Friday, August 01, 2003
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.
BAD BOYS II
(C-) Bring in the noise! Bring in the funk! Bring more noise! This sequel to the 1995 hit reunites director Michael Bay with stars Martin Lawrence and Will Smith as odd-couple Miami cops out to bring down drug dealers -- and level the city in the process. The guys are as charismatically funny as they were before, but there's a wretched excess of gratuitous property damage. Somewhere deep beneath the layers of broken glass, twisted chrome, mutilated flesh and burnt gunpowder, there are faint signs of a cunning little crime comedy straining to breathe free. But with a battalion of writers bumping heads (including the usually sure-footed Ron Shelton and John Lee Hancock) and the reliably bombastic tandem of Bay and producer Jerry Bruckheimer riding herd, such an enterprise never had a chance for fresh air and vitamin-enriched soil. (147 min.) R; strong violence and action, profanity, sexual situations, drug use.
BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM
(B-) Bucking her traditional Indian family's wishes, a young woman (newcomer Parminder K. Nagra, who's a winner all the way) pursues her dreams of playing soccer, finding a friend on the field ("Pirates of the Caribbean's" Keira Knightley) and triggering an uproar at home in a feel-good, culture-clash comedy that scores points for its you-go-girl spirit -- and squanders them with a contrived, obvious script that transforms a movie about female empowerment into, sigh, a catfight over a guy. "Bend It" represents a step backward for "Bhaji on the Beach" director Gurinder Chadha, but its infectious spirit and undeniable charm still make it a kick -- just not as much of one as it could have been. (112 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)
BRUCE ALMIGHTY
(C) When a hapless TV news reporter (Jim Carrey) loses his job and rages against God, the Man Upstairs (Morgan Freeman) challenges him to accept a new assignment: assuming heavenly powers to see how much he likes the job. A shamefully underused Jennifer Aniston ("Friends"), stranded in the long-suffering girlfriend role, co-stars for director Tom Shadyac, who previously teamed with Carrey for "Ace Ventura: Pet Detective" and "Liar Liar." At least initially, "Bruce Almighty" showcases Carrey's trademark comedic spark -- until the movie turns into a very special episode of "Touched by an Angel," metamorphosing from wacky to preachy, shtick to schmaltz, with the speed of a lightning bolt from the blue. (105 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual situations, crude humor. (C.C.)
CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE
(D+) If you're hoping for a carbon-copy of their first campy caper, then abandon hope, all ye who enter here. Almost three years after their first mission, Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore and Lucy Liu reunite, taking on a fallen Angel (Demi Moore) in the process. They may be having a blast, but they -- and their returning director, McG -- can't seem to transfer that spirit of fun to those of us in the audience. As a result, this witless, incoherent, pedal-to-the-medal exercise in self-indulgence plays like a video game -- with a prepubescent boy, stricken by Twinkie syndrome, madly manning the joystick. (105 min.) PG-13; action violence, sexual references, profanity. (C.C.)
FINDING NEMO
(A-) The latest in Pixar Animation Studios' winning streak of computer-animated features follows a neurotic clown fish (voiced by Albert Brooks) who ventures out of his home coral reef -- and into the teeming waters beneath Australia's Great Barrier Reef -- to search for his missing son. Diving into a vast undersea world, "Nemo" touches on timeless themes as it provides a fanciful, fish-eye view of Technicolor wonders. From its stellar vocal cast (which also includes Ellen DeGeneres, Willem Dafoe, Geoffrey Rush and Allison Janney) to its stunning array of storybook looks, "Nemo" proves a whale of a tale that's well worth catching, even if fish isn't usually your dish. (104 min.) G; a few mild scares. (C.C.)
THE GATEKEEPER
(C+) A self-loathing, racist U.S. Border Patrol agent (played by writer-director John Carlos Frey) goes undercover to expose illegal Mexican immigrants and finds himself trapped among the people he despises, discovering their hopes and dreams -- along with his own heritage. This topical film festival favorite manages to transcend its low-budget limitations, thanks to Frey's filmmaking talents. (103 min.) R; profanity, violence, sexual situations, drug use.
