CURRENT RELEASES
AMELIE After making his mark with the delightfully deranged films Delicatessen and City of Lost Children, French director Jean-Pierre Jeunet made the
ill-fated mistake of going Hollywood by overseeing the hapless Alien: Resurrection.
Amelie finds Jeunet back in his element: as the creator of enchanting, quirky
comedies that, like their central characters, march to their own beat (make
that offbeat). Amelie, already a raging success in Europe, is
his best work yet, an absolutely disarming piece about an eccentric young woman
(irresistible Audrey Tautou) who takes it upon herself to improve the lives
of those around her. Her methods are unorthodox but effective, yet in the midst
of her busybody schedule, she slowly realizes that her own life could use some
assistance when it comes to romance. On paper, Amelie doesn’t sound much
different than Emma, Hello, Dolly! or Chocolat (three other works
about matchmakers unlocking their own passions), but Jeunet and co-writer Guillaume
Laurant never run with the conventional, preferring instead to pack their movie
with unexpected literalizations (when Amelie spots her intended, she actually
dissolves in a puddle of water), wildly original comic set pieces (keep your
eye on that garden gnome), and the sort of touching asides that will bring sighs
of recognition from appreciative audience members. Amelie feels slightly
longish as it winds down its heroine’s quest for her own self-fulfillment, but
this nevertheless emerges as one of the year’s best films. 
BEHIND ENEMY LINES Borrowing the theme of those . . .For Dummies books, this is nothing more than “Patriotism for Dummies,” a nonsensical piece
of jingoism whose release date was moved up from 2002 in an obvious attempt
to cash in on the pro-American fervor generated by the 9/11 tragedy. The rush
for profits would be offensive save for the fact that this film’s so inconsequential,
it’s hard to take any part of it seriously. One-note ubiquity Owen Wilson, a
head-scratching choice for Hollywood’s latest flavor of the month, plays Chris
Burnett, a pilot who’s mopey because he feels there are no real wars in which
he can bloody his hands. The ravaged, corpse-strewn terrain of Bosnia serves
as a Holy Grail to Burnett, a Never Never Land fairy tale setting that blessedly
turns into a reality after his plane gets shot down by Serbs. Following radio
orders from his commanding officer (Gene Hackman, cashing another easy paycheck),
Burnett evades murderous enemy troops, not a problem given these soldiers’ unspecified
relationship to the Star Wars stormtroopers (i.e., no matter how much
they fire at our hero, they never come close to hitting the target). Director
John Moore makes his movie debut after helming zippy commercials, so expect
lots of choppy splicing of scenes filmed in the grainy style popularized by
Saving Private Ryan — but made dull by the number of hacks who have
shamelessly copied it. For a movie that treats this conflict as more than just
a video game, hold out for the powerful Bosnian import No Man’s Land,
due in 2002 after an Oscar-qualifying LA run this month. 1/2
BLACK KNIGHT When previewing the holiday film schedule, I had predicted
that, based on its premise and the appeal of Martin Lawrence, his new comedy
would cross the $100 million mark in grosses. Having now seen the picture, I
can state that it goes for the predictable gag at every single turn — which
of course makes my forecast look even more like a no-brainer. The sort of automatic-pilot
entry that’s frequently foisted upon the public during this lucrative film season,
this variation on A Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court is the
perfect picture for select audiences in the market for something that won’t
require them to employ even one single brain cell (one woman at the advance
screening was so caught up in the movie’s mindless merriment, she roared with
laughter whenever Lawrence did nothing more than utter another character’s name).
There’s nothing inherently wrong with this sort of predigested programmer, but
did this one have to be so stridently bare-bones? Wielding none of the whimsy
or heart of another recent medieval flick, A Knight’s Tale, this one
casts Lawrence as a theme park employee who discovers a necklace that magically
transports him back to the Middle Ages; there, he helps a fallen knight (Tom
Wilkinson) defeat a corrupt king (Kevin Conway). Lawrence’s easy-going charm
results in plenty of smiles during the first half-hour, but even those fade
over the course of this exercise in sameness. Black Knight isn’t particularly
good or bad; it’s just. . .there.
HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER’S STONE Considering that the first four
books in J.K. Rowling’s series about a budding boy wizard have sold over 100
million copies, it’s no surprise that Hollywood decided to get into the act;
what is surprising is the degree of reverence with which this property has been
treated. This lavish film version ends up working on both levels: as a stand-
alone motion picture and as a worthy adaptation of a novel that, while hardly
a literary landmark, is nevertheless funny, inventive and full of spirit and
spunk. Director Chris Columbus has a deserved reputation for making cloying
films (Home Alone, Bicentennial Man), but here he has deftly allowed
the movie to walk the precipitous line between being too syrupy for adults and
too grave for children. This balancing act begins with the kids cast in the
principal roles: Daniel Radcliffe as 11-year-old Harry Potter and Rupert Grint
and Emma Watson as his loyal classmates at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and
Wizardry. All three actors are endearing rather than annoying, and the natural
ease with which they work together goes a long way toward drawing audience members
directly into their world (they’re supported by a top-flight cast that includes
Robbie Coltrane, Alan Rickman and Maggie Smith). If there’s a flaw to be found,
it’s that the picture may be a little too breathless for its own good, occasionally
relying on its technical achievements at the expense of its emotional content.
For the most part, though, this is an enchanting magical mystery tour — and
a sure moviegoing bet for the holiday season.
HEIST David Mamet’s latest work has the dubious distinction of competing
with last summer’s DeNiro-Brando debacle The Score as the most disappointing
caper yarn of the year. Mamet wrote and directed the film, which means the dialogue
includes such attention-grabbing mouthfuls as “I’ll be as quiet as an ant pissing
on cotton” and “[He’s] so cool, when he goes to sleep, sheep count him.” And
the cast is headed by the Get Shorty trio of Gene Hackman, Delroy Lindo
and Danny DeVito, which means good performances won’t be in short order. But
for a movie that’s obsessed with double-crosses, triple-crosses and even a couple
of right-crosses, this is ultimately about as easy to patch together as a six-piece
puzzle. The actual heists depicted in the film consume far too much screen time
(watching guys smash open jewel cases gets dull reeeal quick), and even without
having read the script, we know as much as the actors do about how this yarn
about a seasoned thief (Hackman) pulling off One Last Job will unfold — right
down to the fate of the gang member with the lowest billing (Mamet regular Ricky
Jay), the loyalty of Hackman’s significant other (Mamet’s miscast wife Rebecca
Pidgeon), and even the climactic switcheroo. With Heist‘s all-too-familiar
rhythms, Mamet may have thought he was pulling a fast one, but the only person
he ended up outsmarting was himself.
MONSTERS, INC. Ever since it was announced that next year’s Oscar ceremony
would be the first to include the newly formed Best Animated Feature category,
it’s been agreed that the battle will come down to DreamWorks’ summer smash
Shrek and this latest offering from Disney. With apologies to the not-so-jolly
green giant, I gotta say that my vote squarely goes to Disney’s creatures of
the night. Teaming up once again with Pixar Animation (the Toy Story twofer), the studio has fashioned a vastly entertaining romper room of a movie
that should satisfy all ages. The sharp screenplay posits that the burg of Monstropolis
is powered by the screams of small children, and the only way to harness that
energy is for a company called Monsters, Inc. to send its employees through
kids’ closets in an attempt to generate worthy shrieks of terror. Of course,
such an assignment is no picnic for the monsters, who believe that human children
are toxic and that physical contact with them would be disastrous. So imagine
the pandemonium that ensues when a bubbly tyke nicknamed Boo (voiced by 5-year-old
Mary Gibbs) accidentally invades the monsters’ world, forcing two of the critters
— gentle giant Sulley (John Goodman) and wise-cracking cyclops Mike (Billy
Crystal) — to try to return her to her bedroom before matters really get out
of hand. That this film is a visual marvel should surprise no one; what’s really
unique about it is how deeply it makes us care about the relationship between
