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SPY GAME Tony Scott has spent so much of his career directing mindless junk (Days of Thunder, Last Boy Scout, The Fan) that it's something of a shock to the system whenever he tackles anything with even half a brain. If you enjoyed the helmer's sleek but smart efforts Crimson Tide and Enemy of the State, then this one's a good bet as well, mixing hard-hitting thrills with a decidedly less than benevolent look at US government agencies (given the post-September 11 climate, it's a wonder this wasn't delayed until 2002). Robert Redford, who could barely keep himself or audiences awake with The Last Castle, here makes the most of his best role in years; he's cast as veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir, who, on the day of his retirement, learns that his former protegee Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been arrested in China on a charge of espionage and will be executed in 24 hours. Muir's status has long been downsized as "old-school" by younger CIA hotshots more interested in cutting profitable deals than maintaining law and order, but once he learns that the agency has no intention of helping Bishop, he uses every crusty trick in the book to thwart his employers and save Bishop's neck. Spy Game spends much of its time jetsetting around the world in flashback sequences that establish the Muir-Bishop relationship; these are essential to the story's arc, yet they don't compare to the less frantic (yet even more compelling) scenes in which Muir mentally outmaneuvers his shady CIA cohorts at every turn.
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DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE Yet another dum-dum thriller. John Travolta is appealing as a divorced dad who believes his son (Matt O'Leary) when the latter tells him he witnessed his new stepdad (Vince Vaughn) murder another man, and Steve Buscemi steals the film in his brief scenes as the victim. But Vaughn's character is clearly up to no good, Teri Polo's mom is too slow on the uptake to earn much sympathy, and the climax is simply ludicrous. 1/2
K-PAX Offensively sanctimonious, flagrantly derivative and just plain dull, this insufferable picture casts Kevin Spacey as Prot, a mental patient who claims to be from another planet. Spacey's performance is built on nothing but putrid platitudes and affected mannerisms -- frankly, I didn't think it was possible for him to ever be this bad -- while Jeff Bridges' cardboard role (as the doctor on the case) is far beneath his capabilities.
THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE Billy Bob Thornton stars as a taciturn barber who discovers that his wife (Frances McDormand) is having an affair; he resorts to blackmail, a scheme that ends up leading to murder instead. Joel and Ethan Coen, no stranger to genre sendups, have turned to the smoke-choked world of film noir, and the result is an infuriating misfire, a mixed bag that contains a number of wonderful moments that never quite coalesce. 1/2
MULHOLLAND DRIVE Audacious, infuriating, and the sort of divisive movie we've come to expect from one of America's most idiosyncratic filmmakers, David Lynch's latest piece of delirium works both as an exercise in bravura moviemaking and as a commentary on the very nature of cinema itself. As the perky blonde heroine, Naomi Watts delivers an unexpectedly complex performance that ranks with the year's best.
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