GRAND CANYON: THE HIDDEN SECRETS
(B) Clearly, the Grand Canyon and the giant screen were made for each other, as this 1987 documentary -- now at the Luxor's Imax theater --ably demonstrates, exploring the lives of some of the people who have challenged its stark grandeur, while capturing the scenic splendors of the geological phenomenon, from wild white-water rapids to narrow side canyons etched over thousands of years. (36 min.) NR; all ages.
HAUNTED CASTLE
(B-) Now playing at the Luxor, this Imax 3-D attraction focuses on a fledgling rock star (Jasper Steverlinck) who inherits the creepy title structure from his rock legend mother (Kyoko Baertsoen) and discovers the power behind her successful musical career: the devil himself (voiced by "Spinal Tap" veteran Harry Shearer), who inhabits the title structure surrounded by oodles of smoke and mirrors, rattling suits of armor and shimmering holographic fiends. Part movie, part amusement park ride, "Haunted Castle" is more effective as the latter, pointing Imax attractions in a new and promising direction: innovative, visually imaginative and engaging storytelling. (40 min.) PG; torture and scares too intense for very young children.
HOW TO DEAL
(C+) A succession of angst-inducing events strike a disillusioned teen (Mandy Moore, returning to the screen from "A Walk to Remember"), but her friendship with an appealing slacker (Trent Ford) convinces her that love may not always be impossible. "West Wing" Emmy-winner Allison Janney and Peter Gallagher co-star as her dysfunctional parents in a coming-of-age tale based on Sarah Dessen's young-adult novels "Someone Like You" and "That Summer." The movie isn't all that good. But Moore is. In her fourth movie, Moore already shows signs of becoming heiress apparent to '80s teen queen Molly Ringwald. (101 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, drug use, profanity, mature themes.
THE HULK
(B+) "Hulk" smash! Fiendishly versatile director Ang Lee ("Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon") intertwines superhero and monster movie traditions to impressive effect as scientist Bruce Banner ("Black Hawk Down's" subtle, sensitive Eric Bana) finds himself transformed in the aftermath of a catastrophic experiment. Rounding out the starring cast: Nick Nolte (as Banner's quirkily demented scientist father), "A Beautiful Mind's" Jennifer Connelly (as Banner's research colleague), Sam Elliott (as her estranged father) and "Sweet Home Alabama's" Josh Lucas (as a scheming rival scientist). For all "The Hulk's" powie-zowie computerized effects, the movie's thoughtful exploration of man-as-monster themes provides definite food for thought, a rare -- and welcome -- quality in a summer movie spectacle. (138 min.) PG-13; sci-fi action violence, disturbing images, brief partial nudity. (C.C.)
INTO THE DEEP
(B) Back at the Luxor's Imax Theatre, this 3-D documentary explores the underwater world of giant kelp beds teeming with octopus, moray eels, pelagic jellyfish, bat rays, California sea lions, opalescent squid and red garibaldi. There's nothing innovative about the movie's look or approach, but it ably illustrates how marvelous nature's wonders can be when the right equipment is used to capture them in action -- and nothing looks better than when filmed in Imax. The 3-D effect gives you the feeling you're underwater, floating effortlessly through the giant kelp like a scuba diver. The freedom in this feeling is exhilarating. (35 min.) NR; all ages.
THE ITALIAN JOB
(C+) When a master thief's partner in crime double-crosses him following a gold bullion heist, a crack safecracker joins the team to help re-steal the gold in a remake of the 1969 Michael Caine thriller that turns out to be a star vehicle -- for an actual vehicle, the cute, spunky Mini Cooper, which could become the biggest Cooper in Hollywood since Gary. As for the movie, it's a slicker, faster-paced, high-tech upgrade that lifts the sprightly spirit and the main action set piece from the original while developing its own twists. But any movie that wastes Edward Norton while boring us with Mark Wahlberg has its priorities seriously skewed. (105 min.) PG-13; violence, profanity.
