Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius (G) It takes a little while for this computer-animated feature from Nickelodeon to find its groove, but once it does, it rarely lets us down. The brisk little romp of a story will appeal to adults almost as much as to kids (a pint-size savant with a hairdo like a scoop of softserve leads a rescue mission for alien-abducted parents) and it all cruises along nicely on a steady stream of nifty 3-D visuals and highly entertaining gags. Directed by John A. Davis.
John Q (PG-13) This shrill, preachy two-hour commercial for National Health Care is a major disappointment from everyone involved. Denzel Washington stars as the title character, a decent but down-on-his-luck dad who takes an emergency room hostage when he finds his insurance won't cover an expensive heart transplant operation for his adorable little son. The movie features some credible performances and big names (Denzel, James Woods, Robert Duvall), but it's simplistic, bombastic and blatantly manipulative as it crams scene after scene down our throats of John Q and company suffering, sobbing and just generally being screwed over by the system (virtually every figure of authority in the movie is nothing less — or more — than a complete monster). The movie's righteously indignant heart is certainly in the right place, but John Q unintentionally verges on caricature. The much-maligned Mad City of some years back did all this better. Also stars Elise Kimberly, James Woods and Anne Heche. Opens Feb. 15 at local theaters.
Kandahar (NR) A haunting and exquisitely visualized portrait of life in Afghanistan under the Taliban, Kandahar was shot about a year ago, just before the fecal matter really hit the fan. The film's narrative is inspired by the real-life situation of Nelofer Pazira, a Afghan-Canadian journalist who dreamed of returning to her homeland to come to the aid of a childhood friend made dangerously despondent by the Taliban's brutal atrocities. In Kandahar, Nelofer (redubbed Nafas) essentially plays herself, and makes good on her desire to travel back to the land of her birth (actually a remote section of Iran subbing for Afghanistan). What Nafas sees and what happens to her on the road to Kandahar is the sum and substance of the movie, and is often so exceedingly strange that one doesn't quite know whether to laugh or to curl up into a fetal ball. As with so much in the Islamic world, there are things here that are profoundly beautiful as well as much that is profoundly scary. The movie is structured as a series of loosely connected episodes, some apparently made up on the spot, giving Kandahar a feel not unlike that of an open-ended and supremely exotic road movie. Held over at Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm. 4
Kung Pow: Enter the Fist (PG-13) The martial arts genre gets the broad spoof treatment — a la Scary Movie — but with reportedly not the same level of skill. The plot, such as it is, revolves around a guy called The Chosen One who sets out to avenge his parents' death at the hands of an evil kung fu legend.
(Not Reviewed)
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (PG-13) The first of Peter Jackson's long-awaited adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy succeeds on just about every level it's supposed to. For virtually its entire three-hour running time, Jackson's epic fantasy keeps us happily immersed in the stuff of legends, sort of like a Harry Potter for grown-ups. Stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee. 
Monster's Ball (R) Not exactly a character study and not quite a love story, although there are elements of both here: Monster's Ball is essentially about two very different people whose lives happen to intersect at a given moment when both are very much in need of something that the other is able to give. That one of the characters is black and the other white (and a bigot to boot), just makes the film all the more interesting, although by the end Monster's Ball winds up coming a little too close to simply being a morality play about the redemption of a racist.