Sulley and little Boo. 1/2
NOVOCAINE A neo-film-noir-cum-black-comedy that has the ability to
fool some of the people some of the time, this oddball effort from director-cowriter
David Atkins benefits primarily from the casting of Steve Martin as the hapless
hero, a dentist whose thriving practice and picture-perfect romance with his
perky, brainy assistant (Laura Dern) are both jeopardized by his instant infatuation
with a new patient, a disheveled dope addict (Helena Bonham Carter) whose mere
presence gets him tangled up in the usual blackmail-and-murder scheme. Martin
brings his offhanded comedic manner to a well-worn character type, and in doing
so gives the film a fresh coat that suits it nicely. Still, did his character
have to be so thick? Noir and neo-noir protagonists usually aren’t the brightest
guys around, but Atkins seems to go out of his way to make this dentist a particularly
IQ-deprived clod. And while there’s one ninth-inning twist that managed to catch
me off guard, most of this follows familiar patterns that become both more obvious
and more contrived as the piece unfolds. Atkins may have thought he was making
a steel mousetrap of a movie, but the end result is more like a rickety house
of cards. 1/2
SHALLOW HAL The unfortunate preview for this winning romantic comedy,
which makes the enterprise look like two hours of fat jokes, couldn’t be more
misleading; actually, most of the fat jokes have been crammed into that trailer,
allowing the rest of the movie to make its case as a sympathetic tale about
getting past surface appearances. Of course, I don’t mean to give the impression
that viewers should amble in expecting the all-inclusive humanity of a Frank
Capra feature, as this Farrelly Brothers picture has its PG-13 share of raunchy
gags and morally dubious asides. But as was the case with the siblings’ There’s
Something About Mary, there’s actually a tender love story at the center
of all the sophomoric shenanigans. Jack Black plays the title role, a nerd who’s
spent his life trying to date gorgeous women clearly out of his league. Hal’s
only interested in physical beauty, but a chance encounter with self-help guru
Tony Robbins (playing himself) changes all that. “De-hypnotized” by Robbins,
Hal can now only see people as they truly are on the inside; this in turn allows
him to fall for a large woman with a large heart. Hal sees a svelte beauty (Gwyneth
Paltrow au naturel), while everyone else sees the 300-pound reality (Paltrow
in a convincing fat suit); this works just fine until Hal’s equally shallow
friend (Jason Alexander) contemplates breaking the spell. Black’s performance
is a delight, retaining his character’s goofball persona while also showing
us the blossoming adult underneath, but Paltrow’s empathic contribution is also
key. Incidentally, this was filmed here in Charlotte, and under the eye of Oscar-winning
cinematographer Russell Carpenter (Titanic), the city has never before
looked so appealing on screen.
SIDEWALKS OF NEW YORK With Woody Allen’s best filmmaking days behind
him, it appears that fellow New Yorker Edward Burns has elected to pick up the
slack when it comes to crafting romantic fables set in the Big Apple. Sidewalks
of New York frequently plays like an homage to Allen’s Annie Hall,
right down to the direct lift of at least one gag, a framing device in which
people speak directly toward the camera, and even a central character whose
name is Annie. But with Annie Hall, Allen fashioned one of the all-time
great comedies; with this sputtering tale, Burns has made a movie that can’t
even hold a candle to his own first effort, 1995’s The Brothers McMullen.
Wholly engaging but never particularly insightful, the film follows the fortunes
of six characters: 29-year-old TV producer Tommy (Burns) is interested in dating
20something teacher Maria (Rosario Dawson), who’s divorced from 20something
doorman Benjamin (David Krumholtz), who’s pursuing 19-year-old waitress Ashley
(Brittany Murphy), who’s having an affair with 39-year-old dentist Griffin (Stanley
Tucci), who’s married to 29-year-old Annie (Heather Graham), who suddenly becomes
interested in — yep — Tommy. And standing outside of this game of musical
chairs is Tommy’s middle-aged friend Carpo (Dennis Farina in a laugh-out-loud
performance), a self-satisfied sleazoid whose heartwarming advice to Tommy is
to spray cologne on his balls before a big date (“Women love it,” he insists).
