Friday, November 01, 2002
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Movie Log

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.

Motion Picture Association of America ratings:

G - General audiences, all ages.

PG - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 - Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.

R - Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.

NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted.

NR - Not rated.

ABANDON

(D) A college student (Katie Holmes) haunted by the memory of her boyfriend (Charlie Hunnam), who's been missing for two years, finds her life becoming even more complicated when a detective with issues of his own (Benjamin Bratt) investigates her lost love's disappearance. (99 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, violence, profanity, drug use.

THE BANGER SISTERS

(B-) Once upon a time, Suzette (Goldie Hawn) and Vinnie (Susan Sarandon) ruled the groupie realm as belles of the rock `n' roll ball. Two decades later, Suzette's still the same wild child -- albeit with a few more tattoos and inches on her bustline -- but Vinnie's now Lavinia, a prim suburban matron whose world is about to get rocked when Suzette comes charging back from the past. (94 min.) R; profanity, sexual situations, drug use. (C.C.)

BARBERSHOP

(B-) An old-fashioned barber shop on Chicago's gritty South Side provides the backdrop for a collection of colorful characters, from the embattled proprietor (Ice Cube) to the senior stylist (Cedric the Entertainer) in a genial ensemble romp that ranges from raucous slapstick and predictable booty humor to warm home truths. "Barbershop" and its denizens -- played winningly by, among others, rapper Eve, Sean Patrick Thomas, Troy Garity and Anthony Anderson -- may be familiar, but in this case, familiarity breeds contentment, not contempt. (102 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references, brief drug references. (C.C.)

BELOW

(B) Creepy doings aboard a World War II submarine as a U.S. crew, prowling for German U-boats, faces greater terror when supernatural events begin to plague the boat. There is a double arsenal of filmmaking intelligence behind "Below," which was co-scripted by Darren Aronofsky and directed by David Twohy. In "Below," the ride proves far more fun than the arrival, but isn't that always the case? Bruce Greenwood, Matt Davis and Olivia Williams lead the cast. (104 min.) R; profanity, violence.

BROWN SUGAR

(B) Two lifelong friends who've forged successful hip-hop music careers -- a producer (Taye Diggs) and a critic (Sanaa Lathan) -- make sacks of money, live in great apartments and eventually find wildly successful significant others: a beautiful lawyer and a basketball star, respectively. But something seems missing in both their lives: Could it be each other? Need you ask? (108 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, profanity.

FORMULA 51

(F) Samuel L. Jackson returns to action as Elmo McElroy, an American entrepreneur who's planning one last deal -- introducing a new designer drug to the European underworld -- until his plan for a quick score goes comically awry, ensnaring him in a web of double-dealing and double crosses. (92 min.) R; violence, profanity, sexual situations, drug use.

THE FOUR FEATHERS

(C) They just don't make 'em like that anymore -- which proves to be both good and bad news in the seventh screen adaptation of A.E.W. Mason's swashbuckling 1901 novel about a Victorian-era British army officer (Heath Ledger) who resigns his commission when his regiment ships out to North Africa, then stages a one-man mission to save his comrades after he's branded a coward -- under the protection of a mysterious guardian angel (Djimon Hounsou), who materializes at pivotal moments, dispensing wisdom and performing life-saving miracles with otherworldly aplomb. (127 min.) PG-13; intense battle sequences, disturbing images, violence, sexual references. (C.C.)

GHOST SHIP

(C-) A tugboat's salvage crew (led by Gabriel Byrne, Julianna Margulies, Isaiah Washington and Ron Eldard) discovers a vanished luxury liner -- and the deadly spirits aboard -- in this waterlogged gorefest that's "Alien" meets "The Perfect Storm" meets "Poltergeist" meets ... Oh, skip it. And we mean that literally. (88 min.) R; strong violence and gore, profanity, sexual situations.

IGBY GOES DOWN

(B+) Forever at war with the stifling world of money, privilege and power he's known all his life, rebellious 17-year-old Igby Slocumb (Kieran Culkin) goes AWOL from his Midwestern military academy, returning to New York to resume his search for truth, beauty and a better way. "Catcher in the Rye's" Holden Caulfield -- or at least his spirit -- is alive and well in this edgy comedy from debuting writer-director Burr Steers, who demonstrates a gimlet-eyed grasp of life among the rich and infamous, sketching a devastating portrait of have-it-alls who, as Igby knows all too well, have nothing at all. Susan Sarandon, Bill Pullman, Ryan Phillippe, Jeff Goldblum and Claire Danes lead the sterling supporting cast. (97 min.) R; nudity, sexual situations, profanity, drug use, brief violence. (C.C.)

JACKASS: THE MOVIE

(D) Ordinary people perform extraordinarily perilous, extraordinarily brainless pranks in this cinematic spinoff of the MTV show. For a little more than 80 minutes, host and head provocateur Johnny Knoxville and his anything-for-a-laugh gang throw themselves into a series of defiantly stupid, wantonly injurious and calculatedly gross stunts. At times, the movie is irrepressibly funny; at others, it achieves a kind of surreal silliness. But mostly, "Jackass" is oppressively juvenile -- made by jackasses, for jackasses. (85 min.) R; dangerous, sometimes extremely crude stunts, profanity, nudity.

