Film Clips for 6/7/2006

Opening

Cars (G) Owen Wilson, Paul Newman, Bonnie Hunt, Larry the Cable Guy, Cheech Marin, Tony Shalhoub. Lower your expectations a bit. Cars, the latest from the wizards at Pixar Studios, is good, but not as good as their last few features. Certainly, the film — set in a world of talking cars — is entertaining, the computer animation is better than ever and the voice work is impeccable. However, the production drags in spots and the story — about a supremely self-assured race car (Wilson) forced to adjust to a slower-paced lifestyle when he lands afoul of the law in a sleepy little town on Route 66 — is less than inspired (or more to the point, it seems to be overly inspired by the 1991 Michael J. Fox comedy Doc Hollywood). Cars towers over the CGI ’toons put out by other studios, but compared to the most recent Pixar offerings — Finding Nemo and The Incredibles — the movie comes up short. 116 minutes. —EJO

Keeping Up With the Steins (PG-13) Jami Gertz, Daryl Hannah, Garry Marshall, Jeremy Piven, Doris Roberts, Daryl Sabara, Larry Miller, Cheryl Hines, Richard Benjamin. Feature-length sitcom about the circus-like atmosphere surrounding the Bar Mitzvah of young Benjamin Fiedler (Sabara), whose family lives in up-up-upscale Brentwood, Calif. The poor kid just wants to get the ceremony over with, but his parents (Piven and Gertz) are planning an outlandishly overblown party to one-up a business rival. Matters become even more complicated when his long-absent hippie grandpa (Marshall, who does a nude scene!) shows up. The comedy is very broad, but the movie was funny and goodhearted enough to keep me happy. 99 minutes. At Landmark’s Keystone Art Cinema. —EJO

The Lost City (R) Andy Garcia, Ines Sastre, Tomas Milian, Richard Bradford, Nestor Carbonell, Enrique Murciano, Dominik Garcia-Lorido, Dustin Hoffman, Bill Murray. A labor of love by Andy Garcia, who directs and stars in a story of the effects of the Cuban Revolution of 1958-’59 on one Havana family. While his brothers get involved with Castro’s forces, Fico (Garcia) tries to keep his Casablanca-esque nightclub going. The melodrama is interesting, but thick and slow-moving. Epic stories of revolution, betrayal and loss shouldn’t become laborious. 138 minutes. At Landmark’s Keystone Art Cinema. —EJO

The Omen (R) Julia Stiles, Liev Schreiber, Mia Farrow, David Thewlis, Pete Postlethwaite, Michael Gambon, Seamus Davey-Fitzpatrick. Serviceable, but utterly needless remake of the 1976 horror hit about an American diplomat and his wife, living in London, whose young son just might be the Anti-Christ. This version recreates most of the set pieces from the first movie, which reinforces the sense of redundancy. As the parents, the talented Schreiber and Stiles simply don’t pack the punch of Gregory Peck and Lee Remick, which doesn’t help matters. The rest of the cast is stronger, but not strong enough to justify this project. 110 minutes. —EJO

A Prairie Home Companion (PG-13) Meryl Streep, Lily Tomlin, Garrison Keillor, Woody Harrelson, John C. Reilly, Lindsay Lohan, Kevin Kline. Robert Altman directs a loosey-goosey feature built around the long-running Public Radio variety show. Fans should expect a scaled-down version of the show with a half-hearted plot pasted on. And how to explain the show to non-fans? If the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain was owned by liberals instead of conservatives, A Prairie Home Companion is the show they’d underwrite. The music is mostly nice, a pleasant mix of folk, gospel and cowboy songs and Altman’s laid-back direction and gliding cameras are relaxing. I find Garrison Keillor’s shtick annoying, perhaps you will feel differently. The dour plot, which has the angel of death wandering around during the final broadcast of the show, leaves a bad taste in the mouth. 105 minutes. —EJO

Wild Safari 3D: A South African Adventure (NR) My pal Phil Lyles took two of his grandchildren, 12-year-old Whitney and 9-year-old Phil III, to see this giant-screen 3D look at the animals of South Africa, and a fine time was had by all. Phil III praised the realism and was impressed with the big cats, while Whitney appreciated the up-close-and-personal views of the wildlife, pronouncing the film “cool.” Phil the First agreed — he was impressed by the virtual reality safari and noted that the kids were crazy about the very effective 3D effects. 45 minutes. At the IMAX theatre in the Indiana State Museum.

