GHOSTS OF THE ABYSS Director James Cameron heads back to the subject that made him "king of the world" a few years ago, only this time he tackles the Titanic in a documentary format. Ghosts of the Abyss, created specifically for IMAX theaters and regular movie houses that can accommodate its 3-D presentation (locally, it's playing at the Regal), finds Cameron and crew (including actor Bill Paxton) employing all the state-of-the-art technology at their disposal to travel underwater and take us inside the legendary shipwreck. Cameron's adherence to rigid documentary dogma is about as reliable as Michael Moore's -- some exterior water shots were clearly staged (Cameron has admitted as much in interviews), while Paxton is obviously hamming it up for the camera -- and the 3-D effects, while better than those in, say, Jaws 3-D, still leave something to be desired (there are a surprising number of shadowy double images). But whenever Cameron leaves the technical tricks, awkward recreations and computer graphics behind and focuses solely on the magnificent remains of the Titanic, the movie is awe-inspiring. 
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CURRENT RELEASES
ALL THE REAL GIRLS Writer-director David Gordon Green, an NC School of the Arts grad, follows 2000's George Washington with another movie shot entirely in rural North Carolina. This sophomore effort is so laid back -- so in tune with the naturally sleepy rhythms of everyday existence -- that it feels unlike any love story I've seen in quite some time, with a simplicity and directness that truly touch the heart. Twenty-two-year-old Paul (Paul Schneider) has spent his entire life wooing women and then dumping them, but with virginal 18-year-old Noel (Zooey Deschanel), he feels a special connection, one that makes him want to do right by her. Yet it isn't Paul who takes a misstep, and soon the pair are working hard to salvage their tainted romance. Green has a strong love for -- and deep understanding of -- his small-town characters: When they say something that shows they're not exactly the brightest bulbs in the box, it's a way of acknowledging their limitations, not a way of getting a cheap laugh at the expense of ignorant Southern yahoos. I won't reveal how it all turns out, but I will say that Paul's statement after he's been damaged -- "If anybody smiles at me ever again, I'm gonna freak out" -- will bring a rueful smile to the lips of anyone who has ever loved and lost, even if only temporarily. 1/2
ANGER MANAGEMENT After delivering subtle, shaded performances in The Pledge and About Schmidt, Jack Nicholson reverts back to his familiar "wild and crazy guy" persona in Anger Management -- and that's not a bad thing. Nicholson gamely gets into the swing of the satire as Buddy Rydell, an unorthodox therapist whose methods threaten to completely unnerve his latest patient, a meek businessman (Adam Sandler) railroaded into subjecting himself to the good doctor's anger management program. It's doubtful we'll ever see Sandler tackling Hamlet or Willy Loman, but both last fall's Punch-Drunk Love and now Anger Management demonstrate that he can be an engaging presence when he drags himself away from projects aimed at mentally deficient frat boys. Even if some of the situations seem overly familiar (the Yankee Stadium climax) or needlessly protracted (ditto), the movie zips by on the strength of some big laughs, sharply cast supporting roles (notably John Turturro and an unbilled Heather Graham) and the two well-matched stars at its core.
BASIC The satisfaction derived from such "gotcha!" titles as Seven and The Usual Suspects is that these movies successfully take us for a perplexing ride before zapping us with a surprise ending that feels absolutely right. Conversely, many similar brain twisters have fallen flat from the start, by offering supposed plot turns that are obvious 10 minutes into the picture. Basic, the new thriller from director John McTiernan (career high: Die Hard; career low: last year's Rollerball remake), doesn't exactly reside in either camp. Not even Nostradamus could have predicted every twist in this convoluted thriller, yet in the end, we don't feel fulfilled as much as happy to get out of the auditorium alive. Initially, the intrigue is entertaining, as an ex-Army Ranger (John Travolta) in Panama is tapped to find out what went wrong on a military exercise that led to the death of a reviled sergeant (Samuel L. Jackson). Two witnesses -- one tight-lipped (Brian Van Holt), the other flamboyant (Giovanni Ribisi) -- offer differing versions of what went down, but any hope of a modern-day Rashomon is soon dashed as the movie gets bogged down in a haphazard series of twists, turns, backslides and pirouettes -- very few of which make sense after the whole story is revealed.
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