The cast is apt, but the character dynamics aren’t always convincing. 1/2
SPY GAME Tony Scott has spent so much of his career directing mindless
junk (Days of Thunder, Last Boy Scout, The Fan) that it’s something of
a shock to the system whenever he tackles anything with even half a brain. If
you enjoyed the helmer’s sleek but smart efforts Crimson Tide and Enemy
of the State, then this one’s a good bet as well, mixing hard-hitting thrills
with a decidedly less than benevolent look at US government agencies (given
the post-September 11 climate, it’s a wonder this wasn’t delayed until 2002).
Robert Redford, who could barely keep himself or audiences awake with The
Last Castle, here makes the most of his best role in years; he’s cast as
veteran CIA operative Nathan Muir, who, on the day of his retirement, learns
that his former protegee Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) has been arrested in China on
a charge of espionage and will be executed in 24 hours. Muir’s status has long
been downsized as “old-school” by younger CIA hotshots more interested in cutting
profitable deals than maintaining law and order, but once he learns that the
agency has no intention of helping Bishop, he uses every crusty trick in the
book to thwart his employers and save Bishop’s neck. Spy Game spends
much of its time jetsetting around the world in flashback sequences that establish
the Muir-Bishop relationship; these are essential to the story’s arc, yet they
don’t compare to the less frantic (yet even more compelling) scenes in which
Muir mentally outmaneuvers his shady CIA cohorts at every turn.
ALSO PLAYING
DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE Yet another dum-dum thriller. John Travolta is
appealing as a divorced dad who believes his son (Matt O’Leary) when the latter
tells him he witnessed his new stepdad (Vince Vaughn) murder another man, and
Steve Buscemi steals the film in his brief scenes as the victim. But Vaughn’s
character is clearly up to no good, Teri Polo’s mom is too slow on the uptake
to earn much sympathy, and the climax is simply ludicrous. 1/2
FROM HELL The Hughes Brothers (Menace II Society) tackle the
legend of Jack the Ripper, with satisfactory results. This may not possess the
macabre sense of showmanship that made Sleepy Hollow such a kinky kick
(both films, incidentally, star Johnny Depp as the detective on the case), but
on its own terms, it’s an effective thriller that’s densely plotted and well-paced.
K-PAX Offensively sanctimonious, flagrantly derivative and just plain
dull, this insufferable picture casts Kevin Spacey as Prot, a mental patient
who claims to be from another planet. Spacey’s performance is built on nothing
but putrid platitudes and affected mannerisms — frankly, I didn’t think it
was possible for him to ever be this bad — while Jeff Bridges’ cardboard role
(as the doctor on the case) is far beneath his capabilities.
LIFE AS A HOUSE With its conflicted characters and sense of irony,
this drama about a divorced architect (Kevin Kline) trying to settle his affairs
before cancer takes him initially feels like a yard sale version of American
Beauty. But as the story progresses, its empathic nature and some choice
performances eventually wear down all resistance to its rollicking charms.
THE MAN WHO WASN’T THERE Billy Bob Thornton stars as a taciturn barber
who discovers that his wife (Frances McDormand) is having an affair; he resorts
to blackmail, a scheme that ends up leading to murder instead. Joel and Ethan
Coen, no stranger to genre sendups, have turned to the smoke-choked world of
film noir, and the result is an interesting misfire, a mixed bag that contains
a number of wonderful moments that never quite coalesce. 1/2
MULHOLLAND DRIVE Audacious, infuriating, and the sort of divisive movie
we’ve come to expect from one of America’s most idiosyncratic filmmakers, David
Lynch’s latest piece of delirium works both as an exercise in bravura moviemaking
and as a commentary on the very nature of cinema itself. As the perky blonde
heroine, Naomi Watts delivers an unexpectedly complex performance that ranks
with the year’s best.
TRAINING DAY An idealistic rookie cop (Ethan Hawke) learns the law
of the streets under the corrupt eye of his superior (Denzel Washington). Rivetting
performances by Hawke and especially Washington are what keep us watching even
after the movie surrounding them falls apart. 1/2
This article appears in Dec 15-21, 2001.