Limited Run

On the Waterfront (NR) Marlon Brando, Karl Malden, Lee J. Cobb, Rod Steiger, Eva Marie Saint. Classic 1954 drama/thriller from Elia Kazan about a dockside worker who heroically goes up against his corrupt labor leaders to expose the union’s criminal practices. The idea for the film began with a Pulitzer Prize-winning expose series written for The New York Sun by reporter Malcolm Johnson. On the Waterfront won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Brando), Best Supporting Actress (Saint), Best Director (Kazan) and Best Story & Screenplay. 108 minutes. At Key Cinemas Beech Grove for one week only.

Shakespeare Behind Bars (NR) A documentary by Hank Rogerson and Jilann Spitzmiller. Documentary following the casting, rehearsal and presentation of Shakespeare’s play The Tempest by convicted felons inside Kentucky’s Luther Luckett Correctional Complex. Marking their seventh year as an acting ensemble, the inmates cast themselves according to their lives, and in relation to the crimes for which they were convicted. Just as in Shakespeare’s day, men play all the female roles. They swear that the roles “pick them,” and this proves true, as many of the men experience powerful epiphanies while exploring their characters. 93 minutes. At Key Cinemas Beech Grove for one week only.

First Run

Akeelah and the Bee (PG) Laurence Fishburne, Angela Bassett, Keke Palmer, Jeff Marlow, Sara Niemietz. Precocious 11-year-old Akeelah Anderson (Palmer) and her brother live in a poor Los Angeles neighborhood with their world-weary mother, Tanya (Bassett). Akeelah has a gift for spelling and is urged to set the National Spelling Bee as her goal. Will there be hardships? Will the cute little girl realize her dream? Of course you know everything that is going to happen in this elaborate after-school special, but it really doesn’t matter. As films like Hoosiers have shown, even the most clichéd story can work with the right people behind it. Palmer is good enough to hold her own with Fishburne and Bassett. Contrived, but sweet and inspirational nonetheless. 112 minutes. —EJO

An American Haunting (PG-13) Donald Sutherland, Sissy Spacek, Rachel Hurd-Wood, James D’Arcy, Matthew Marsh. This is the kind of ghost story that will make you sleep with the lights on. The film is based on a documented haunting in Tennessee from 1817 to 1821 that centered on the Bell family, known as the Bell Witch Haunting. However, the movie offers its own angle. Not only do we see the Bell family (particularly young Betsy) tormented by unseen forces, but also the screenplay posits a reason for the haunting. Instead of dwelling on imagery to psyche you out, the filmmakers let the story do its job. Spooky stuff. 91 minutes. —Lisa Gauthier

The Break-Up (PG-13) Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Aniston, Joey Lauren Adams, Ann-Margaret, Jason Bateman. Pushed to the breaking-up point after their latest “why can’t you do this one little thing for me?” argument, art dealer Brooke (Aniston) calls it quits with her boyfriend, Gary (Vaughn), who hosts bus tours of Chicago. What follows is a series of remedies, war tactics, overtures and underminings, suggested by the former couple’s friends, confidantes and the occasional total stranger. When neither ex is willing to move out of the condo they used to share, the only solution is to continue living as hostile roommates until somebody caves. 106 minutes.

The Da Vinci Code (PG-13) Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Alfred Molina, Ian McKellen, Jean Reno, Paul Bettany. On the surface, The Da Vinci Code is a chase film. Tom Hanks plays a scholar on the run with a mysterious French accomplice (the enchanting Audrey Tautou), avoiding dark and menacing forces that Hanks must understand in order to survive. There is potential here for a cinematic cocktail but director Ron Howard and screenwriter Akiva Goldsman apparently believe they need to load the story with Dan Brown’s alternative version of Christian history. This means that nothing happens in the film without a lot of explaining, including historical re-creations of scenes from crusades to witch hunts. At times it feels as if the movie stops for messages from the History Channel. 149 minutes. —David Hoppe

