NEW RELEASES
THE MEDALLION To paraphrase Samuel L. Jackson in Pulp Fiction, this movie is what the French would probably call “a royale with cheese” — a would-be summer hit that’s so tacky and cheap-looking, it makes one pine for the comparatively polished look of Abbott and Costello Go to Mars. This feels like a remake of last fall’s flop The Tuxedo, in which an aging Jackie Chan allowed the special effects and stunt crews to handle most of the action while he struggled through a feeble fantasy plot opposite a bland leading lady. Here, he’s matched with Claire Forlani (a mere sliver better than Tuxedo‘s Jennifer Love Hewitt) as they play government agents trying to stop the villain du jour (Julian Sands) from getting his hands on a bauble that offers immortality, superhuman strength and, one hopes, a zero percent interest rate until January 2004. So bad that it’s actually painless to watch in a Mystery Science Theater 3000 frame of mind, The Medallion lumbers forward like a blind alcoholic, throwing in buckets of head-scratching non sequiturs and employing special effects so threadbare that it’s hard to believe they’re appearing in a major studio production in the 21st century. Lee Evans, the wonderful physical comedian from Funny Bones and There’s Something About Mary, is more grating than amusing as Chan’s bungling partner (blame the script, credited to an astounding five writers!), while Chan, largely stripped of his raison d’etre, executes a few deft moves but otherwise gets swallowed up by the silliness of it all. 
1/2
CURRENT RELEASES
AMERICAN WEDDING Comparing this third picture in the American Pie series to the Marx Brothers canon is probably grounds for dismissal, but American Wedding ably carries on the Marxes’ technique of building a comedy sequence frame by frame till it reaches a crescendo. This is an unnecessary sequel that nevertheless squeezes by on the strength of some very big laughs. Even elitist critics should occasionally let their hair down and allow the inner party animal to emerge — while many scribes have taken to the Austin Powers trilogy to fill that need, I’ve gotten more chuckles from this half-raunchy, half-sentimental series. Neither sequel manages the balancing act between sincerity and seediness as well as the 1999 original — the follow-ups clearly tip the scale toward the bawdy — but both offer a fair amount of pleasure to anyone who’s grown fond of the characters. In this outing, Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are set to tie the knot, but complications arise before the ceremony, not the least being the mere presence of the foul-minded Stiffler (Seann William Scott). Eugene Levy returns as Jim’s dad, and in a nice bit of casting synergy, his frequent co-star in Christopher Guest’s comedies, Fred Willard, appears as Michelle’s dad. Director Jesse Dylan (Bob’s son) and screenwriter Adam Herz may not score any points for subtlety, but they make the most of their disreputable material. 1/2
FREAKY FRIDAY A pleasant out-of-left-field surprise, this remake of Disney’s 1977 hit (with Barbara Harris and Jodie Foster) is a treat for both kids and adults, updating the basic premise (first seen in Mary Rodgers’ book of the same name) while avoiding the common pitfall of tailoring the material to only appeal to the youngest (or, in the case of the grownups, dimmest) members of the audience. Here’s a family film with genuine emotional pull, as workaholic psychiatrist Tess Coleman (Jamie Lee Curtis) and her alienated 15-year-old daughter Anna (The Parent Trap‘s Lindsay Lohan) are constantly at odds, bickering and failing to see the other’s point of view. But a pinch of Asian mysticism places them in each other’s body, forcing Anna to contend with her mom’s impending wedding and a TV appearance to plug her new book and Tess to cope with her daughter’s burgeoning relationship with a cute schoolmate (Chad Michael Murray) and an important audition for her garage band. Curtis is in top form here, yet she’s matched all the way by Lohan — their scenes together are especially potent, full of sharp comic give-and-take and capped by the sparkling dialogue by scripters Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon (“I’m old!” wails Anna in her mom’s body. “I look like the Crypt Keeper!”). A buoyant soundtrack only adds to the enjoyment.
OPEN RANGE Decidedly “old school” in both content and intent, this adaptation of Lauran Paine’s The Open Range Men doesn’t expand the parameters of the Western but instead feels like a throwback to the types of genre flicks that populated moviehouses until their fizzle in the late 70s. Boss Spearman (Robert Duvall) and Charley Waite (Kevin Costner) are “freerangers,” cattlemen who allow their herd to roam the land with no thought to manmade claims of property possession — a point of view not shared by a vicious rancher (Michael Gambon) in a nearby town. Open Range marks Costner’s third shot at directing — following his Oscar-winning work on Dances With Wolves and his effort on the lambasted flop The Postman — and during a movie season known for rapid jump-cuts and a decided lack of lengthy and meaningful exchanges, his lackadaisical approach will leave filmgoers either feeling appreciative or irked. No scene feels hurried or forced, and even though the dialogue’s occasionally a bit clunky, there’s a maturity in the tender romance between Charley and a town resident (Annette Bening), and a strong sense of mutual respect in the camaraderie between Charley and Spearman that harkens back to the approach taken in the classic Westerns of the past (I’m thinking primarily of John Wayne’s numerous efforts, particularly Rio Bravo). As for the shootouts, they’re presented as clumsy and chaotic — gritty dances of death that aren’t commented upon (as in Unforgiven) but that aren’t glamorized, either.
