CURRENT RELEASES
BRUCE ALMIGHTY In this hit-and-miss comedy, Jim Carrey, frequently playing to the rafters in what in anybody else’s hands would have been a fairly restrained character, stars as Bruce Nolan, a TV reporter who’s tired of fluff pieces and yearns to become the new anchorman. But instead of getting his wish, he ends up enduring the worst day of his life, leading to a tirade directed at God. Faced with this outburst, God (Morgan Freeman) pays Bruce a visit and offers him a challenge: Take charge for a while, and see if you can do a better job of overseeing the planet. If, as the saying goes, God is in the details, then that’s also where to look in Bruce Almighty for some of the film’s finest moments, as the throwaway bits are generally funnier than the big set pieces. Naturally, Carrey’s adept (if overly exaggerated) with the comic shtick, but the quasi-serious scenes in which he expresses self-righteous anger are actually among the movie’s strongest — it’s no wonder that at one point It’s a Wonderful Life is shown playing on TV, because Bruce’s predicament, a decent man who’s been drop-kicked by life yet given the chance to envision an alternate reality, is the same one that plagued James Stewart’s George Bailey. But because this is a summer popcorn flick, the movie backs away from taking Bruce to the edge — he never flirts with the dark side, as George Bailey did. What’s left is harmless, acceptable entertainment, just not the galvanizing religious experience that was within its almighty grasp. 
1/2
DADDY DAY CARE There’s been a lot of grousing lately about how any time Eddie Murphy appears in a family film, he’s wasting the hard-edged skills that initially made him a star in such R-rated hits as 48HRS. and Beverly Hills Cop. I’d be more sympathetic to this argument had Murphy only made good R-rated flicks, but the truth is that he’s far easier to take in pictures like Mulan and now Daddy Day Care than in foul-mouthed turkeys like Beverly Hills Cop II, Harlem Nights and Vampire In Brooklyn. In fact, Murphy’s charming performance proves to be one of the stronger aspects of this PG-rated piffle about two marketing executives (Murphy and Jeff Garlin) who, after losing their jobs, decide to open their own day care center. The usual unimaginative touches are on view — several flatulence bits, over-the-top comic foils (played by Anjelica Huston and Kevin Nealon), etc. — but an acceptable number of decent gags, a sweet turn by Steve Zahn as a Daddy Day Care employee with a Star Trek obsession, and Murphy’s strong rapport with his young co-stars (especially Khamani Griffin as his son) make this more enjoyable than any level-headed adult could have reasonably expected. 1/2
DOWN WITH LOVE Trying to replicate those frothy Rock Hudson-Doris Day romantic comedies from the late 50s/early 60s was a clever idea; cross-pollinating it with the Austin Powers movies before letting it reach the screen was a terrible one. Indeed, it’s the smarmy, smutty humor that single-handedly threatens to torpedo this kitschy throwback that nevertheless contains enough appealing elements to just barely overcome its fondness for awkward double entendres. Director Peyton Reed (Bring It On) and his crew certainly get the look right, from the Technicolor saturation to the lavish sets to the ab-fab costumes, and scripters Eve Ahlert and Dennis Drake have come up with an acceptable plotline involving a playboy-journalist (Ewan McGregor) and his attempts to tame the author (Renee Zellweger) of a best-selling pre-feminist manifesto. McGregor and Zellweger are likable in their roles, even if they’re far more mannered than Hudson and Day ever were. Still, movies of this ilk were often stolen by the supporting players, and that’s the case here as well, with Sarah Paulson and especially David Hyde Pierce delightful as the leads’ confidantes. Had this steered clear of the juvenile gags that pop up every now and then (the split-screen phone conversation sequence is downright dreadful), it might have been closer to last year’s Far From Heaven as both a homage and a deepening of vintage classics; instead, it’s merely an adequate comedy with eye-popping visuals. 1/2
THE IN-LAWS While certainly no classic, The In-Laws is an enjoyable comedy that includes among its attributes a clever premise, a witty script that’s packed with choice dialogue, two beautifully matched lead actors, and a supporting performer who makes off with the picture like a Bechtel bandit in the night. But enough about the 1979 version. The new In-Laws is a sorry excuse for a comedy, a movie that completely disregards all the elements that made its predecessor such a delight. Instead of Alan Arkin and Peter Falk, we get Albert Brooks and Michael Douglas, with Brooks cast as a meek podiatrist who gets caught up in the misadventures of his daughter’s future father-in-law (Douglas), a CIA agent whose reckless behavior places them in numerous dire predicaments. This deadening action-comedy hybrid is neither exciting nor funny, and it further suffers from an embarrassing turn by David Suchet as a homosexual arms dealer who spends an exorbitant amount of screen time trying to get Brooks out of his pants so he can admire his “fat cobra” (Suchet is obviously meant to be this movie’s scene stealer, but he’s no match for the original’s Richard Libertini, who was a hoot as an eccentric Latin American dictator). Forget the movie’s wedding theme: On the contrary, funeral services are now being held at a multiplex near you.
