1408 (PG-13) Paranormal investigator and confirmed skeptic Mike Enslin (John Cusack) meets his match when he checks in the titular room at a Manhattan hotel and finds all hell literally breaking loose. Based on a short story by Stephen King, 1408 is a welcome change from the Saw/Hostel splatterfests currently in vogue, but the film's approach isn't exactly old-school psychological-horror either. Director Mikael Hafstrom throws a steady stream of somewhat incongruous elements at the wall hoping something will stick, and while there's plenty of eerie atmosphere and surreal visions here, there are also lots of cheap tricks, with the equivalent of somebody jumping out of a closet and yelling "Boo!" every few minutes. Cusack is on screen nearly every moment here, and he's quite good, but the film is a mixed bag — for better or worse, a spot-on translation of King's compulsively watchable and eminently disposable style. Also stars Samuel L. Jackson and Mary McCormack. 3 stars
AFTER THE WEDDING (R) Former Dogme hard-liner Susanne Bier's most melodramatic leanings have surged to the surface, where they're aired out in feverishly opulent style. Mads Mikkelsen (the blood-weeping baddie from Casino Royale) stars as the Danish manager of a Bombay orphanage, whose meeting with a wealthy benefactor (Rolf Lassgard) lifts a veil on the past, uncorking a magnum of tears, traumas, secrets and lies. The camera still whips around nervously, almost Dogme-like at times, but the shots are just as likely to be smoothly executed and slickly composed. It's all absurdly over-heated and maybe even a bit silly, but I wouldn't at all call it unpleasant. The performances are uniformly strong, and although the director's style is now every bit as lush as her former approach was spartan, the execution here goes a long ways toward making palatable what is otherwise a pretty conventional storyline. Also stars Sidse Babett Knudsen and Stine Fischer Christensen. Opens June 22 at Tampa Theatre. Call theater to confirm. 3 stars
AWAY FROM HER (PG-13) Julie Christie stars as Fiona Anderson, a woman suffering from Alzheimer's, and as her memory vanishes, Away From Her sets itself the task of examining what remains. As much as the film focuses on Fiona's slow, slipping-away process, Away From Her is on equally intimate terms with her husband/caregiver Grant (Gordon Pinsent), and the bittersweet portrait painted here is ultimately a two-shot, a carefully layered mosaic of the couple's 44-year union. In a larger sense, the movie is a quietly telling examination of the nature of love itself, a reminder of what holds couples together even after the realization that our loved ones are not as we imagined them to be. In lesser hands this could easily have become treacly, even tedious going, but Away From Her turns out to be that rare, small film that packs an uncommonly large punch. Also stars Olympia Dukakis, Michael Murphy and Kristen Thomson. 3.5 stars
EVAN ALMIGHTY (PG-13) A sequel to Bruce Almighty minus Jim Carrey, in which Steve Carell goes all Noah-esque when God (Morgan Freeman) tells him to build an ark. Also stars Lauren Graham, Wanda Sykes, John Goodman and Steve Oedekerk. (Not Reviewed)
EVENING (PG-13) A chick flick with a serious pedigree, Evening offers up Vanessa Redgrave as an aging, ailing matriarch whose deathbed dreams revolve around a balmy weekend many decades past with her first great love. As flesh and consciousness slip into a place of pure memory (which is where the movie mostly occurs), Redgrave relates her tale to her grown daughters (Toni Collette and real-life Redgrave offspring Natasha Richardson), but mostly to herself. Claire Danes plays Redgrave's younger self (and though they look nothing alike, both women have the commanding presences to make this a good casting choice), who finds romance at a friend's wedding nearly a century ago. The object of Redgrave/Danes' affection is Patrick Wilson (who performed a similar function recently in Little Children), but then again, it seems like just about everybody is in love with this golden boy — from the soon-to-be-bride (Mamie Gummer) to her possibly-gay brother (Hugh Dancy). The entire movie basically just becomes a waiting game for the sparks to fly, which they eventually do (although not in particularly spectacular or even interesting fashion). There's plenty of estrogen-laced star-power here, and the performances are uniformly solid (with one truly remarkable scene between Redgrave and Meryl Streep that's alone worth the admission price), but the material is nothing special. Also stars Glenn Close, Mamie Gummer and Eileen Atkins. 2.5 stars
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER (PG-13) As superhero sagas go, this fledgling franchise has yet to prove its bankability, but that could all change with this new installment, which seems hand-designed for the fanboy crowd (those young-ish male louts who rule the box office). Rise of the Silver Surfer promises to be a geek's paradise, with some of Marvel Comics' most popular creations featured, including the titular silvery one and a beyond-good-and-evil nemesis who devours entire planets simply to exist. Oh yeah, and did we mention Jessica Alba? Also stars Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington. (Not Reviewed)
