New Releases
EIGHT BELOW Parents taking their kids to catch this at a matinee showing should understandably be expecting a dog day afternoon; instead, those pesky creatures known as actors keep getting in the way of total enjoyment. Based on a Japanese film that was itself inspired by a true story, Eight Below relates the tale of a scientific expedition in Antarctica and what happens when punishing weather forces its members to leave their eight sled dogs behind. As the animals spend months coping with exhaustion, starvation and a particularly nasty leopard seal, expedition guide Jerry Shephard (Paul Walker) desperately tries to find a way to rescue them. The dogs are gorgeous and wonderfully expressive (no creepy Snow Dogs-style anthropomorphizing here), and as long as director Frank Marshall and debuting scripter Dave DiGilio focus on this part of the story, the movie succeeds in the grand tradition of past Disney live-action adventures. But the picture runs an unpardonable two hours (can little kids' bladders hold out that long?), and its length is felt in the countless scenes centering on Jerry: his romance with a pilot (Moon Bloodgood), his bantering with a co-worker (Jason Biggs, heavy on the shtick) and his pity parties as he agonizes over the potential loss of his dogs (watching Walker try to convey brooding introspection and angst is never a pretty sight). At 95 minutes, this would have been a winner; maybe the DVD will include a function that will allow viewers to edit out the humans and leave only the remarkable canines. Rating: **1/2
THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA / THE WHITE COUNTESS / THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN Call them the Oscar also-rans. Every December, a handful of long-shot hopefuls are released in New York and Los Angeles hoping to charge full-steam into the awards season; instead, they end up not even getting out of the gate. In 2004, The Assassination of Richard Nixon and The Woodsman were two such films; last year, these three were the low-profile indie efforts that qualified for the dubious designation of Academy no-shows. The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada can at least rest on its laurels from Cannes, where it won the Best Actor award for Tommy Lee Jones and the Best Screenplay honor for Guillermo Arriaga. In this Peckinpah wanna-be, Jones (who also directed and produced) plays a cowboy who seeks a peculiar form of retribution from the border patrolman (Barry Pepper) who killed his Mexican buddy (Julio Cedillo). The White Countess, meanwhile, marks the final collaboration between director James Ivory and producer Ismail Merchant before the latter's death this past May. A middling example of the sort of tony projects upon which they built their reputations, the film stars Ralph Fiennes as a blind American diplomat in 1930s Shanghai who forms a bond with a Russian countess (Natasha Richardson) reduced to working as a prostitute to feed her family (including members played by Richardson's mom Vanessa Redgrave and her aunt Lynn Redgrave). And The World's Fastest Indian is yet another uplifting movie inspired by a true incident -- in this case, the story of an old codger (Anthony Hopkins) who travels from New Zealand to Utah to try to break the motorcycle racing record for speed. All three movies have their strong points (most notably the caliber of the acting), yet without anything to set them apart during the year-end glut, it's easy to see why all three were passed over for gold statue consideration. All three films: Rating: **1/2
Current Releases
BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN The secret behind this adaptation of Annie Proulx's short story is that behind its convenient (and infuriating) designation as "the gay cowboy movie," this is as universal as any cinematic love story of recent times. Scripters Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana and director Ang Lee have managed to make a movie that vibrates on two separate settings: It's a story about the love between two men, yes, but it's also a meditation on the strict societal rules that keep any two people -- regardless of gender, race, class, religion, etc. -- out of each other's arms. In detailing the relationship between Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), Brokeback Mountain is about longing and loneliness as much as it's about love -- indeed, loss and regret become tangible presences in the film. Gyllenhaal delivers a nicely modulated performance, but this is clearly Ledger's show: He's phenomenal as Ennis, and his character's anguish causes our own hearts to break on his behalf. Rating: ***1/2
FIREWALL If ever there existed a compelling argument as to why Steven Spielberg and Harrison Ford should not proceed with their long-marinating plan to make a fourth Indiana Jones movie, here it is in the form of Firewall. At 63, Ford is looking his age; by the time the Indy flick rolls, he'll be more at ease cracking arthritic joints than cracking that whip. Here, his upstanding character is a computer wiz who must save his wife (Virginia Madsen) and kids from a Eurotrash bandit (Paul Bettany) blackmailing him into ripping off the bank at which he works. Joe Forte's screenplay grows exceedingly ludicrous, and a wasted Madsen doesn't even warrant an Anne Archer moment to call her own. As for Ford, the twinkle of mischievousness and sprinkle of levity that he brought to his most memorable films are missing here, replaced by a cranky fatigue that's difficult to watch and impossible to enjoy. Indiana Jones 4 is a terrible idea, but might we suggest a remake of On Golden Pond as an alternate? Rating: **