THE ITALIAN JOB The 1969 version of The Italian Job is a minor cult classic, which isn’t the same thing as saying it’s a particularly good movie. Still, it beats this new version, which retained the title but not much else. Instead of the offbeat casting of the original’s Michael Caine, Noel Coward and Benny Hill, we now get the more conventional, Hollywood-glam teaming of Mark Wahlberg, Edward Norton and Charlize Theron, with Wahlberg cast as the leader of a high-tech criminal gang, Norton playing the member who betrays the team, and Theron as the daughter of Wahlberg’s late mentor (Donald Sutherland), now seeking revenge against Norton for killing her dad. Beyond some good performances from the supporting players (Mos Def, Jason Statham, Seth Green), this ho-hum heist flick lacks color and flavor — it’s completely bereft of the attention to atmosphere, dialogue and characterization that distinguished another recent caper yarn, Neil Jordan’s superior The Good Thief. The word is that the studio forced Norton to make this film against his will, as part of a studio contract he was obligated to honor; such a mandatory arrangement would certainly explain the actor’s dull and detached performance. But here’s the good news: Just because Norton was forced to make the film doesn’t mean you’re forced to watch it.
THE MATRIX RELOADED Apparently, it’s easier to build a better mousetrap than to build a better Matrix. Still, that won’t stop worldwide audiences from beating a path to the box office to catch the second installment in this popular techno-trilogy. For all its attributes, Matrix Version 2.0 never quite rivals Matrix Version 1.0 — in that respect, then, it’s best not to compare it to its predecessor but to its competition in the action and sci-fi fields. And on that level, it’s awfully hard to be disappointed by this second helping, which offers some intriguing food for thought as well as a pair of smashing action sequences. Picking up pretty much where the first film left off — that is, on a future Earth in which machines have taken over and control mankind — this one finds Neo (Keanu Reeves), Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Ann Moss) facing a new gallery of villains — as well as old nemesis Agent Smith (Hugo Weaving) — as they attempt to permanently “unplug” the governing computers. Recurring themes of reality vs. illusion and choice vs. destiny offer some interesting subtext, yet it’s the central action set pieces that prove to be the real conversation starters. These two sequences — one a battle royale between Neo and dozens of Agent Smiths, the other a highway chase — are ballets of brute strength, not so much video game simulations (as many contend) as a tribute to the visceral impact of cinematic effects and how, when done right, they can envelop and enrapture us.
