KISS KISS, BANG BANG (R) Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black makes his directorial debut with Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang, a hugely entertaining effort starring Robert Downey Jr. in his juiciest performance in years. Downey is a fine bundle of nerves as Harry, a petty thief turned actor, who hooks up with a gay detective called — drum roll, please — Gay Perry (Val Kilmer), in a Bizarro World reconfiguration of Mel Gibson and Danny Glover's odd couple act. The first half hour or so of Kiss Kiss Bang Bang almost completely forgoes plot in order to set these weirdly mismatched characters loose in what is essentially a wicked little satire of the Hollywood scene. When the plot does finally kick in it hardly matters, since Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang turns out to be modeled on those wonderfully convoluted, classic Raymond Chandler noir-mysteries where even the writer isn't sure who killed whom and why. The scrambled plot is amplified by scrambled narration guiding us through action that stops and starts, backtracks and digresses in ways that are sometimes almost too clever. Black seems to literally be having a blast here, riffing on genres, turning conventions inside out, piling on outrageous gag after gag, and spoofing the buddy movies and action flicks that have made him rich and famous. Also stars Michelle Monaghan and Corbin Bernsen. 4 stars.
NORTH COUNTRY (R) An uncomplicated but rousing tale of female empowerment and workers' rights in the good ol'-fashioned, issues-oriented style of Norma Rae and Silkwood, North Country is the story of how the nation's first class-action suit for sexual harassment came about. Charlize Theron stars as Josey Aimes, who runs away from an abusive husband only to land smack dab in the middle of a workplace polluted by some of the nastiest testosterone around. As we follow Josey's escalating humiliations at the hands of male co-workers and bosses, North Country combines elements of thriller, soap opera and courtroom drama, even as it succeeds in personalizing a critical moment in American history. North Country is the Hollywood debut of the New Zealand director Niki Caro, whose much-loved Whale Rider also featured a lone female treading in traditionally male territory, and the filmmaker fleshes out the dynamics of Aimes' tight-knit, Minnesota mining community with the same careful attention to detail she brought to the male-dominated Maori society of her earlier film. Also stars Frances McDormand, Woody Harrelson, Sissy Spacek, Richard Jenkins and Sean Bean. 3.5 stars.
PRIME (PG-13) Written and directed by Ben Younger (Boiler Room), Prime takes a witty yet realistic look at the complications that arise in cross-generational dating. Academy Award nominee Uma Thurman stars as Rafi, a 37-year-old divorcee living and working in Manhattan. After meeting and getting to know Dave (Bryan Greenberg) in more positions than she ever thought possible, Rafi begins to see the possibility of loving another, even if he is 14 years younger than she, proving that the power of attraction lies not within the boundaries of social "norms" but outside definition and rationality. Falling in love doesn't happen without some obstructive consequences, however, as Rafi and Dave soon learn through Dr. Lisa Metzger (played by Meryl Streep), Rafi's therapist and, as we soon find out, also Dave's rather distressed mother. From the almost stereotypical romantic comedy introduction to its fitting conclusion, Prime is a well-balanced, live-and-learn type of film with spark, touch and very little lag. 3.5 stars.
— ADAM C. CAPPARELLI
SAW II (R) As with the original Saw, an appreciation of Saw II largely depends on one's appetite for seeing people getting sliced, diced, skewered and charred. The premise here once again involves characters trapped in a controlled environment and picked off by a deranged but brilliant sicko in ways that the filmmakers hope we'll find ingenious. 2 stars.
SEPARATE LIES (R) A hit-and-run incident shakes up life and exposes tensions in a quiet, upper-class neighborhood in the English countryside in this study of murder and adultery among people who aren't supposed to go in for that sort of thing. Tom Wilkinson and Emily Watson deliver typically fine performances as the couple at the center of it all, and Rupert Everett steals the show as the pampered and vaguely unpleasant neighbor who becomes one more monkey wrench among many. 3.5 stars.
SHOPGIRL (R) Shopgirl is Martin's much ballyhooed "serious" project, based on his novella, and full of unrequited longing and flawed, disappointed characters. The movie is beautifully crafted but basically another one of those mopey, middle-aged male fantasies in which an older man hooks up with a younger woman and the heart proceeds to want what the heart wants. Martin plays the older man who pursues and lands the titular shopgirl (Claire Danes), an aspiring artist who pays the rent by working behind the counter at Saks. There's a scruffy young slacker in the romantic mix as well, amusingly played by Jason Schwartzman, although Shopgirl never makes much of the possibilities arising from those complications. 2.5 stars.
