Movie Reviews
Capsule reviews of movies opening Friday:
Chicago 10
(R)
Writer-director Brett Morgen contrasts volatile documentary footage of protesters and police at the 1968 Democratic National Convention with 3-D animated re-creations of the infamous trial that followed. Voices by Jeffrey Wright, Nick Nolte, Roy Scheider and Mark Ruffalo.
City of Men
(R)
This film, directed by Paulo Morelli and produced by Fernando Meirelles (“The Constant Gardener”), returns to the Brazilian favelas of the Academy Award-nominated film “City of God.” Growing up in a culture dictated by violence and run by street gangs, two boys find their 18th birthdays fast approaching, and one sets out to find the father he never met while the other struggles to raise his own young son.
The Other Boleyn Girl
(PG-13)
Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson portray, respectively, Anne and Mary Boleyn, who are pushed by their ambitious family to court the affections of the king of England (Eric Bana) and become ruthless rivals. Directed by Justin Chadwick.
Romulus, My Father
(R)
Australian actor Richard Roxburgh directed this adaptation of Raimond Gaita’s autobiographical novel about a young boy’s relationship with his stern immigrant father and frequently absent mother. With Eric Bana.
Semi-Pro
(R)
Will Ferrell stars as a one-hit-wonder pop star who buys a lowly American Basketball Association team and must find a way to win if they are to survive the league’s 1976 merger with the NBA. With Woody Harrelson, Will Arnett and Rob Corddry. Directed by Kent Alterman.
Summer Palace
(Unrated)
Two young students become lovers and are caught up in the political unrest and turmoil of late 1980s China. With Hao Lei and Guo Xiaodong. Written and directed by Lou Ye. In Mandarin and German with English subtitles.
Vivere
(Unrated)
A cab driver, on her way to Rotterdam to collect her younger sister, picks up a stranded older woman. With Hannelore Elsner and Esther Zimmering. Written and directed by Angelina Maccarone. In German with English subtitles.
A Walk to Beautiful
(Unrated)
Five Ethiopian women struggle to regain their dignity after suffering devastating childbirth injuries. Directed by Mary Olive Smith.
COMPILED FROM WIRE REPORTS
^Also in Theaters
“Alvin and the Chipmunks” – Don’t call it a comeback. The Chipmunks, those high-frequency crooners of yore, hardly ever went away – they released music and videos right up through 2004. Now the rambunctious rodents are the latest franchise to get a reboot, bouncing and warbling through multiplexes in “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” a live-action/computer-generated holiday movie aimed straight at kids. And, dang it, the little animated rodents are cute. Not as cute as the uber-rendered daemons of “The Golden Compass,” but they’ll do. (1:31) PG for some mild rude humor.
“Atonement” – As directed by Joe Wright and acted with fervor by Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, this is one of the few adaptations that gives a splendid novel (by Ian McEwan) the film it deserves. An assured and deeply moving work, “Atonement” is at once one of the most affecting of contemporary love stories and a potent meditation on the power of fiction to destroy and create, to divide and possibly heal. It is about the effects a young girl’s false accusations have on her older sister (Knightley) and her lover (McAvoy). (2:03) R for disturbing war images, language and some sexuality.
“Be Kind Rewind” – French director Michel Gondry has made a movie about a couple of guys who accidentally de-magnetize an entire video store’s inventory and decide to restore the videos by shooting lo- fi, DIY and crafty versions of their own. Video store, you say? That’s right. Tapes? Yes. And the story’s not set in the past, either. If this sounds like an interesting comment on artistic appropriation, it’s not quite. Their approach is more geeky fan-boy than postmodern warrior. After all, what the characters are engaged in here is not piracy, it’s imitation as the sincerest form of flattery. (1:41) PG-13 for some sexual references.
“The Bucket List” – This travelogue of triteness is the story of two older men with terminal medical conditions. It arrived on Christmas Day to remind us to live life to its fullest and leave no cliche unturned. Its watchability almost entirely depends on your tolerance of Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson doing the things that made them stars and won them Oscars, only much more so. (1:37) PG- 13 for language, including a sexual reference.
“Charlie Bartlett” – A wanly charming throwback of a teen movie, this is a coming-of-age story about an oddball misfit (Anton Yelchin) who finally achieves the popularity that’s eluded him for years by becoming his school’s de facto shrink. You want to forgive “Charlie Bartlett” its fixation with “Harold and Maude,”"Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and “Rushmore” because there’s much about it to like. Director Jon Poll never picks a tone and sticks to it, and as a result, the movie is neither quite naturalistic nor stylized enough and Charlie’s character vacillates between charming-soulful and creepy-weird. (1:37) R for language, drug content and brief nudity.
“Definitely, Maybe” – This slick romantic comedy has several things going for it, including an interesting premise that centers on a young father talking about his romantic past and an attractive cast that includes Ryan Reynolds, Isla Fisher, Elizabeth Banks and Rachel Weisz. Getting all its elements to cohere, however, is too often just beyond its grasp. (1:45) PG-13 for sexual content, including some frank dialogue, language and smoking.