FREEDOMLAND Two hard-hitting performances combine with palpable racial tensions in Freedomland, an adaptation of Richard Price's novel that itself owes a debt to the real-life Susan Smith incident. Samuel L. Jackson stars as a detective assigned to question a woman (Julianne Moore) who claims a black man stole her car while her son was sleeping in the back seat. Moore's performance is hard to take in its intensity, yet it's true to the character and her circumstances -- rarely has a film allowed so raw a demonstration of parental bereavement. Yet it's Jackson who holds our attention throughout, making an indelible impression as a lawman whose loyalties are questioned by both his friends in the projects and his acquaintances on the force. Price's bustling script and the actors provide enough drama to overcome the terrible direction by Joe Roth (Christmas With the Kranks), whose kamikaze style (swerving cameras, rapid edits, booming soundtrack) displays an inexplicable lack of confidence in his material. Rating: ***
THE MATADOR If someone were to greet James Bond by stating, "You look good," the answer would doubtless be something on the order of "Why, thank you" or "That's true." But here, the reply is bitter and blunt: "I look like a Bangkok hooker on a Sunday morning after the Navy's left town." OK, so it's not actually Agent 007 who utters this sharp retort, but coming from Pierce Brosnan, cast as another character who's been given a "licence to kill," it's the next best thing. Brosnan stars as Julian Noble, a career assassin whose life exists on a never-ending loop of getting drunk, getting laid and getting his target. Burning out at a rapid clip, he opens up to a businessman (Greg Kinnear) he meets in a bar in Mexico City, thereby jumpstarting an unusual relationship. Brosnan is performing his own high-wire act here, daring us not to like his sleazy, vulgar, insensitive, immoral character. As a human being, Julian's not much, but as a movie character, he's a keeper. Rating: ***
MRS. HENDERSON PRESENTS When did one of cinema's most accomplished actresses turn into one of its most boring? Except for her atypical (and smashing) performance in Iris, Judi Dench has been delivering the exact same performance dating back to 1997 -- that of the frosty, tart-tongued Englishwoman who's clearly smarter than everyone else in the room. She's at it again in this predictable piffle about a wealthy widow who finances vaudeville revues staged with naked young women. The shows prove to be a raging success, but then World War II comes along to rain on everyone's parade. Daffy humor makes way for maudlin drama (complete with requisite wartime speeches), but except for the sight of co-star Bob Hoskins in his own one-man rendition of The Full Monty, there's nothing here to indicate that director Stephen Frears (Dirty Pretty Things) is doing anything but coasting. The blue-hairs will dig it, though. Rating: **
NANNY MCPHEE Reminiscent of the black comedies routinely made by Danny De Vito (most notably his delightful Matilda), Nanny McPhee finds director Kirk Jones and scripter-star Emma Thompson (adapting Christianna Brand's "Nurse Matilda" books) similarly employing menacing situations, questionable comic material and oversized, often grotesque characters in an unorthodox attempt to arrive at a sentimental conclusion. Thompson, delivering a sharp performance under pounds of facial latex, plays the title character, a snaggletooth, wart-sprouting nursemaid who mysteriously shows up to help a widower (Colin Firth) contend with his seven monstrous children. Most of the screen time is spent on the kids, which is a shame, since Thompson's character is by far the most interesting one on view. Nanny McPhee should play well with the small fry, though adults may be more bothered by the clumsy shifts in tone. Rating: **1/2
THE PINK PANTHER Despite his own comic credentials, Steve Martin is playing a dead man's hand here. Peter Sellers' particular brand of comic genius was evident in his recurring portrayal of bumbling Inspector Clouseau, and try as he might, Martin is never able to make the role his own. Were the movie surrounding him a top-flight comedy, it might be easier to let him slide, but this picture is as clumsy as its leading figure, an uncomfortable attempt to tap into the essence of the classic Panther films while updating it for modern audiences who might not know Inspector Clouseau from Inspector Javert. There are a few bright moments, but for the most part, the gags aren't particularly fresh, mildly amusing bits are repeated until they lose every ounce of appeal, and Martin unwisely softens the character's hard edges. Rating: *1/2
SOMETHING NEW From Silver Streak to Bringing Down the House, there have been numerous movies in which an uptight Caucasian is taught how to loosen up by an African-American acquaintance. Something New reverses that formula, but beyond this little-seen novelty, there's not much about this romantic comedy that transcends the story's expected ebb and flow. Here, the rigid individual is Kenya McQueen (Sanaa Lathan), a workaholic who doesn't have time to look for her IBM (ideal black male). When she finally does make time to go on a blind date, she's stunned that the guy, a landscape architect (Simon Baker), is white. Something New is a diamond in the rough, blessed with a vibrant leading lady and choice moments dealing with racial tensions but marred by occasional clunky dialogue and perfunctory supporting characters. This delivers more often than not, but for an exemplary love story starring Sanaa Lathan, rent Love and Basketball. Rating: **1/2
OPENS FRIDAY, FEBbruary 24:
DOOGAL: Animated; voices of Jon Stewart, Whoopi Goldberg.
RUNNING SCARED: Paul Walker, Chazz Palminteri.
THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA: Tommy Lee Jones, Barry Pepper.
TYLER PERRY'S MADEA'S FAMILY REUNION: Tyler Perry, Blair Underwood.
THE WHITE COUNTESS: Ralph Fiennes, Natasha Richardson.
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