JOHNNY ENGLISH
(C-) Rubber-faced comedian Rowan Atkinson goes from Mr. Bean to Mr. Bond in a slapstick spy spoof featuring singer Natalie Imbruglia as an alluring undercover agent and John Malkovich as the requisite villain, a Machiavellian French business magnate plotting to overthrow the British monarchy. This feeble, fleetingly funny exercise began life as a series of British credit card commercials, where Atkinson probably proved uproarious as a hapless secret agent -- in 60-second doses. Too bad we can't say the same for the 100-minute overdose. (100 min.) PG; comic nudity, crude humor, profanity. (C.C.)
THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN
(C) An all-star team of Victorian-era literary figures, from "King Solomon's Mines" adventurer Allan Quatermain (Sean Connery) to Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde (Jason Flemyng), assembles thwart a masked madman plotting an arms race that could lead to world war. This handsome but frustratingly shallow comic-book adaptation strands its potentially intriguing personalities (including Captain Nemo, Dorian Gray and a grown-up Tom Sawyer) in a series of by-the-numbers action sequences that prove short on brain power and long on blasting powder. (112 min.) PG-13; intense sequences of fantasy violence, profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)
LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE & BLONDE
(C) After shaking up Harvard Law School in the 2001 original, pretty-in-pink Elle Woods (irrepressible Reese Witherspoon) goes to Washington as an animal-rights crusader in a sequel that boasts some very funny moments but, alas, is mostly an uninspired exercise in recycling. The jokes are limp, the ideas stale and the script is well past its freshness date; were it a platter of cruditŽs, Elle would fire the caterers. Instead, she must slog through it, like a river of instant onion dip. (95 min.) PG-13; sexual references.
THE MATRIX RELOADED
(C+) Four years after the first "Matrix" made moviegoers go "Whoa," ultracool freedom fighters Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) return to the subterranean outpost of Zion -- the last place on Earth where humans rule the roost -- and renew their battle against the Machine Army under the command of filmmaking brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski. The first of two "Matrix" sequels this year, "Reloaded" ups the ante for eye-popping special effects and rousing action sequences, but too often bogs down in a swamp of ponderous, pseudo-religious psychobabble. As a result, watching it often feels like being trapped in an extended video game -- one that goes on and on without ever really going anywhere. Except, of course, to the trilogy's conclusion, "Matrix Revolutions," which arrives in November. In addition to its multiplex run, a giant-screen version is playing at the Luxor's Imax theater. (138 min.) R; sci-fi violence, sexual situations and brief nudity. (C.C.)
MYSTERIES OF EGYPT
(B+) Appropriately showcased at the Luxor, this National Geographic tour recounts myths and magic of the chambers of the sacred tomb of King Tutankhamen, offering intimate views of Egypt's magnificent treasures. (45 min.) NR; all ages.
NOWHERE IN AFRICA
(B+) Caroline Link's compulsively watchable real-life saga of a thriving Jewish family that escapes Nazi Germany to a farm in Kenya captured a well-deserved Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. It's a ravishing page-turner of an adventure -- and a human-sized reminder that the 20th-century Jewish diaspora was shaped by as many different temperaments as destinations. Juliane Kšhler ("Aimee and Jaguar") stands out as the Scarlett O'Hara of Jewish mothers. In German with English subtitles. (140 min.) NR; mild sexual references.
OWNING MAHOWNY
(B+) A mild-mannered Canadian bank employee (Philip Seymour Hoffman, in eerily intense form) scams millions to finance his gambling addiction in a fact-based comedy-drama that made its local debut at this year's CineVegas film festival; Minnie Driver and John Hurt (a gleefully reptilian Atlantic City casino boss) co-star for director Richard Kwietniowski, who directed Hurt in an even more memorable portrait of obsession, 1997's "Love and Death on Long Island." This one doesn't have the wit -- or the soulful yearning -- of that offbeat triumph; we don't feel Mahowny's forbidden rush when he surrenders, yet again, to temptation. But, like a slow-motion train wreck, it's tough to look away. (107 min.) R; profanity, sexual situations. (C.C.)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
(B+) Shiver me timbers! The pirate movie rises from the dead, thanks to this joyously giddy cinematic romp inspired by -- but, mercifully, not limited to -- the Disney theme park favorite. Befitting the piratical instincts of his buccaneer character, Johnny Depp makes off with the entire movie, deploying killer comic timing and irresistible charm as the uproarious Capt. Jack Sparrow, who crosses swords with the scheming, scenery-chomping Capt. Barbossa (Geoffrey Rush) and his scurvy skeleton crew. Add a pair of plucky landlubbers -- a valiant blacksmith ("Lord of the Rings' " Orlando Bloom) and his feisty childhood love ("Bend It Like Beckham's" Keira Knightley) -- and you've got the summer's most deliciously delirious summer treat. (133 min.) PG-13; action/adventure violence. (C.C.)
