New Releases
FOUR BROTHERS Say this for Spike Lee: Nobody can ever accuse the man of being a sellout. Even as his movies continue to draw tiny audiences and (presumably) lose money for their studios, he steadfastly remains true to himself, making pictures that matter to him personally. The same, alas, can’t be said for fellow African-American filmmaker John Singleton, who went from the Oscar-nominated triumph of Boyz N The Hood to helming 2 Fast 2 Furious, the junky sequel to another director’s The Fast and the Furious. Four Brothers finds Singleton again slumming, this time in the service of a standard revenge flick that was a lot more fun when John Wayne and Dean Martin tackled the basic premise in The Sons of Katie Elder. The brothers of the title are Bobby (Mark Wahlberg), Angel (Tyrese Gibson), Jeremiah (Andre Benjamin) and Jack (Garrett Hedlund), raised by a foster home provider (Fionnula Flanagan) after nobody else wanted them. Now grown up, the lads return to their Detroit home after they learn that their mom was killed during a convenience store holdup. But as the siblings snoop around, they realize she wasn’t an innocent bystander but the target of a planned hit. The four lead actors establish an easygoing camaraderie, but that isn’t enough to overcome silly supporting characters, a hard-to-swallow plotline and a ludicrous climax set on a frozen lake. This is also the sort of movie where a villain’s ruthlessness is established in short-hand by the fact that (gasp!) he swipes a fat kid’s candy bar. Still, let’s not be too harsh on Singleton, who deserves credit for attaching himself as producer to the recent Hustle & Flow. HH
THE SKELETON KEY The Skeleton Key serves as a perfect bookend to the earlier summer release Dark Water. Here we have two thrillers that attempt to move away from the yawn-inducing norm by focusing as much on character and atmospherics as on the pre-packaged thrills; moreover, both films have the audacity to sidestep bogus happy endings in favor of conclusions that might leave audiences unsettled. Not surprisingly, Dark Water failed to catch on, and there’s no reason to believe The Skeleton Key won’t meet the same dismal fate. Admittedly, this new release isn’t quite as successful as its predecessor, simply because British director Iain Softley, who made the exquisite period melodrama The Wings of the Dove before upchucking the nauseating K-PAX, has a hard time maintaining the proper degree of Gothic mood required of a supernatural thriller of this nature. Kate Hudson stars as Caroline Ellis, a caregiver who’s hired to look after a stroke victim (John Hurt) living in a creaky mansion in the middle of the Louisiana swamps. The patient’s wife (Gena Rowlands) views Caroline with suspicion, though she quickly earns the trust of the elderly couple’s lawyer (Peter Sarsgaard); at any rate, it’s not long before it’s Caroline who has to keep her guard up, as mysterious events suggest that a paranormal presence might be living within the house. The supernatural element extends beyond what’s taking place on the screen, as it appears that Rowlands, delivering a performance of high camp, has been possessed by What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?-era Bette Davis. While enjoyable, her overripe turn dilutes the story’s potency, though the movie rights itself in time for a satisfying twist ending. HH 1/2
Current Releases
CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Tim Burton helms the second screen version of Roald Dahl’s 41-year-old novel about an eccentric candymaker (Johnny Depp) who takes five children on a tour through his gargantuan factory. In most respects, this surpasses the previous screen incarnation, 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory: It’s funnier, faster and more visually stimulating. But Burton, who tends to fluctuate between enfant terrible and rank sentimentalist, allows his maudlin streak to get the best of him via a needless back story that explains Wonka’s affinity for candy, and this plot strand leads to a soggy finale that’s easily bested by the final act of the ’71 model. Depp delivers an engaging surface performance, though I prefer the more measured madness of Gene Wilder’s interpretation. HHH
THE DUKES OF HAZZARD Airing from 1979 to 1985, the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard was created for people who had trouble following the plotlines of Three’s Company. Inspired by the glut of so-called “hick flicks” that dominated drive-ins throughout the 1970s, the program was primarily an excuse to showcase good ol’ boy shenanigans and plenty of car collisions. This film version follows suit, with cousins Bo, Luke and Daisy Duke (Johnny Knoxville, Sean William Scott and Jessica Simpson) trying to prevent corrupt Boss Hogg (Burt Reynolds) from running Hazzard County into the ground. A sequence in which Bo and Luke drive through Atlanta suggests that the film could have worked as a clever reimagining in which the coarseness of the Old South repeatedly bumps up against the sensibilities of the New South, but this promise quickly dissipates to allow more room for the usual mix of lame slapstick and smash’n’crash auto theatrics. H 1/2
FANTASTIC FOUR Assign acclaimed directors to superhero flicks and you get the likes of the Spider-Man pair, the X-Men duo and Batman Begins. Assign any Tom, Hack or Harry and you get flaccid duds like Elektra, The Punisher and now Fantastic Four. It’s shocking that 20th Century Fox didn’t treat this with the same care as their classy (and successful) X-Men franchise; instead, they handed the directorial reins to Tim Story (Barbershop and the Jimmy Fallon bomb Taxi), resulting in a half-assed cheeseball confection. Among the heroes, Michael Chiklis fares best as the tortured Thing, but Julian McMahon makes a pitiable Dr. Doom, a towering comic book villain (think of him as the forerunner to Darth Vader) reduced to a wimpy matinee crook. The engaging special effects help. HH
