Friday, January 03, 2003 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Movies

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) or R-J entertainment columnist Mike Weatherford (M.W.) 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.

ANALYZE THAT

(D) Long-suffering psychotherapist Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) suffers even more when his most maddening ex-patient, mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), comes back into his life -- when the feds release Vitti from prison and into Sobel's custody. It's a sequel, all right -- second-rate, predicated on laziness, avarice and lack of imagination. (95 min.) R; profanity, sexual situations.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN

(B+) Portrait of the con artist as a young man: The true-life adventures of teenager Frank Abagnale Jr. (a fast-and-loose Leonardo DiCaprio, in a marked contrast to his brooding "Gangs of New York" role), who worked as a doctor, a lawyer and a co-pilot for a major airline, forged checks for millions of dollars and wound up on the FBI's most-wanted list -- all before his 21st birthday. Under Steven Spielberg's assured direction, this '60s-era caper -- with standout support from Tom Hanks (as Abagnale's dogged FBI pursuer) and Christopher Walken (as Abagnale's beloved, financially beleaguered father) -- makes for a breezy, colorful take on Abagnale's dubious exploits, a grown-up fantasy that revels in deft deception and proves that people truly do see what they want to see. (140 min.) PG-13; sexual situations, profanity. (C.C.)

DIE ANOTHER DAY

(B-) Brosnan, Pierce Brosnan, returns to Bondage for the fourth time as Agent 007 chases a debonair diamond mogul ("Possession's" gleefully megalomaniacal Toby Stephens) plotting a high-tech device that could change the world for better -- or worse. Along the way, Bond enjoys close encounters with, among others, the intriguing Jinx (a saucy Halle Berry), who's as adept undercover as she is under the covers. "Die Another Day," Bond's 20th big-screen assignment, breathes new life into the franchise's sometimes moribund formula of guns, gadgets, goons and girls, adding a glimmer of actual dramatic conflict that's almost enough to you sit up and take notice -- in between all that stuff blowing up real good. (129 min.) PG-13; action violence, sexual situations. (C.C.)

DRUMLINE

(B-) A Harlem hip-hop drummer (Nickelodeon's Nick Cannon) joins an ultra-competitive Southern university marching band -- and clashes with the old-fashioned band director (Orlando Jones) and a senior rival ("He Got Game's" Leonard Roberts) during crucial training for the $100,000 Big Southern Classic competition. Sure, we've seen it all before, but "Drumline" serves it up with definite style and attitude. (118 min.) PG-13; sexual references, profanity. (C.C.)

8 MILE

(B+) Controversial rapper Eminem confirms his charisma -- and proves he can act -- in a drama, inspired by his own hardscrabble upbringing, that focuses on a white kid from a poor Detroit neighborhood who immerses himself in rap to escape his alcoholic mother (Kim Basinger) and a dead-end factory job. (118 min.) R; language, sexual situations, violence, drug use. (C.C.)

EMPIRE

(C-) This been-there-seen-that gangster chronicle tries to put a new ethnic spin on the same old genre clichés by focusing on an ambitious Latino gangster (a persuasive John Leguizamo, in his first dramatic leading role) who dreams of trading life and death on the mean streets for Wall Street success. "Empire" may have a Puerto Rican accent and a gritty South Bronx setting, but in essence it follows the hallowed Hollywood playbook in which hungry, ambitious immigrants -- Irish, Italian, Jewish -- go from neighborhood have-nots to cruelly efficient criminal kingpins. (100 min.) R; strong violence and profanity, drug content, sexual references, nudity. (C.C.)

EVELYN

(B) As James Bond, Pierce Brosnan gets the action. This time, he gets to do some acting -- and returns to his Irish roots -- in this change-of-pace role as an unemployed Dublin painter who challenges the Catholic Church and Irish law when he's forced to send his three children to church-run orphanages following his wife's desertion. Julianna Margulies, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and Alan Bates (the latter in grand old ham mode) contribute solid support in this fact-based fable of soothing sentimentality. "Evelyn" generates about as much suspense as a quilting bee, but at least its heart is in the right place -- and, most of the time, so is director Bruce Beresford's camera. (94 min.) PG; mature themes, profanity. (C.C.)

