Current Releases
THE BREAK-UP There’s a fine movie trapped inside The Break-Up, and it’s a shame that it couldn’t break free. As it stands, this picture about a rocky relationship is never able to compensate for the staggering miscalculation that cripples it. From the start, Gary (Vince Vaughn) is painted as a self-centered, insensitive man-child, while Brooke (Jennifer Aniston) is intelligent, classy, mature and patient. He’s a prick; she’s a saint. Um, why exactly would we have a vested interest in whether these two remain together? Simple answer: We don’t. Vaughn is a guy’s-guy kind of actor — his characters are more comfortable shooting pool or knocking back beers than getting romantic — so it’s no surprise that the chemistry he generates is with Jon Favreau (as his best friend) rather than Aniston (this fraternal rapport is also why he and Owen Wilson clicked in Wedding Crashers). But Vaughn and Aniston do a nice job of creating genuine tension whenever their characters find themselves immersed in yet another nasty argument, although what this says about the pair’s future as a real-life couple, I’ll leave for the tabloids to dissect. **
CARS Ever since Pixar Animation Studios began its incredible run with Toy Story back in 1995, haven’t most observers been wondering when the company would hit a critical and/or commercial roadblock and watch its latest effort crash and burn? Newsflash: It hasn’t happened yet, and it ain’t happening with Cars. The storyline seems a little hoary: A big-city slicker learns to slow down and smell the flowers — or, in this case, the diesel — in a small town in the middle of nowhere. But the picture’s six scripters expand the parameters of this plot description to make an entertaining and even poignant tale about the lure of the open road and the passing of a quaint chapter in modern American history. That race car Lightning McQueen (voiced by Owen Wilson) will find redemption in the small town of Radiator Springs (populated by vehicles played by, among others, Paul Newman and Bonnie Hunt) is never in doubt, but like the best storytellers, John Lasseter and his co-writers make the journey to self-discovery as interesting as possible. So for all its high-gloss NASCAR trappings, Cars is ultimately a paean to Route 66. ***1/2
THE DA VINCI CODE Forget the comparisons to Dan Brown’s monumental bestseller: On its own cinematic terms, Ron Howard’s adaptation is a moderately entertaining ride, sort of like the Nicolas Cage hit National Treasure only done with more style and more food for thought. Yet however this might have all played out on the page, up on the screen it simply comes off as one more familiar Hollywood thriller that’s heavily dependant on predictable directions taken by the storyline and character revelations that are painfully obvious to astute audience members. Tom Hanks stars in the central role of Robert Langdon, a Harvard symbologist who, while being chased for a murder he did not commit, attempts to solve an ancient mystery that, if revealed, could potentially spell the end of Christianity as we know it. Amelie’s Audrey Tautou (as Langdon’s sidekick), Paul Bettany (as a homicidal monk) and French national treasure Jean Reno (as a persistent cop) lend Hanks support, though it’s animated Ian McKellen, as a British scholar, who earns MVP honors. **1/2
AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH The cacophonous naysaying has already begun (largely by those who haven’t seen the movie, natch), but this absorbing documentary about global warming gently pushes a message that all Americans of sound mind and good conscience can embrace: Let’s work together to make the world a better place. It’s a tall order, but the beauty of the film is that it inspires audience members to actually believe they can be a part of something important — as Gore notes, all the resources are already available for combating global warming, and the only thing that’s missing is “political will.” Personal anecdotes, charts, slide shows and even cartoons are employed to allow the information to be easily digested by almost anyone. As for Gore, he’s far more personable and animated than he ever was on the campaign trail — what remains unchanged is his blazing intelligence, a far cry from the monosyllabic chimp presently sitting in the White House. As has been the case with Jimmy Carter, getting ousted from office might end up being the best way for Gore to serve his country. ***1/2
KEEPING UP WITH THE STEINS Scott Marshall, the director of Keeping Up With the Steins, is the son of Garry Marshall (The Princess Diaries) and the nephew of Penny Marshall (Awakenings). As a Hollywood dynasty, this bunch doesn’t exactly compare with the Hustons or the Fondas, but like father and aunt, it appears that Scott can be counted on to contribute harmless, middle-of-the-road pap guaranteed not to furrow brows or trouble minds. This is a benign comedy-drama in which 13-year-old Benjamin Fiedler (Spy Kids’ Daryl Sabara) eyes his upcoming bar mitzvah with a mixture of dread and resignation. Garry Marshall, a director-writer-producer who occasionally appears in front of the cameras, does his son a solid, since his energetic (but not overcooked) performance as Benjamin’s grandfather turns out to be the film’s strongest asset. The other cast members likewise contribute to the congenial mood, but the comic quotient is increasingly tepid and the life lessons tossed around like seeds aren’t especially original, earthshaking or inspiring. **
THE LAKE HOUSE Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock reunite for the first time in 12 years, but the end result clearly isn’t up to Speed. Two strangers who become pen pals come to the startling realization that they’re actually corresponding over the years — she’s writing and receiving his letters in 2006, he’s doing likewise in 2004 — and that the mailbox at the title property serves as the magic portal through which they’re able to communicate. The Lake House certainly has its heart in the right place, but the end result doesn’t even begin to inspire the requisite level of swoony romance on our parts. Director Alejandro Agresti is more interested in the film’s look than its substance, while David Auburn’s script is arid and uninvolving. As for the leads, Reeves acquits himself well enough — he’s learned how to take advantage of his scruffy appeal — but Bullock once again plays against her natural charisma by offering a dour, dull characterization. After about 20 minutes, you just wish somebody would tickle her. *1/2