GEORGIA RULE (R) Two of the actresses you love to hate — Lindsay Lohan and Jane Fonda — are among the three featured female leads here. That should insure this movie attracts an audience of sorts, whether it be those seeking a car crash or a chick flick. As it happens, Georgia Rule is a bit of both. Felicity Huffman makes up the final third of the movie's female triad, playing a boozy Californian who sends her out-of-control teenaged daughter (Lohan) to spend the summer in Nowheresville, Idaho, with Huffman's estranged, iron-willed mother (Fonda). Director Garry Marshall (Pretty Woman, Runaway Bride) mercilessly milks the shtick resulting from three generations of feuding mothers and daughters, but the conflicts are mostly too tidy, the personalities too rigid, and every other gesture over-enunciated. It's like randomly channel surfing from Steel Magnolias to Porky's to some faceless Lifetime Movie of the Week, and rest assured that there will be hugs all around if you wait long enough for them. Also stars Dermot Mulroney, Garrett Hedlund and Cary Elwes. 2 stars
GRACIE (PG-13) This inspirational sports movie relates the titular teenager's struggle to play competitive soccer at a time (the late '70s) when polite society frowned on girls doing that sort of thing. Gracie is a family affair, starring Elisabeth and Andrew Shue, based on true events that happened to various members of the Shue clan back in the day, and directed by honorary Shue, Davis Guggenheim, who is married to Elisabeth. Also stars non-Shues Carly Schroeder, Dermot Mulroney and Emma Bell. (Not Reviewed)
JINDABYNE (R) Jindabyne is the new film from Australian director Ray Lawrence (Lantana), and it's another leisurely slog through minefields of murky emotions surrounding a soft, creamy center of pure ennui. What Lawrence has cooked up here is a much-expanded version of So Much Water So Close to Home, one of the Raymond Carver short stories Altman included in the multiple strands of Short Cuts. The movie crawls along like a slug stuck in its own slime-trail, its sundry characters gazing unhappily into the distance as the metaphorical storm clouds gather and portentously mystical vocals drone away on the soundtrack. There's a little soap opera, a lot of angst-ridden staring into the abyss and almost nothing that's remotely going to brighten anyone's day. Stars Gabriel Byrne, Laura Linney, Deborra-lee Furness, John Howard, Leah Purcell, Stelios Yiakmis and Simon Stone. Held over at Hollywood 20 in Sarasota. 2.5 stars
KNOCKED UP (R) This is the new one from Judd Apatow, writer-director of the painfully funny The 40-Year-Old Virgin, and although I'm not quite ready to go out on a limb and suggest that Apatow is the Thinking Person's Bobby and Peter Farrelly, Knocked Up feels a lot like what the Farrelly's movies might have been like had their films continued to get better after There's Something About Mary. The unlikely event fueling all the wackiness here is an unwanted pregnancy, the result of a drunken one-night-stand involving dumpy, unemployed pothead Ben (Seth Rogan) and go-getter Jessica Simpson look-alike Alison (Katherine Hegel), classically mismatched characters that a smart script and naturalistic performances help us believe could actually wind up together. Be warned, though. Knocked Up has a split personality, and although the humor here is mainly character-driven and quite clever, it can also be crude enough to make Kevin Smith blush. Also stars Paul Rudd, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill. 4 stars
LA VIE EN ROSE (PG-13) There's no American equivalent to France's Edith Piaf, although if pressed you might consider Elvis Presley, Billie Holiday and Iggy Pop all rolled up into one diminutive, iconoclastic package. A certified cultural institution in La Belle France, Piaf was as gifted as she was self-destructive, with a public image and musical repertoire forever fused in ways that make it pointless, if not impossible, trying to separate the singer's life from her art. La Vie en Rose offers us a remarkable Piaf in Marion Cotillard (Russell Crowe's plaything in A Good Year), then mirrors its subject's troublesome nature by flirting with both traditional Hollywood-esque storytelling and a gritty postmodern deconstruction. La Vie en Rose doesn't go in for flourishes (with a life this big, there's really no reason for hyperbole), nor does it feel the need to sugarcoat Piaf's personality. What we get here is Edith Piaf, warts and all, a monumental artist riddled with insecurities and as given to romantic idealism as she is to the cruelties of the street. Also stars Sylvie Testud, Emmanuelle Seigner, Gerard Depardieu, Jean-Pierre Martins, Clotilde Courau and Jean-Paul Rouve. 4 stars
LIVE FREE OR DIE HARD (PG-13) Old action movies don't die, they just fade away, and ditto for their stars. Bruce Willis is back as John McClane, now an agent with Homeland Security, but still a magnet for dastardly bad guys and the photogenic explosions caused by enormous vehicles smashing into even larger vehicles. Yippie-kay-ay. Whatever. Also stars Justin Long, Maggie Q, Timothy Olyphant and Jonathan Sadowski. (Not Reviewed)