Deep Sea 3D (G) Narrated by Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet. A corker, one of the best IMAX movies ever. Filmed over the course of a year, the production introduces viewers to an absolutely incredible array of undersea creatures. Remember the first time you saw the cantina scene in the original Star Wars? Welcome to the underwater version, only the life forms here are even weirder than the freaky denizens of that sci-fi gin joint. What you will see here is far more alien than anything George Lucas ever cooked up. And, thanks to some very effective 3D photography, these alien entities appear to be floating about as close to your face as this newspaper is right now. 40 minutes. At the IMAX Theater in the State Museum. —EJO

Just My Luck (PG-13) Lindsay Lohan, Chris Pine, Samaire Armstrong, Carlos Ponce, Bree Turner, Faizon Love. Ashley (Lohan) is a young professional just out of college. She also happens to be the luckiest woman in the world, who has lived a super-charmed life and has always taken her good luck for granted. When she kisses a handsome stranger (Pine) at a costume party, Ashley accidentally swaps her good fortune for his horribly bad luck, and her charmed life turns into a living hell. 103 minutes.

Kinky Boots (PG-13) Linda Bassett, Josh Cole, Gwenllian Davies, Joel Edgerton, Chiwetel Ejiofor. From the makers of Calendar Girls. Charlie Price (Edgerton) faces the impending shutdown of the shoe factory his family has owned for generations. Just when he feels that all is lost, he has a chance encounter with Lola (Ejiofor), a flamboyant transvestite cabaret star. Lola’s desire for stylish, kinky boots for herself and her colleagues provides hope for the factory and its employees. Director Julian Jarrold explores what happens when two outcast dreamers finally figure out how to stand up for themselves … in thigh-high leather stilettos. Based on a true story. 106 minutes. At Landmark’s Keystone Art Cinema.

Mission Impossible III (PG-13) Tom Cruise, Ving Rhames, Keri Russell, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bahar Soomekh, Laurence Fishburne, Billy Crudup. The third installment of the action franchise, directed by J.J. Abrams (Lost, Alias), is packed with jazzy stunts and close-ups of steely-eyed Tom Cruise, who reprises his role as secret agent Ethan Hunt. Actually, that may be an overstatement, as it implies there is a character that must be recreated. Actually, Cruise just does what he usually does. Philip Seymour Hoffman contributes a creepy, but one-note performance as the bad guy. OK for what it is, but there is nothing here you haven’t seen before. 126 minutes. —EJO

Over the Hedge (PG) Bruce Willis, Garry Shandling, Steve Carell, Wanda Sykes, William Shatner. Funny, cute, ordinary cartoon. RJ the raccoon (Willis) has one week to replace the cache of junk food he stole from Vincent the bear (Nolte) or else. To get the job done, he cons a group of other animals to help him snag goodies from the humans living in the suburbs. The computer-animated comedy from Dreamworks features none of the magic of films like Toy Story, Finding Nemo or The Incredibles, but compared to recent offerings like Chicken Little or The Wild, it looks pretty good. If that sounds like I’m damning the movie with faint praise, well, thanks for noticing. 84 minutes. —EJO

Poseidon (PG-13) Kurt Russell, Josh Lucas, Emmy Rossum, Jacinda Barrett, Richard Dreyfuss. Cheese-fest, folks. Start the death pool early to get the most out of this flick. A loose re-make of The Poseidon Adventure from the 1970s, this version has none of the staying power of the original. Special effects start out strong, but kind of peter away as the movie wears on. Granted, there are a couple of scenes that will have you on the edge of your seat, but after a while, it becomes impossible to suspend disbelief any longer without incurring serious damage to your psyche. Take it as an opportunity to laugh with your friends on the way home. 99 minutes. —Lisa Gauthier

The Proposition (R) Guy Pearce, Danny Huston, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson. Hot and humorless. For director John Hillcoat and moody chanseur-turned-amateur screenwriter Nick Cave, the sun-blasted landscape of the Australian outback would be a theater of revenge on a mythic scale, as one outlaw brother is asked to kill another in order to have a third one spared. A bloody flogging, butchery and other forms of fly-attracting murder ensue. If, back in the day, Peter Fonda and Charles Manson had gotten loaded and made a movie together, it might have looked something like this. For some, this may sound like an endorsement — it is not. —David Hoppe