“The Eye” – French directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud (“Them”) helm the inevitable remake of the Pang brothers’ international hit about a previously blind young woman tormented by visions after double corneal transplant surgery. With Jessica Alba and Alessandro Nivola. PG-13 for violence/terror and disturbing content.
“Fool’s Gold” – An action-romance in the vein of “Romancing the Stone,” this garland of set pieces features Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson in mortal danger, strung together by beach-groovy musical hooks. It feels, at times, like a third-rate Bond movie cut with a Jimmy Buffett song. Cheesy, but not without its oily and insidious charms. But this is not a recommendation so much as it is a prediction that you’ll catch it on a plane sometime and it’ll pass the hours. McConaughey is a charismatic treasure hunter seeking a long-lost 18th century queen’s dowry. (1:53) PG-13 for action violence, some sexual material, brief nudity and language.
“Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert” – The megapopular TV and pop star and her alter ego (or is it vice versa?) enthrall fans on her 54-city tour. With the Jonas Brothers, Kenny Ortega and Billy Ray Cyrus. Directed by Bruce Hendricks. G.
“Jumper” – The science-fiction thriller tracks the adventures of a callow bon vivant (Hayden Christensen) capable of teleporting himself instantaneously to anywhere in the world so long as he can see it, has a visual recollection or a photo of it. The movie seems half-done, a long prologue building to a classic hero’s journey or the launch of an antihero but comes to a screeching halt before it can really begin either. (1:32) PG-13 for sequences of intense action violence, some language and brief sexuality.
“Juno” – A spunky teenage girl (Ellen Page) gets herself pregnant and decides to carry the pregnancy to term and then give “the thing” (as she fondly refers to her unborn progeny) up for adoption to a picture-perfect couple she finds advertised in the local PennySaver. The film, an Oscar winner for its screenplay by Diablo Cody, is hilarious and sweet-tempered, perceptive and surprisingly grounded. It’s also a gust of fresh air, perspective-wise, in that it follows the gestational misadventures of a girl from the girl’s point of view. Deceptively superficial at the outset, the movie deepens into something poignant and unexpected. (1:31) PG-13 for mature thematic material, sexual content and language.
“The Spiderwick Chronicles” – Based on the children’s fantasy series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, this film is the story of what happens to a trio of kids in trouble when their newly single mom moves them from New York to a crumbling, fairy and goblin- infested Victorian mansion in the country where they soon run afoul of the local ogre. Considering all this, Mark Waters’ version is mercifully short on the childlike wonder. Instead, this somewhat generic but lively and action-packed movie focuses largely on the chase. (1:40) PG for scary creature action, violence, peril and some thematic elements.
“Step Up 2: The Streets” – Providing you’re not hip-hop- or cliche-averse, see this film with the right expectations and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. It’s just as cornball as “Step Up” (2006), but it’s more fun – more of a full-on dance musical, its plot a mere slip of a thing designed to whisk you to the next excuse for another choreographic and ab-centric display. A rebellious young street dancer finds herself on the outside when she enters a prestigious arts school. (1:38) PG-13 for language, some suggestive material, and brief violence.
“There Will Be Blood” – This joint venture between lead actor Oscar-winner Daniel Day-Lewis and director Paul Thomas Anderson might be the most incendiary combination since the Molotov cocktail. This morality play set in the early days of California’s oil boom can be over the top and excessive, but it also creates considerable heat and light. (2:39) R for some violence.
“27 Dresses” – Katherine Heigl stars as a woman who reevaluates her perennial bridesmaid status when her little sister wins the heart of the man Jane has had a secret crush on in this romantic comedy. With James Marsden, Edward Burns and Malin Akerman. Directed by Anne Fletcher. PG-13 for language, some innuendo and sexuality.
“Vantage Point” – This slick thriller examines the attempted assassination of the president of the United States from the viewpoints of eight different individuals. Starring Dennis Quaid as a heroic Secret Service agent, it ends up proving that a good script needs to be more than a clever concept and fine direction must be more than moving things fast. (K.Tu., Feb. 22) (1:24) PG-13 for sequences of intense violence and action, some disturbing images and brief strong language.
“Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins” – Writer-director Malcolm D. Lee sets out to prove that you can go home again, but the lesson in this rude family comedy apparently is that it’s going to be painful for everyone involved (audiences included). Martin Lawrence stars as a daytime TV talk show host who returns to his family home in Georgia after a nine-year absence. (1:54) PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and some drug references.
“Witless Protection” – Larry the Cable Guy stars as a small-town sheriff who inadvertently “saves” a high-profile FBI witness and involves himself in solving the case. With Ivana Milicevic, Yaphet Kotto, Eric Roberts, Joe Mantegna and Jenny McCarthy. Written and directed by Charles Robert Carner. PG-13 for crude and sex-related humor.
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