, there will always be enough love to go around in this crazy world of ours. ***1/2
OPENS FRIDAY, OCTOBER 19:
THE ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES BY THE COWARD ROBERT FORD: Brad Pitt, Casey Affleck.
THE COMEBACKS: David Koechner, Carl Weathers.
GONE BABY GONE: Casey Affleck, Ed Harris.
INTO THE WILD: Emile Hirsch, Catherine Keener.
IRA AND ABBY: Chris Messina, Jennifer Westfeldt.
LUST, CAUTION: Tony Leung Chiu Wai, Tang Wei.
MANUFACTURED LANDSCAPES: Documentary.
THE NIGHTMARE BEFORE CHRISTMAS 3-D: Animated; voices of Danny Elfman, Chris Sarandon.
RENDITION: Jake Gyllenhaal, Reese Witherspoon.
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS: Animated; voices of Christian Slater, Elliott Gould.
THINGS WE LOST IN THE FIRE: Halle Berry, Benicio Del Toro.
30 DAYS OF NIGHT: Josh Hartnett, Melissa George.
