Current Releases
BAD NEWS BEARS Hollywood’s penchant for recycling continues with this update of the 1976 film about a beer-guzzling guy (Walter Matthau) who turns a team of Little League misfits into contenders. The original Bears was notable for milking the underdog formula for all it was worth and sweetening the pot with its decidedly non-PC aspects (such as small kids swearing). Alas, the underdog angle has since suffered from overexposure, and in today’s anything-goes society, the sight of 12-year-olds cussing like sailors no longer carries any novelty (if anything, the incessant scatological humor in this new take proves annoying). Billy Bob Thornton (in Bad Santa mode) is funny as the uncouth coach, though his character — harsher than Matthau’s — seems out of place in a movie that’s being positioned as a family film. HH
BATMAN BEGINS One of the finest superhero films ever made, Batman Begins marks the beginning of a beautiful friendship — between the creative forces who have resurrected a popular franchise and the fans who felt betrayed when that same franchise went belly up during the late 90s. Never afraid to peer into the darkest recesses of the mind, director Christopher Nolan (Memento, Insomnia) has created a brooding picture that has as much in common with his previous works as it does with the storied saga of the Caped Crusader. To dismiss this as escapist fare would be to ignore the myriad adult themes that bulk up the picture, issues ranging from the duality of man to the politics of fear. Christian Bale leads a sterling cast that also includes Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman and Liam Neeson; their committed performances help make this that rare summer movie in which thought often speaks louder than either action or words. HHH 1/2
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
HUSTLE & FLOW This earned the Audience Award at Sundance, and it’s easy to see why: When a filmmaker is bold enough to make a pimp his film’s protagonist and — more surprisingly — gently coerces his viewers into caring about this morally dubious character’s fate, it’s apparent that there’s real talent in play. Writer-director Craig Brewer, a longtime Memphis resident, drew upon his surroundings to add flavor to his tale about a street hustler (Terrence Howard) who tries to make it as a rapper. Hollywood convention occasionally bumps up against the movie’s more raw aspects, but for the most part, this rarely takes a false step as it details the efforts of its characters to find purpose in their lives. Howard is commanding as the lead, though the film’s heart and soul rest in the superlative turns by Taryn Manning and Taraji P. Henson as hookers who never allow circumstances to deflate their inner benevolence. HHH 1/2
THE ISLAND Set in the not-so-distant future world of 2019, this dud from Michael Bay casts Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson as survivors of a global catastrophe that has decimated most of the world’s population. Like everyone else still left alive, they exist in a carefully controlled environment, but once they determine that not everything’s kosher about the set-up, they make their great escape. The film’s trailer reveals more than I’m willing to expose, but suffice it to say that cloning proves to be the film’s hard-charging issue. But once you push past the topicality, the picture is both simplistic and derivative — it feels like a clone of a dozen earlier, better movies — and the product placements are so shameless that the brand names (MSN, Xbox, etc.) should have received the above-the-title star billing. 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 xenophobic clod 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 surely 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:
DEUCE BIGALOW: EUROPEAN GIGOLO: Rob Schneider, Eddie Griffin.
FOUR BROTHERS: Mark Wahlberg, Tyrese.
THE GREAT RAID: Benjamin Bratt, Joseph Fiennes.
THE SKELETON KEY: Kate Hudson, Gena Rowlands.
This article appears in Aug 10-16, 2005.