SEABISCUIT
(B) The fact-based saga of the down-and-out horse that transforms the lives of three shattered men -- a businessman (Jeff Bridges), a trainer (Chris Cooper) and a jockey (Tobey Maguire) -- and captivates Depression-era America ranks as a great American story. But it doesn't quite get the storytelling it deserves. Before dashing across the finish line with a stand-up-and-cheer tale of victory over adversity, writer-director Gary Ross ("Pleasantville") demonstrates his heavy hand with obvious message-mongering that threatens to push "Seabiscuit" off the track. Fortunately, he's got three thoroughbreds -- Bridges, Cooper and Maguire -- to bring the movie home. And they do, in stirring style. (140 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, violent sports-related images. (C.C.)
SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS
(B-) Set sail for adventure with Brad Pitt, who voices the legendary vagabond sailor, caught up in a perilous quest to retrieve a mystical treasure that can counteract the wicked machinations of Eris, Goddess of Chaos (voiced with sultry glee by Michelle Pfeiffer). "Chicago" Oscar-winner Catherine Zeta-Jones (as Marina, a feisty lass who stows away aboard Sinbad's pirate ship), Joseph Fiennes (as Sinbad's princely boyhood pal, who's engaged to Marina) and Dennis Haysbert (as Sinbad's burly first mate) complete the starring vocal cast of a light-hearted animated romp that blends eye-popping action sequences with lively banter. Not exactly one for the ages, but definitely one for a diverting summer matinee with the kiddies. (86 min.) PG; adventure action, brief profanity, mildly risquŽ humor. (C.C.)
SPY KIDS 3-D: GAME OVER
(C+) In their third big-screen assignment, kid crime-fighters Carmen and Juni (Alexa Vega, Daryl Sabara) brave the virtual dangers of an interactive video game to track down a sinister toymaker (an amusing Sylvester Stallone) in a three-dimensional adventure once again written and directed by Robert Rodriguez. At least Rodriguez doesn't take the easy route and turn this "Spy Kids" into a clone of the first two. Instead -- and alas -- he switches gears, sacrificing the witty, wacky, warm and inventive elements of the first two with linear, video-game storytelling and techno-happy visual flash. The visuals may have gained a dimension -- but, unfortunately, the story has lost one. (85 min.) PG; action sequences and peril.
SWIMMING POOL
(B+) A British mystery writer (Charlotte Rampling) visiting the South of France finds her tidy life unsettled by the arrival of a wayward French teen (Ludivine Sagnier) who invades the author's country house while she's trying to write her next book. French director Franãois Ozon ("Under the Sand," "Eight Women") makes his English-language debut with this memorable psychological thriller, a slow-burning brainteaser where the erotic frisson is as palpable as the Provenãal sun. In English and French with English subtitles. (102 min.) R; sexual situations, nudity, profanity, violence, drug use.
TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES
(C) Deadpan on arrival: Unfinished future business brings a Terminator, who looks just like the last Terminator, back to the present, this time as the buffer between a relentless cyber-assassin/supermodel (Kristanna Loken) and mankind's savior-to-be (Nick Stahl, taking over from Edward Furlong). Does any of this sound familiar? It should. Like its star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, who at this point seems to be preserved in acrylic, "T3" is so petrified by its predecessors' conventions that it moves a little like the Terminator himself, with monstrous rigidity and stiff-legged deliberation. You just wish that, with a financial sure thing in their pockets, the filmmakers would have had a little more fun, a better script -- and maybe less of a compulsion to go through the motions, however comfortable they may make audiences feel. (109 min.) R; strong sci-fi violence and action, profanity, brief nudity.