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL It’s long been established that movies based on video games are a dismal lot, so the odds are against a film that engages in the even more desperate ploy of being based on a theme park attraction. Yet this take-off of Disney’s popular park feature proves to be one of the brightest of the summer blockbusters, with appealing characters, a sturdy screenplay, and plenty of derring-do. Producer Jerry Bruckheimer, known as the Antichrist in cineaste circles (Armageddon, Con Air, and on and on and on), bypassed his usual stable of hacks and tapped versatile Gore Verbinski (MouseHunt, The Mexican) to man the ship; aided by the scripters of Shrek and The Mask of Zorro, he provides notable visual panache to this rollicking yarn about an eccentric pirate (Johnny Depp) and a stalwart blacksmith (Orlando Bloom) who attempt to rescue a governor’s daughter (Keira Knightley) from the clutches of a band of supernaturally affected pirates. More heavily plotted than one might expect, this 135-minute epic might test the patience of younger audience members but wears its length well for older viewers. Bloom and Knightley are suitably striking, while Geoffrey Rush adds the proper degree of hammy menace as the captain of the cursed pirate crew. Still, this movie wouldn’t be half as memorable were it not for the patently bizarre turn by Depp, who transforms a conventional anti-hero into a fey, garrulous scoundrel whose antics constantly keep the other characters (and us) wondering what he’ll do next.
SEABISCUIT Adapted from Laura Hillebrand’s bestseller, this tells the story of the underdog racehorse whose remarkable success during the 1930s inspired an entire nation. But just as importantly, it also relates the very human story of three individuals — Seabiscuit’s owner (Jeff Bridges), trainer (Chris Cooper) and jockey (Tobey Maguire) — with the inner fortitude to overcome extreme handicaps, and on top of that further provides a glimpse of a country reeling from the Depression and its attempts to right itself. That’s a tall order for one movie to fill, and if the picture occasionally seems to have bitten off more than it can chew, it’s a forgivable sin, since writer-director Gary Ross (Pleasantville) does a decent job of getting us involved in the plights of its characters, regardless of what’s happening in the world around them. “My horse is too small, my jockey’s too big, my trainer’s too old, and I’m too stupid to know the difference!” cracks Bridges’ millionaire to the press, and indeed, it’s a peculiar grouping — the odd couple squared. But it’s in the very eccentricities of the characters that the movie derives most of its power. The filmmaking in itself is rather conventional — lots of burnished shots by cinematographer John Schwartzman, a score (by Randy Newman) that’s swathed in uplifting Americana strains, plenty of scripted homilies about can-do Yankee perseverance — yet the players themselves have a hungry determination that transcends their foibles and makes their exploits all the more inspiring.
S.W.A.T. The latest fix of nostalgia based on a popular TV show from the past, S.W.A.T. is better than most, drawing up vibrant characters and offering some choice action bits before running out of steam during the third act. Samuel L. Jackson is “Hondo” Harrelson, the veteran lawman assigned to put together a crack outfit of S.W.A.T.-sters; Colin Farrell is Jim Street, the brash up-and-comer who, implicated in a messy hostage situation that wasn’t his fault, is seeking to redeem himself. He gets his chance when the group is assigned to baby-sit a captured drug lord (Olivier Martinez) who promises to pay $100 million to anyone who breaks him free. This offer seemingly brings out every criminal element in the city of Los Angeles, and for a moment, it looks like the movie will turn into a contempo retread of Walter Hill’s exciting cult flick The Warriors, with our small band of heroes battling different pockets of villains around every corner. No such luck. After a promising set-up that takes time to introduce us to all the team players (including ones played by Girlfight‘s Michelle Rodriguez and LL Cool J) and the aforementioned promise of some intriguing confrontations, the movie loses its stride. There’s a double-cross that I didn’t believe for a nanosecond, and the lengthy climax is surprisingly bland — even with the inclusion of a plane taxiing down LA’s 6th Street Bridge. Still, I enjoyed spending time with these characters, and the potential is there for more developed storylines. Maybe the sequel will get it right. 1/2
This article appears in Aug 27 – Sep 2, 2003.
