PROOF (PG-13) A so-so play becomes a so-so movie in Proof, featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as the frumpy and somewhat unstable daughter of a famously deranged and now deceased math whiz (Anthony Hopkins). This is well-acted but not particularly engaging stuff (unless, I suppose, you happen to be a world-class math geek yourself or just can't get enough stories about clingy, grown-up daughters hung up on their thoroughly messed-up fathers) and, despite efforts by class-act director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love) to open up the material, it's all terribly stage-bound. In a nutshell, another tastefully sleepy, middle-brow art film to be seen, filed away and forgotten. Also stars Hope Davis and Jake Gyllenhaal. ** 1/2
ROLL BOUNCE (PG-13) Director Malcolm D. Lee (Undercover Brother) offers what we suspect might be the silliest movie of the year. Lil' Bow Wow stars as Xavier ("X" to his friends), leader of a hotshot roller-skating gang (we kid you not) on the south side of '70s Chicago. When their rink closes, the gang heads uptown to a swankier one, where they engage in a skate-off against rival rollers. And, oh yeah — it's a musical. Also stars Chi McBride and Mike Epps. (Not Reviewed)
SERENITY (PG-13) Devoted fans of Firefly, the short-lived show from cult TV guru Josh Whedon (Buffy, Angel), will likely go crazy for this big screen version, but the results are decidedly more mixed for the rest of us. Serenity is set in a future some 500 years from now, and follows a band of misfit rebels as they're chased across the universe by the Alliance, an oppressive coalition government that wants to get its hands on River (Summer Glau), a powerful, 17-year-old psychic traveling with the rebels. The storyline has even more interesting complications and convolutions, but the film doesn't really tie them together in a cohesive, satisfying way, and Serenity tends to lurch ahead in a curiously clunky, episodic manner that seems more suited to the small screen than the big one. Also stars Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin and Sean Maher. ***
SHORT CUT TO NIRVANA: KUMBH MELA (NR) See a woman buried alive for three days and emerge fresh as a daisy! See a man who has held his arm up over his head for 20 years! It's all here in Short Cut to Nirvana: Kumbh Mela, a documentary about an event that makes the Burning Man festival look rather puny and tame. The Kumbh Mela is an ancient celebration of spirituality that, beginning in the year 500 B.C., has been held every 12 years in the area where the sacred waters of the Ganges and Yamuna rivers converge in India. With an estimated 70 million pilgrims attending the most recent event, it is also the largest gathering of humans on the planet. Short Cut to Nirvana is filmmakers Maurizio Benazzo and Nick Day's record of that most recent Kumbh Mela, held in 2001. But while you'll get an eyeful of extravagantly odd behavior and circus-like atmosphere, there's not much effort expended in putting the material into context or organizing it in any discernable way. And if it's illumination that you're after, well, you can forget about that too. On the other hand, if it's the rush of pure sensationalism you desire, look no further than Short Cut to Nirvana. ***
THUMBSUCKER (R) It's not Napoleon Dynamite by a long stretch, or even Rushmore, but Mike Mills' directorial debut covers some of the same, suburban teen-angst territory and emerges as one of the funniest and most smartly written comedies of the moment. Lou Pucci (who took home a well-earned award from Sundance for his performance) stars as Justin, a thumb-sucking loner who transforms into a high school debate team attack dog, and then into something even stranger. Thumbsucker doesn't provide any revelations, but it's equally good detailing its wacky adults as it is exploring the inner life of its teenage characters. Pucci is a real find, but he's only part of a wonderful ensemble cast that includes Tilda Swinton, Vince Vaughn and Keanu Reeves as a very strange orthodontist. Also stars Vincent D'Onofrio and Benjamin Bratt. *** 1/2