TOMB RAIDER: THE CRADLE OF LIFE
(C) Intrepid adventurer Lara Croft, alias Angelina Jolie, globe-trots from Hong Kong to Kenya in search of ancient artifacts on yet another quest to save the world. "Speed's" Jan de Bont takes over the directorial reins in this sequel to the 2001 hit, which boasts (if that's the word) something resembling a coherent narrative thread, despite the nonsense about the "real Pandora's Box" sought by both our heroine and a bio-terrorist (Ciar‡n Hinds). The hokum may pile up like a stack of pancakes, but it's still fun to watch Jolie taking firm hold of this budding franchise and driving it like a Formula One racer. Still, after a while, you stop speculating how Croft will wriggle out of each fine mess and start checking your watch. (116 min.) PG-13; action violence, sexual references.
28 DAYS LATER
(C+) After a day at "The Beach," director Danny Boyle ("Trainspotting") returns to his down-and-dirty filmmaking roots with this chiller about a viral plague that devastates London, leaving a few zombie-like survivors to battle for their lives. "28 Days Later" itself is infected with a kind of cinematic virus that causes it to eat its own brain. The story, about a spontaneous plague that infects all but a handful of Brits, has great potential as a SARS and biomunitions-era social allegory. But Boyle shrugs off any intellectual pretense to rollick in a dead-on scare fest that's great fun -- but doesn't exactly stick with you. Now with an alternate ending, Boyle's original, that the director describes as "bloody scary." (108 min.) R; strong violence and gore, profanity, nudity.
2 FAST 2 FURIOUS
(C+) No Diesel (as in Vin Diesel) to fuel this follow-up to the high-octane 2001 hit, but that's no problem for this needless sequel, in which disgraced cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) and an ex-con pal (the charismatic Tyrese Gibson) go undercover on the mean streets of Miami to trap a flashy importer ("Tears of the Sun's" Cole Hauser) using his business as a cover for an international money-laundering cartel. The locale and the details might be different, but this is essentially the same movie, which means it's all about guys zooming around in flashy cars and ogling hot women in bikinis. This, of course, is what you pay to see. And director John Singleton takes unabashed glee in polishing every guilty-pleasure nugget to a blindingly high sheen. (94 min.) PG-13; street racing, violence, profanity, sexual references.
WHALE RIDER
(A-) Direct from its local debut at CineVegas comes director Niki Caro's compelling contemporary interpretation of a Maori legend, which captured audience awards at the Sundance and Toronto film festivals, about a headstrong 12-year-old New Zealander (endearing Keisha Castle-Hughes) who challenges her stern grandfather (Rawiri Paratene) -- and a thousand years of tradition -- to fulfill her destiny as a tribal leader. Despite its halfway-around-the-world origins, this tale offers universal truths (and pleasures) as it explores the pull of the past, the promise of the future, and the endless challenge of reconciling the two. "Whale Rider" is a crowd-pleaser, to be sure, but it never panders to achieve its emotional effects. Its waters may be calm, but they're never shallow. (105 min.) PG-13; brief profanity and drug references. (C.C.)
WINGED MIGRATION
(A-) From the Arctic to the Amazon, from the Eiffel Tower to Monument Valley, five camera crews -- including 17 pilots and 14 cinematographers -- fly above, below, in front of and alongside a variety of birds migrating through 40 countries and all seven continents in this breathtaking, Oscar-nominated documentary directed by French movie veteran Jacques Perrin, whose producing credits range from the Oscar-winning "Black and White in Color" to such documentaries as "Microcosmos" and "Himalaya." Whether one has a particular interest in birds would seem immaterial to the draw of "Winged Migration." What's far more attractive is the feeling we can fly. (89 min.) G; all ages.
