Love And War 

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A sprawling, messy yet occasionally affecting adaptation of Charles Baxter's novel, Feast of Love finds Oscar-winning director Robert Benton (whose last film was the grossly underrated The Human Stain) orchestrating a series of intertwined storylines that all push force the notion that the true meaning of life can be found in the arms of a loved one. Morgan Freeman once again plays his stock role, a gentle soul who's smarter than everyone else around him; here, that translates into the character of a happily married and semiretired professor who notices that love -- and, in some cases, lust, deception and betrayal -- is all around him. In what could probably be construed as first among equals in terms of the competing storylines, he befriends a coffee shop owner whose wife (Selma Blair) leaves him for another woman and who then becomes involved with a realtor (Radha Mitchell) who can't seem to break off her affair with a married man (Billy Burke).

The Mitchell-Burke relationship is given plenty of screen time on its own; ditto the puppy-love romance between two young coffeehouse employees (Alexa Davalos and Toby Hemingway). Happiness and tragedy are doled out in equal measure -- usually falling where we expect -- but a fine cast and some touching moments help make the film if not exactly a feast, then at least an edible appetizer that will keep our hunger for a great movie romance at bay a while longer.

JUST AS 1978 saw the release of two Vietnam War flicks that complemented each other in their portrayals of the skirmish -- The Deer Hunter and Coming Home -- along comes September 2007 and its entree selection of two Middle Eastern war dramas. But while The Deer Hunter and Coming Home were of comparable quality, In the Valley of Elah overshadows The Kingdom, which is basically a Rambo retread outfitted with a thin veneer of topical import.

Director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) appears to be an American apologist at heart, which may explain why, after a fascinating title sequence illustrating the United States' complicated ties to Saudi Arabia (and, of course, its riches), the movie quickly devolves into a standard us-against-them revenge flick. The film opens with a shocking sequence in which a base for American families in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, is destroyed by terrorists. This prompts a group of elite FBI agents to undergo a secret mission to find the culprits once the Saudi and U.S. governments both balk at creating an international incident. Collectively, the four agents -- played by Jamie Foxx, Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman -- are devoid of much in the way of personality, but that's OK: Their only purpose in this story is to kill Middle Easterners. Lots of them.

The message of this 110-minute movie is revealed in its very last line, meaning it arrives about 100 minutes too late. Because of this lack of clear intent, the picture has no choice except to work as a visual and aural assault on our senses. In that respect, it succeeds in much the same way as Jodie Foster's The Brave One, as a cathartic palate cleanser that allows us to watch bad guys plowed down without sullying our own hands. There's also a sympathetic Saudi officer (Ashraf Barhoum, very good) who, by providing the film's few moments of warmth, might diffuse arguments that Berg's movie isn't anti-terrorist but anti-Middle East -- a huge difference, for those who didn't realize.

THE TRUE WORTH of Interview, a remake of a 2003 Dutch film by the late Theo van Gogh (murdered by a Muslim extremist in 2004), rests in its appeal as an actors' showcase. Take the screenplay, highlight a couple of the more emotionally volatile passages, include them in one of those books with titles like Scenes For Two Actors, and -- voila! -- instant gratification for theater majors on college campuses across the nation.

Beyond its potential in print, however, there's very little that's memorable about Interview, which seeks to explore the strained relationship between the media and the celebrity set yet does so in a manner that's overreaching and unconvincing. Steve Buscemi (who also directed and co-wrote the adaptation with David Schechter) plays Pierre Peders, a political correspondent who's outraged that he's asked to do an interview with Katya (Sienna Miller), a B-movie actress and soap opera star known more for her off-screen exploits than her choice of roles. The pair immediately dislike each other, but as the night wears on, both begin to relax and open up to each other. Or do they?

There's a measure of truth in the hostility that erupts between the journalist, who views his subject with contempt, and the star, who's angered when she feels that the line between expected media exposure and her right to privacy gets crossed. But despite fine performances by both leads, the film works better in concept than execution, with lapses in logic and a denouement that's not too hard to sniff out (not surprisingly, the picture sides with the celebrity more than the journalist). Even at a brief 84 minutes, you'll be glad when this Interview's over.