JONAH: A VEGGIE TALES MOVIE

(C) The computer-animated kidvid series, which features loosely retold Bible stories with such garden-variety vegetable characters as Larry the Cucumber, Pa Grape and Bob the Tomato, hits the big screen as the Veggies encounter "The Pirates Who Don't Do Anything," the laziest scalawags to never sail the Seven Seas, who share a whale of a tale about a long-ago guy named Jonah, alias Archibald Asparagus. (83 min.) Rated G.

JUST A KISS

(D) To cheat or not to cheat? That is the question for two couples (Ron Eldard and Kyra Sedgwick, Patrick Breen and Marley Shelton) tempted by infidelity in an alleged romantic comedy -- about a bunch of well-off, annoying New Yorkers with relationship issues -- that marks actor Fisher Stevens' inauspicious directorial debut. (89 min.) R; strong sexual images, profanity.

KNOCKAROUND GUYS

(C) When a Brooklyn mob boss' son (Barry Pepper) overseeing a $500,000 cash delivery botches the job, he and his second-generation gangster pals (Vin Diesel, Seth Green, Andrew Divoli) set out to undo the damage by recovering the bag of money misplaced in a Montana town overseen by a corrupt lawman (Tom Noonan). Dennis Hopper and John Malkovich co-star as East Coast crime bosses in this by-the-numbers gangster melodrama that plays like a drive-by. (92 min.) R; violence, profanity, drug use.

MEN IN BLACK II

(C-) When a sinister Kylothian monster masquerading as a lingerie model (Lara Flynn Boyle) threatens Earth's future, the desperate Jay (Will Smith) tries to convince his former partner Kay (Tommy Lee Jones), now a mild-mannered postal worker, to return to alien-fighting in this five-years-later sequel that also reunites co-star Rip Torn, director Barry Sonnenfeld and make-up supervisor Rick Baker, who creates a new round of interplanetary scum. (88 min.) PG-13; sci-fi action violence, provocative humor.

MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING

(C+) When glum, withdrawn Toula (Nia Vardalos), the unmarried daughter of Greek immigrant parents (Michael Constantine, Lainie Kazan), falls for Ian (John Corbett), a decidedly non-Greek teacher, multi-ethnic complications ensue in a romantic comedy, based on Vardalos' one-woman stage show, that's been transfigured into a mushy, overcooked ethnic comedy with culture-clash jokes whose freshness date expired 30 years ago. (95 min.) PG; sexual references, profanity. (C.C.)

MYSTERIES OF EGYPT

(B+) This National Geographic tour features Egypt's greatest star, Omar Sharif, recounting his homeland's legends for the benefit of his on-screen granddaughter (Kate Maberly). As he shares the myths and magic of the chambers of the sacred tomb of King Tutankhamen, his words open up like a huge picture book -- and we're invited to look over his shoulder as he escorts her through magnificent Egypt, sharing intimate views of its treasures. (45 min.) NR; all ages.

OCEAN MEN: EXTREME DIVE

(B+) This giant-screen documentary explores free diving, following champions Umberto Pelizzari and Pipin Ferreras as they descend hundreds of feet below the surface and return -- on just one breath of air. The film puts giant-screen imagery to the best sort of use as it transports, immerses and engages the audience. "Ocean Men" boasts moments where your lungs ache along with the divers', where you can almost feel the pressure from five stories of ocean water and when you feel the gasping relief that comes in breaking the surface after eight minutes on a single breath. (40 min.) NR.

PAID IN FULL

(C) A shy kid in 1980s Harlem (Wood Harris) trades a dry-cleaning delivery for a drug-dealing career in this street drama that rounds up most of the gangsta-flick clichés, but does have some original touches. Directed by Charles Stone III, who made those Budweiser "whassup?" commercials, "Paid in Full" has few surprises in terms of story. (93 min.) R; violence, pervasive profanity, some strong sexual situations, drug content.

PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE

(C+) Writer-director P.T. Anderson shared best director honors at the Cannes Film Festival for this stubbornly eccentric romantic comedy with Adam Sandler as a lonely goofball and Emily Watson as his unexpected dream girl. During their idiosyncratic courtship, "Punch-Drunk Love" takes off, combining slapstick staging, kitschy Technicolor visuals and dancing camera moves that confirm Anderson's undeniable talents. If only he'd learn to harness them. Instead, he'd rather throw wild and wacky turns at you, often devoid of motivation, and hope you go along for the ride. Plenty of people will. (95 min.) R; profanity, violence, mild sexual references. (C.C.)

RED DRAGON

(B-) Psychologically scarred FBI investigator Will Graham (Edward Norton) turns to his imprisoned nemesis, Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to help him track down another crazed serial slayer, dubbed "The Tooth Fairy" (Ralph Fiennes). Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Mary-Louise Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman co-star for director Brett Ratner, who delivers limited tension but lots of laughs -- in short, just what you want from a psychological thriller. (122 min.) R; violence, grisly images, profanity, nudity, sexual situations.