NACHO LIBRE The premise held promise — a lowly cook (Jack Black) at a Mexican monastery moonlights as a masked wrestler — but Nacho Libre instead turns out to be a surprisingly mild affair, one of those films where the creative juices dried up at some point between conception and execution. Writer-director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite) and co-scripter Mike White (The School of Rock) serve up a few potent gags (love that corn in the eye), but they’re spread mighty thin throughout the picture’s running time. The remainder of the film is split between the sort of scatological humor we can find anywhere else — See Jack Black break wind! See Jack Black sit on the toilet! See Jack Black handle animal excrement! — and lazy south-of-the-border caricatures that aren’t funny, offensive or offensively funny. After a while, this disappointing film just lays there, like a wrestler body-slammed one time too many. **
THE OMEN The 1976 version of The Omen still holds up after 30 years. That’s reason enough to Netflix that baby and skip the new version that’s currently haunting multiplexes. Granted, director John Moore (Behind Enemy Mines) remaking The Omen isn’t as sacrilegious as Gus Van Sant remaking Psycho, but it still comes across as an unnecessary effort, as if the primary motivation was to be able to release a picture called The Omen on 6/6/06. That lack of a sound reason affects the picture itself, which is competent though curiously flat. The devil taking over the world is a terrifying concept, yet here there’s so little urgency to the proceedings that you’d think his master plan extended only to prank phone calls to the Vatican and TPing ministers’ houses. The new film is mostly faithful to its predecessor — an American ambassador (Liev Schreiber) and his wife (Julia Stiles) learn too late that their adopted son is the Antichrist — but the fact that this produces snickers rather than scares suggests that it might find its niche as a camp outing. **
OVER THE HEDGE Here’s yet another charmless animated feature made by profiteers whose historical reference point seems to begin and end with Shrek. In other words, don’t look for what was once quaintly referred to as “Disney magic,” that timeless, ethereal quality that used to be par for the course in toon flicks like Dumbo, 101 Dalmatians and Beauty and the Beast. With rare exception, today’s cartoon characters aren’t allowed to be romantic or introspective or lovably quixotic — usually, they’re too busy hyperventilating or passing gas or trying to find ways to screw over their fellow toons. This is more of the same, as an opportunistic raccoon (Bruce Willis), in hock to a grouchy grizzly (Nick Nolte), cons a group of peaceful forest denizens into helping him invade suburbia and steal the humans’ junk food. There’s a witty sequence in which the raccoon explains how people “live to eat” rather than “eat to live,” and a Stanley Kowalski gag make me chuckle out loud. Otherwise, this DreamWorks production feels like a flat-footed attempt to rip off the Pixar template. *1/2
A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION Robert Altman’s best film since the one-two punch of The Player and Short Cuts might at first glance seem like a minor work, an ambling, congenial picture constructed as little more than an opportunity to corral several major talents (Meryl Streep, Kevin Kline, Lily Tomlin, etc.) and give them a chance to sing songs and tell jokes in a relaxed setting. That the film is inspired by Garrison Keillor’s long-running radio show adds to that impression, since the on-air Keillor is the epitome of laid-back, down-home hospitality. Yet for all its levity, the central theme focuses on the specter of Death — how it hovers around us, how it haunts us, and how it can inform our every move. But the mood isn’t depressing; it’s bittersweet. And that’s only part of the time: When the radio performers are front and center, this is nothing less than a joyous celebration of both Americana and the arts. The final sequence — a masterpiece of ambiguity — is simply exquisite, a somber, rueful moment inexorably illustrating that, in death as in life, the show must go on. ****
SIR! NO SIR! This nonfiction feature recalls a notable revolution that over the past couple of decades has managed to fade from the public record in Orwellian fashion. While the common perception (massaged by Hollywood claptrap like the Rambo series and political revisionists like the absurdly named Swift Boat Veterans for Truth) suggests that the Vietnam War era’s soldiers and the antiwar protesters were sworn enemies, this picture employs ample archival footage and modern-day interviews to show that one of the biggest antiwar movements came from within the military establishment itself. Sir! No Sir! has its flaws, but overall it’s a necessary corrective, one which has additional value given the current state of affairs. Will the public’s opposition to the current war continue to grow, as it did with Vietnam? Will the Haditha incident turn out to be the equivalent of the My Lai Massacre? And will more and more soldiers, echoing the ones on view here, refuse to participate in a senseless war that only serves to diminish our great nation? Stay tuned. ***
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND The 2000 hit X-Men, which introduced Marvel’s band of mutant outsiders to a wider audience and helped spearhead the current boom in superhero flicks, appealed to fans of the comic book but also offered comfort to anyone who could tap into its obvious symbolic gestures (most equating the fantasy world ostracism of mutants with the real world shunning of homosexuals). Director Bryan Singer returned for 2003’s X2, and, bucking the trend, managed to make a follow-up that nearly matched its predecessor. Alas, Singer has fled the series to helm Superman Returns, and Brett Ratner (the Rush Hour duo) and his scripters prove to be shaky replacements. Yet it’s a testament to the durability of the original comic created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby that the movie survives this hostile takeover. There are plenty of boneheaded decisions plaguing this action-packed chapter — too many players, stagnant characterizations — yet there’s also enough of merit to earn it a passing grade. **1/2
OPENS WEDNESDAY, JUNE 28:
SUPERMAN RETURNS: Brandon Routh, Kevin Spacey.
OPENS FRIDAY, JUNE 30:
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: Meryl Streep, Anne Hathaway.
This article appears in Jun 28 – Jul 4, 2006.