A MIGHTY WIND At the start of the latest “mockumentary” from writer-director-actor Christopher Guest (Best In Show, Waiting for Guffman), music promoter Irving Steinbloom has just passed away, and to honor his memory, his son (Bob Balaban) has decided to organize a live TV concert that would bring together the three 60s folk groups that Irving had championed back in the day. The New Main Street Singers, led by a perpetually chipper couple (John Michael Higgins and Jane Lynch), are happy to take part, as are the three guys who make up The Folksmen (Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer); more problematic is the acquisition of the formerly lovey-dovey duo of Mitch (Eugene Levy, who co-scripted with Guest) and Mickey (Catherine O’Hara), since Mitch had suffered an emotional meltdown and has been enduring life in a shell-shocked state. A Mighty Wind doesn’t quite provide as many laughs as Guest’s previous two pictures, yet the film does offer an acceptable tradeoff: There’s a genuine element of poignancy surrounding the proceedings, and the lovely songs, all written by cast members specifically for this movie, add the icing on the cake. As an obnoxious band manager whose mouth travels a mile a minute but whose brain can only manage a yard a day, Fred Willard is back in scene-stealing mode; still, the performance that stays with you the most is the one by Levy, whose work conveys a tenderness that momentarily slices through the satire. 1/2
X2 Almost on a par with the Y2K hit X-Men, this exciting sequel kicks off the summer movie season in style. While not quite matching the sense of wonder that accompanied the first picture, this one boasts a more polished script, vastly improved special effects, and a longer running time (135 minutes, a full half-hour over its predecessor) that gives more players more time to strut their stuff. This time, kindly Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and his band of do-gooder mutants find themselves teaming up with arch-villain Magneto (Ian McKellen) in an effort to bring down a ruthless military man (Brian Cox) hell-bent on eradicating every mutant on the planet. Practically every character from the first film returns, and there’s the welcome addition of Alan Cumming as the sweet-natured Nightcrawler, a blue-skinned German with the ability to teleport out of tight jams. As with most sci-fi sequels, this will seem incomprehensible to folks who elected to skip the first film, but even they’ll be able to glean the subtext often found in superhero adventures: A just and civilized society has no room for prejudice against those who are born different. X2 hammers that point home, with thinly veiled outbursts against warmongering right-wing administrations and homophobia. Hugh Jackman again excels as Wolverine, with noteworthy support by McKellen and especially Famke Janssen as soulful telepath Jean Grey.
Home Theater
ABOUT SCHMIDT (2002). The makers of Election (Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor) were behind this deeply felt story about one man’s overwhelming desire to find meaning in his life and to ultimately make a difference. As Schmidt, Jack Nicholson’s astute performance is one of his finest in recent times, and this unique, seriocomic movie culminates in a scene of quiet devastation, centered on a picture that isn’t just worth a thousand words but also a hundred emotions. DVD extras include nine deleted scenes and an insert promoting Childreach, the humanitarian outfit featured in the film. Movie: 1/2 / Extras:
HAPPINESS (1998). Writer-director Todd Solondz (Welcome to the Dollhouse) neatly sidestepped the sophomore jinx with this masterful examination of alienation and obsession. Exposing issues that often fester under the scab that passes itself off as middle-class contentment, Solondz offers a parade of sad sacks — including a porn addict (Philip Seymour Hoffman) and a pedophile (Dylan Baker) — and challenges us to find something to connect them to our own friends and neighbors (and perhaps ourselves). This is part of Lions Gate’s Signature Series, but extras are sparse and haven’t been updated since the film’s previous DVD incarnation (one telltale sign: Hoffman’s filmography ends with 1999, not listing the eight movies he’s made since then). Movie: 1/2 / Extras:
JUBILEE (1978). An angel named Ariel (David Haughton) provides Queen Elizabeth I (Jenny Runacre) with a glimpse of England’s future, and what she sees is a ravished, post-apocalyptic society in which alternative lifestyles and violent girl gangs define the day. Controversial writer-director Derek Jarman’s punk piece is very much a product of its time — at turns pretentious, poetic, boring and bawdy, it’s largely a failure as a movie but a fascinating social document for those who can put up with its cinematic limitations. The soundtrack includes music by Brian Eno and Siouxsie and the Banshees, and look for a baby-faced Adam Ant in the role of “Kid.” DVD extras include an original documentary and an interesting look at related paraphernalia from Jarman’s personal collection. Movie: 1/2 / Extras:
TERMINATOR 2: JUDGMENT DAY (1991). Three years ago, Artisan released a two-disc DVD set for this sci-fi blockbuster that was tagged The Ultimate Edition. Now, the studio’s back with another two-disc version that’s billed as Extreme DVD. So which one’s better? If it’s just the movie you want, you can’t go wrong with either — this one claims that the audio and visual elements are improved, but both copies look and sound terrific to me. If you’re equally as interested in the bonus materials, go with the previous version: This new one boasts more features that are accessible via DVD-ROM but fewer DVD supplements (though the added commentary by James Cameron is a plus) as well as less involving menu graphics. Plus, the metal shell packaging looks groovy but tore the heck out of the inner case every time I tried to slide it off to gain access to the discs. Movie: 1/2 / Extras: 1/2
— Matt Brunson
This article appears in Jun 4-10, 2003.