FAR FROM HEAVEN

(A) What lies beneath: In 1950s Connecticut, a devoted homemaker (Julianne Moore, in a stunningly moving performance that should be an Oscar front-runner) finds her well-ordered life collapsing when unexpected forces threaten her seemingly perfect marriage to a successful sales executive (Dennis Quaid, expertly revealing the torment beneath the surface charm), prompting her to turn to the family's gardener (quietly forceful Dennis Haysbert) for solace and friendship. Writer-director Todd Haynes, who also directed Moore to an extraordinary performance in "Safe,"salutes -- and inverts -- classic Hollywood weepies, particularly the '50s work of director Douglas Sirk ("All That Heaven Allows"), with an audacious and emotionally wrenching melodrama that puts a contemporary spin on the Eisenhower-era setting -- and offers a timeless portrait of people trying to find a way to live when they're dying inside. (107 min.) PG-13; mature themes, sexual situations, brief violence, profanity. (C.C.)

FRIDA

(B-) Julie Taymor, director of Broadway's "The Lion King," gives visual brilliance to a biography of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Some audacious sequences take flight, but more often the episodic tale lapses into a soapy study of the tempestuous Kahlo (Salma Hayek) and husband Diego Rivera (Alfred Molina, in an Oscar-caliber performance) as they dance a tango of mutual torment and desire. (127 min.) R; sexual situations, nudity, profanity, brief violence. (C.C.)

FRIDAY AFTER NEXT

(C-) Being the third chapter in the adventures of ghetto slackers Craig (Ice Cube) and Day-Day (Mike Epps), this time on an eventful Christmas Eve during which their neighborhood is terrorized by a burglar in a Santa suit. The usual addled, ribald mess, but at least it's a toke or two better than the last one. (82 min.) R; profanity, sexual situations, drug use.

GANGS OF NEW YORK

(A-) In Civil War-era New York, young Irish immigrant Amsterdam Vallon (a brooding Leonardo DiCaprio) infiltrates the inner circle of Nativist leader Bill "The Butcher" Cutting (the spellbinding Daniel Day-Lewis, returning to the screen after a five-year absence), intent on avenging his father's death at Bill the Butcher's hand. Director Martin Scorsese's epic account of New York's -- and, by extension -- America's -- furious growing pains chronicles the violent upheavals that set the young nation's melting pot boiling. More than a century later, the pot's still boiling, giving "Gangs of New York" a striking immediacy -- even as the movie transports us back to the past with such visceral power we can almost smell the fear and hatred in the air. (166 min.) R; intense strong violence, sexual situations, nudity, profanity and racial epithets. (C.C.)

HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS

(B) The second adaptation of J.K. Rowling's mega-hit book series picks up where the first one left off, with predictable results. The same cast and creative team take their sweet time (2 1/2 hours before the end credits) to lead the young wizard (Daniel Radcliffe) to the heart of a 50-year-old mystery: What is petrifying students at his beloved Hogwarts academy? (161 min.) PG; scary moments, creature violence, mild language. (M.W.)

THE HOT CHICK

(D+) Rob Schneider gets in touch with his feminine side, as a small-time crook whose slimy body magically becomes home for the soul of a terminally blond high-school cheerleader (Rachel McAdams), after which every cross-gender gag that can be contained by a PG-13 rating rolls across the screen like a mudslide. Call it tastelessness with a message -- a dubious combination, like, for sure. Still, Schneider pulls off the masquerade pretty well. (104 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor, profanity, drug references.

THE LION KING

(B+) The king of the animated jungle returns to the big screen (the really big screen) as the Oscar-winning 1994 original makes the leap to the Luxor's Imax theater. The images may be bigger, but the mane tale's the same: the quest of the young lion cub Simba, who just can't wait to be king -- until the sudden death of his father Mufasa and the treachery of his Uncle Scar force him into exile. This Imax version looks good, having undergone some subtle tinkering, and it sounds even better. (88 min.) G; all ages.

THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS

(B) The epic quest continues for the Fellowship of hobbits, humans, elves and dwarves battling to destroy the title ring and its evil powers -- and stand against the dark lord Sauron. Director Peter Jackson's second chapter of J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy trilogy divides the movie's focus, spotlighting the dashing warrior Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) and his swashbuckling efforts to defeat a Middle-earth axis of evil, while two sets of hobbits pursue their goals on the sidelines: Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin), accompanied by a slithery gremlin named Gollum (voiced by Andy Serkis), plus Pippin (Billy Boyd) and Merry (Dominic Monaghan), allied with a lumbering tree spirit. Jackson doesn't always succeed in integrating the foreground characters into the rich backgrounds he creates, and his cross-cutting among the movie's three plot strands often slows the narrative momentum to a crawl. But his command of fantastical imagery keeps "The Two Towers" on track, ably setting the stage for next year's finale. (179 min.) PG-13; epic battle sequences, scary images. (C.C.)