MARCH OF THE PENGUINS It’s awfully hard to resist the charms of this documentary, which is as single-minded in its approach as its protagonists prove to be in their determination to keep their species alive. Originally a French film filled with first-person — uh, first-penguin — narration (yes, it anthropomorphized the animals) and pop songs, this has been refashioned for American audiences as a traditional documentary, with pleasant theme music and soothing narration provided by Morgan Freeman. At the risk of sounding like a xenophobe who would endorse “Freedom fries,” I have to say I approve of the changes — hearing a baby penguin exclaim the Gallic version of “Gosh, Dad, it sure is cold with all this ice!” would have made me cringe. The French are apparently second to none when it comes to making movies that champion wildlife, and this joins Winged Migration, The Bear and Two Brothers as sterling examples of the form. HHH
MUST LOVE DOGS Many of the elements that have made the contemporary romantic comedy such a grueling (and formulaic) experience are present in Must Love Dogs, and yet the movie nonetheless will work for those willing to surrender themselves to its dreamy passion. The film’s success begins and ends with its leading players, and yet it’s important not to undervalue director Gary David Goldberg’s script (adapted from Claire Cook’s novel), which adds some interesting quirks to a familiar framework. Diane Lane plays a recent divorcee who takes a chance on meeting single men through an Internet dating service, while John Cusack co-stars as the most promising of her prospective suitors. Elizabeth Perkins, Christopher Plummer and especially Stockard Channing excel in key supporting roles, yet the movie firmly belongs to its stars. You either buy into this fantasy or you don’t — me, I happily wallowed in it. HHH
SKY HIGH Better than Fantastic Four but nowhere near the league of The Incredibles, Sky High is yet another feature film that centers on a family of superheroes. Cribbing as much from X-Men and the Harry Potter series as from the aforementioned pair, this live-action Disney romp stars appealing Michael Angarano as Will Stronghold, a boy who attends a high school populated exclusively by kids with special powers. As long as Sky High tweaks the superhero genre, it remains on solid ground, thanks to knowing dialogue and smart casting. But whenever the movie gets distracted by the conventions of the typical teen flick (the heroes are the popular kids and their sidekicks are the nerds — get it?), it becomes a pale imitation of Mean Girls, Clueless and half the John Hughes oeuvre. HH 1/2
STEALTH Stealth is young, dumb and full of fun. This action flick about a renegade jet powered by a super-computer is exactly the sort of movie you’d expect from Rob Cohen, the director of XXX and The Fast and the Furious: lots of hot bods, lots of shimmering hardware and lots of improbable stunts that even Batman would have trouble executing. The attempt to mesh the movie’s outlandish escapades with real world horrors (Middle Eastern terrorists plotting a strike on American soil and hostile relations with North Korea both figure into the plot) doesn’t quite come off, and the movie’s dialogue runs hot-and-cold. Yet unlike Michael Bay, Cohen knows how to keep his action fresh — the aerial sequences are especially dazzling. HH 1/2
WAR OF THE WORLDS Steven Spielberg, who’s helmed several of the greatest popcorn entertainments of the past 30 years, has now given us a popcorn picture with a difference — this one’s been generously sprinkled with salt, causing a stinging sensation as it rubs against the open wound of our national psyche. Spielberg has crafted War of the Worlds as a fantasy film for a post-9/11 age, a work that, in the same manner as his excellent 2002 Minority Report, views science fiction not as a source of endless wonder and delight but as a realm fraught with cautionary tales about the erosion of our personal freedoms and our sense of despair in an increasingly hostile world. Americanizing and updating H.G. Wells’ novel, this follows a working-class dad (Tom Cruise) and his kids as they attempt to escape the aliens wiping out mankind. Boasting excellent effects, this is a harrowing thrill ride that’s merciless in its methods, though it’s hampered by a warm and fuzzy conclusion that’s simply shameless. HHH
WEDDING CRASHERS Wedding Crashers shuffles around Owen Wilson, Vince Vaughn and a “surprise” cameo from one of their frequent screen buddies (Ben Stiller or Will Ferrell? Go on, take a guess), and the result is pretty much what we’ve come to expect from this Hollywood version of a theatrical repertory company: rude, ragged and funny more often than not. Wilson and Vaughn play John and Jeremy, longtime buddies who crash weddings in order to sleep with the emotionally vulnerable women they encounter there. But the pair’s successful operation hits a snag once John falls for a level-headed bridesmaid (Rachel McAdams) while Jeremy finds himself being terrorized by her seemingly psychotic sister (Isla Fisher). Wilson and Vaughn are in exemplary comic form, doing their best to lift a clunky screenplay that’s bogged down by the usual stock characters (overbearing fiancé, creepy gay kid, etc.). HH 1/2
OPENS FRIDAY, AUGUST 19:
BROKEN FLOWERS: Bill Murray, Sharon Stone.
THE 40-YEAR-OLD VIRGIN: Steve Carell, Catherine Keener.
RED EYE: Rachel McAdams, Cillian Murphy.
SUPERCROSS: Mike Vogel, Sophia Bush.
VALIANT: Animated; Ewan McGregor, Ben Kingsley.
This article appears in Aug 17-23, 2005.