RV (PG) Robin Williams, Jeff Daniels, Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth. At first glance, a light comedy about a family man trying to break out of the rat race and bond with his wife and kids. The Monro Family hits the road in an RV so Dad (Williams) can preserve his job and his family’s lifestyle. With lots of physical comedy, poop jokes, precarious run-ins with feral animals and high/low culture clashes, RV is a gag reel with a moral about family togetherness. Upon closer inspection, it’s a commentary on the end of convenience. 98 minutes. —AL

See No Evil (R) Glen Jacobs, Michael J. Pagan, Tiffany Lamb, Penny McNamee, Craig Horner. A group of youths from a juvenile corrections facility are assigned to renovate an old hotel over the weekend and end up being terrorized by a crazed serial killer who dwells on the upper floors. 84 minutes.
The Sentinel (PG-13) Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eva Longoria, Kim Basinger, Martin Donovan. Thriller. A secret service agent (Douglas) is having an affair with the first lady. When another agent assigned to the White House is murdered, the agent becomes a suspect in what may be a plot to assassinate the president. 108 minutes.

Stick It (PG-13) Jeff Bridges, Missy Peregrym, Vanessa Lengies, Tarah Paige. Haley Graham (Peregrym) is a rebellious 17-year-old who is forced to return to the regimented world of gymnastics after a run-in with the law. A judge sentences Haley to her ultimate nightmare: attending an elite gymnastics academy run by legendary hard-nosed coach Burt Vickerman (Bridges). Haley’s rebellious spirit and quick-witted banter shakes things up at the strict school. She discovers an unexpected ally in the form of her new coach and learns respect is a two-way street. Ah, but what about the big match? 105 minutes.

Thank You for Smoking (R) Aaron Eckhart, Maria Bello, Cameron Bright, Adam Brody, Sam Elliott, Katie Holmes, David Koechner, Rob Lowe, William H. Macy. Smart, snappy R-rated comedies that aren’t about overgrown frat boys trying to get laid do not come along very often, so please take note of Thank You for Smoking, an exceptional satire for grown-ups. Based on the novel by Christopher Buckley, the story of Nick Naylor (Eckhart), a charismatic lobbyist for the tobacco industry, is focused and very funny. Eckhart is wonderful as a master of the art of persuasion who truly loves his work. “The beauty of an argument is that if you argue correctly, you’re never wrong,” he tells his son, and he almost makes us believe him. 92 minutes. —EJO

United 93 (R) David Rasche, Ben Sliney, JJ Johnson, David Alan Basche, Cheyenne Jackson. The third feature about the hijacked plane that crashed in the Pennsylvania countryside on Sept. 11, 2001, following two well-done TV productions. Writer-director Paul Greengrass (Bloody Sunday) brings a bigger budget and a slightly more immediate feel to his theatrical recreation. The most interesting thing about his approach is what he leaves out. The two earlier productions devoted time to the passengers that made phone calls and the people they called, but Greengrass does not offer even a glimpse of the recipients of the calls. Moreover, he mostly avoids even identifying the passengers by name. The focus is on the group rather than the individuals — everybody matters the same. We watch as a group of strangers come to realize that they are aboard a suicide flight and that they have to do something. Regardless of the occasional reality tweak, United 93 succeeds as a gripping recreating of one nightmarish part of what is probably the worst day in American history. 111 minutes. —EJO

X-Men: The Last Stand (PG-13) Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Kelsey Grammer. I opened my review of the last X-Men movie by saying, “As The Empire Strikes Back is to Star Wars, so is X2: X-Men United to X-Men.” After watching X-Men: The Last Stand, I now add: And X3 pretty much falls into place as the Return of the Jedi of the series. It tries too hard. The movie is so overstuffed that it must short shrift plotlines, ideas and characters. The score comes on too strong and some of the dialogue sounds like an outsider’s idea of how comic book characters should talk. It lacks finesse and it draws much of its power from the strength and momentum of the first two films. I could go on. But the bottom line is that, regardless of its problems, I had a great time. X3 is fast-moving, exciting and occasionally shocking. I laughed, I cried (well, almost) and, afterwards, I let out a sigh of relief because new series director Brett Radner didn’t wreck the franchise. 104 minutes. —EJO