MAID IN MANHATTAN

(C) Mistaken for a swanky socialite, a chambermaid (Jennifer Lopez) at a posh Manhattan hotel catches the eye -- and wins the heart -- of a dashing Senate hopeful (Ralph Fiennes) who's a constant target of tabloid attention in a stale, by-the-numbers Cinderella tale with a decided air of deja vu. ("Pretty Woman" and "Working Girl" come to mind most often.) Director Wayne Wang ("The Joy Luck Club") concentrates on the movie's farcical and fairy-tale elements, but seldom do the twain meet. (103 min.) PG-13; profanity, sexual references. (C.C.)

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 of "Sex and the City" and "Northern Exposure"), a decidedly non-Greek teacher, multi-ethnic complications ensue. Vardalos' one-woman stage show has 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.)

OCEAN MEN: EXTREME DIVE

(B+) Now playing at the Luxor's Imax theater, 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. (40 min.) NR.

PINOCCHIO

(F) A few things you could turn a piece of wood into that would be more fun than the new "Pinocchio": a cribbage set, a dreidel, bookends, a tongue depressor. ... Utterly lacking in charm, wit and invention, Roberto Benigni's "Pinocchio," adapted from Carlo Collodi's original storybook classic, is astonishingly inept. If you've always wanted to see Benigni prance about in frilly pajamas, squealing in the voice of an American adolescent, this is your chance. (108 min.). G; all ages.

THE SANTA CLAUSE 2

(C+) After eight years in charge at the North Pole, divorced dad Scott Calvin (Tim Allen, reprising his role from the 1994 original) has settled into life as Santa Claus -- until a few problems come to light. A serviceably entertaining, if TV-hokey sequel, this is as home-entertainment ready as a shrink-wrapped sack of microwave popcorn. (98 min.) Rated G.

SPACE STATION

(B) Imax space movies venture into a new frontier -- three dimensions -- as the first Imax 3-D space movie lands at the Luxor's Imax Theatre. Blasting off from the Kennedy's Space Center and Russia's Baikonur Cosmodome, the movie takes audiences 220 miles above Earth -- at 17,500 mph -- to the International Space Station, where a whole bunch of astronauts look close enough to touch and audiences feel swept away by the romance of zero-gravity lifestyles and, as always, the sensation of floating in blackness and peering down at the Earth's reassuring blueness below. Tom Cruise narrates. (45 min.) NR; all ages.

STAR TREK: NEMESIS

(C) When you're a clone, you're never alone. The 10th installment in the "Star Trek" series finds Capt. Jean-Luc Picard facing off against a villain who seems very familiar during an unexpected peace mission to Romulus. That "Nemesis" involves cloning is a joke that will probably be lost on most of the faithful, but familiarity (with a formula) has clearly bred contempt. Not a bad premise, but the execution is lackluster at best; in other words, strictly for the true believer. (117 min.) PG-13; sci-fi action violence and peril, sexual situations.

TREASURE PLANET

(B) Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," gets an otherworldly spin in an animated adaptation that shifts the action to a fantasy universe where young Jim Hawkins (voiced by "Third Rock From the Sun's" Joseph Gordon-Levitt) becomes cabin boy on a space galleon where charismatic cyborg John Silver (Brian Murray) hatches piratical plans. Emma Thompson, David Hyde Pierce, Martin Short, Laurie Metcalf and Patrick McGoohan round out the stellar vocal cast in a lively adventure that boasts a fanciful premise, gorgeous "deep canvas" animation that seamlessly melds hand-drawn and digital animation -- and a swashbuckling spirit that's surprisingly close to its live-action cinematic predecessors. (90 min.) PG; adventure action and peril. (C.C.)

TWO WEEKS NOTICE

(C) It feels more like three three weeks, as an environmental activist attorney (Sandra Bullock) and her airheaded, real-estate tycoon boss (Hugh Grant) stumble and bumble down the road the romance in a been-there, seen-that comedy that displays more promise than polish. But give it points for attempted character development -- something that rarely happens in contemporary romantic comedies -- and the genuine charm generated by the down-to-earth Bullock and the deftly goofy Grant. They make such a delightful team you can't help wishing the movie they're sharing had more of their warmth and wit. (101 min.) PG-13; sex-related humor. (C.C.)

THE WILD THORNBERRYS MOVIE

(B) Another Nickelodeon cartoon family makes a successful leap from the small to the big screen in this smart, witty big-screen tale about a family of naturalists whose middle child, Eliza ("Party of Five's" Lacey Chabert), speaks fluent animal -- which comes in handy as they take on African poachers after a herd of elusive elephants. Both ecologically correct and terminally hip, this "Thornberrys" adventure also knows how to keep the thrills coming without teasing out the suspense. (88 min.) PG; adventure peril.