THE RING

(C) A newspaper reporter (Naomi Watts) tracks down an urban legend about a killer video and discovers there's more to the story when she watches the tape and realizes she has one week to solve its mystery before she meets with the same fate as four teens who've already watched it -- and died. Director Gore Verbinski hobbles potentially terrifying material in an English-language remake of a top Japanese box-office hit that's stuffed with more eerie elements than it knows what to do with. (115 min.) PG-13; mature themes, disturbing images, profanity, drug references.

SPIDER-MAN

(B) Still swinging 40 years after his Marvel Comics debut, Spidey spins onto the big screen as geeky student Peter Parker (Tobey Maguire) gets bitten by an irradiated arachnid, transforming him from high school science nerd to friendly neighborhood superhero. Willem Dafoe also scores as Spidey's nemesis, the Green Goblin, while Kirsten Dunst is reduced to eye candy as Spidey's longtime secret crush, Mary Jane Watson. (120 min.) PG-13; stylized action violence. (C.C.)

SPY KIDS 2: THE ISLAND OF LOST DREAMS

(B+) The whole family gets into the act(ion) as Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara), their superspy parents (Antonio Banderas, Carla Gugino) and their espionage- veteran grandparents (Ricardo Montalban, Holland Taylor) take on a scientist (Steve Buscemi), his imaginative interspecies creatures (including a spider/monkey and a pig with wings) and a pair of rival spy kids (Matthew O'Leary, Emily Osment). (105 min.) PG; action sequences, brief rude humor and profanity. (C.C.)

SWEET HOME ALABAMA

(C) Rising young fashion designer Melanie Carmichael (Reese Witherspoon) seems to have it all -- a booming career and a fiancé who happens to be New York City's most eligible bachelor (Patrick Dempsey), the JFK Jr.-like son of the city's mayor (Candice Bergen). Instead, she has it all, plus a secret down-home Alabama past and a redneck husband (Josh Lucas) who refuses to divorce her. (102 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)

THE TRANSPORTER

(B-) Give him a pickup time, a drop-off location and the weight of the cargo, and ex-Special Forces operator Frank Martin (Jason Statham) will get it there not only on time, but with style. What sounds like a Federal Express promo is actually the premise of a new high-octane action thriller co-written and produced by Luc Besson, the director of "La Femme Nikita" and "The Fifth Element." (92 min.) PG-13; violence, sexual references.

THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE

(C) The soon-to-be-ex-wife (Thandie Newton) of a recently deceased international man of mystery becomes caught up in posthumous Paris intrigue. Director Jonathan Demme's game but misguided attempt to revamp the glossy 1964 Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn romp "Charade" boasts sprightly camerawork borrowed from the French New Wave, a hip Paris setting and a lively supporting cast led by Tim Robbins and Ted Levine. (104 min.) PG-13; violence, sexual references, nudity. (C.C.)

TUCK EVERLASTING

(C) Yearning to escape her domineering mother (Amy Irving), World War I-era teen Winnie Foster (Alexis Bledel) finds an unexpected escape in the nearby woods, where she discovers a reclusive family (led by William Hurt and Sissy Spacek) with an amazing secret. (90 min.) PG; violence, mature themes. (C.C.)

THE TUXEDO

(C) Clothes may make the man, but they don't necessarily make the movie. Exhibit A: "The Tuxedo," an amiable but labored espionage romp in which New York cabbie Jimmy Tong (Jackie Chan) gets a new job chauffeuring man-about-town Clark Devlin (Jason Isaacs). That is, until an explosion incapacitates his boss, leading Jimmy to discover his No. 1 passenger is really a secret agent with a killer uniform: a specially-equipped tux that transforms him into an instant spy. (99 min.) PG-13; action violence, sexual situations, profanity. (C.C.)

WAKING UP IN RENO

(D) Forget Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice -- meet Roy (Patrick Swayze) and Candy (Charlize Theron) and Lonnie Earl (Billy Bob Thornton) and Darlene (Natasha Richardson), two couples who hit some sexual detours when they embark on a vacation in a new SUV. (90 min.) R; profanity, sexual situations.

WHITE OLEANDER

(B) When a willful, charismatic artist (Michelle Pfeiffer) is convicted of murder, her teenage daughter (Alison Lohman) begins a harrowing journey through the foster care system. Based on Janet Fitch's best-seller, "White Oleander" offers a potent and frequently moving account of one teen's obstacle-strewn path to maturity and freedom, showcasing a host of memorable performances, including Pfeiffer, Robin Wright Penn, Renée Zellweger and Lohman. (110 min.) PG-13; mature themes, drug use, profanity, sexual situations, violence. (C.C.)

XXX

(C) He's fast, he's furious, he's a dude with a 'tude -- he's Vin Diesel, continuing his ascent into the action stratosphere. This time, the high-octane hero is Xander "X" Cage, an extreme sports renegade recruited by spymaster Samuel L. Jackson for a death-defying covert mission in Prague. (113 min.) PG-13; violence, non-stop action sequences, sexual references, drug use, profanity. (C.C.)