A MIGHTY HEART (R) Bearing a surface resemblance to David Fincher's Zodiac — another police procedural more interested in blind alleys than investigative (or emotional) pay-offs — A Mighty Heart details the search for Daniel Pearl, the American journalist who was famously kidnapped and beheaded by Islamist nut jobs back in 2002. The movie unfolds from the perspective of Pearl's wife, Marianne (Angelina Jolie), a smart strategy that invites us to share her bewildered anxiety, while director Michael Winterbottom shoots the movie in what often feels like panic mode, hand-held cameras madly whirling and few shots lasting longer than a couple of seconds. Jolie is surprisingly credible here in a discreetly altered, dressed-down version of herself that moves among the movie's other characters without seeming too terribly out of place. Winterbottom is rigorously neutral in laying out the highly charged politics implicit in Pearl's story, but while A Mighty Heart touches upon some extremely sensitive ground, it never touches down for long, and the movie's refusal to take a stand begins to feel like a failure of nerve. Also stars Dan Futterman, Archie Panjabi, Irrfan Khan, Will Patton, Denis O'Hare, Adnan Siddiqui and Gary Wilmes. 3.5 stars
THE NAMESAKE (PG-13) A family saga spanning two generations, The Namesake is a film about packing up one's life and moving from one place to another. The principal bodies in motion here are Ashoke Ganguli (Irfan Khan) and his wife Ashima (Tabu), a Bengali couple who make a move to the United States and wind up living there as hyphenate-Americans, one foot in the old world and one foot in the new. Adapting Jhumpa Lahiri's 2003 bestseller in fine, cinematic style, director Mira Nair chronicles the Gangulis' changing lifestyles and attitudes over the years, detailing their trajectories with affection and rare intelligence, and giving the film a fluid, episodic feel that's mainly concerned with the everyday textures of life. 4 stars
NANCY DREW (PG) Adorable Emma Roberts, whose aunt is herself an adorable movie star (by the name of Julia), steps into the perfectly shined shoes of the famous tweener detective much loved by female readers of a certain age. Also stars Josh Flitter, Max Thierot, Rachael Leigh Cook and Tate Donovan. (Not Reviewed)
OCEAN'S 13 (PG-13) Who says star power is dead? The Ocean's movies may lack the fancy special effects and unadulterated escapism of other summer enterprises, but it's hard to deny the glossy appeal of Messrs. Clooney, Damon, Pitt and company, this time bolstered by the iconic presence of some guy named Pacino. Celine Dion's here too, but don't let that scare you away. Stars George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, Casey Affleck, Bernie Mac, Ellen Barkin and Scott Caan. (Not Reviewed)
PARIS JE T'AIME (R) A collaborative project featuring 18 six-minute shorts, Paris Je T'aime never actually becomes a chore to sit through, but neither does it really add up to anything significant. What we get here are 18 directors — some of them rather well-known, and with actual big-name stars in tow — delivering customized vignettes set in, and taking their emotional cues from, the fabled City of Lights. Each short takes place in a different Parisian neighborhood, and though the subject matter and tone differ wildly from film to film, all of them eventually work themselves around to the topic of love. The less-than-stellar material is forgiven, if not forgotten, in the light of a pair of wonderfully inventive pieces of whimsy — a bizarre live-action mime fantasy from The Triplets of Belleville director Sylvain Chomet, and a prime Coen Brothers freak-out featuring Steve Buscemi as a sad-sack tourist on the Paris Metro. Best of all is the final short here, in which Alexander Payne shows us yet another unworldly American abroad, whose taste of Paris becomes a funny, sad and ultimately profound transformative experience — and all in under six minutes. Also stars Fanny Ardant, Bob Hoskins, Natalie Portman, Elijah Wood, Rufus Sewell, Willem Dafoe, Ben Gazzara and Gena Rowlands.3 stars
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (PG-13) One more go around — and, reportedly clocking in at over two and a half hours, a very long go around — for Johnny Depp and company. The mega-budgeted third part in a swashbuckling franchise of almost Bollywood-like over-abundance (Adventure! Comedy! Horror! Romance!), this latest installment also boasts appearances by Chow Yun-Fat and, as Depp's swaggering, slurring pop, Keith Richards. Also stars Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley, Geoffrey Rush and Bill Nighy. (Not reviewed)
RATATOUILLE (G) Pixar's latest contribution to the annals of animation history is a sweetly perverse retooling of Disney's Cinderella, as retold for the Age of Conflicted Foodies — with Cindy reborn as a rat who wants to be Rachael Ray. The rat's name is Remy, and he even has his own fairy godmother — a floating Paul Bocuse figure who cheers him on with the shining motto "Anyone can cook!" — and by the end of this Paris-set rags-to-riches fable, glass slippers are found on all the right feet and rodent-inspired haute cuisine is the hit of the land. The latest creation of genius-boy director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles), Ratatouille is as clever as it is entertaining, although this may well be the first Pixar film to actually connect more powerfully with grown-ups than with their kids (not withstanding that rare 8-year-old who yearns to hear talking animals wax poetic on the glories of saffron and wild mushrooms). Also features the voices of Patton Oswald, Iam Holm, Lou Romano, Brian Dennehy and Janeane Garofalo. 4 stars
SHREK THE THIRD (PG) There's no use denying that the bloom is off the rose, but don't for a minute think that means Shrek the Third stinks. After the sustained comic brilliance of Shrek and Shrek 2, maybe we should be thankful for the breather supplied by a little water-treading. The zingers still fly thick and fast — with all the rapid-fire asides and absurdities, this latest Shrek often seems one step removed from the frenetic desperation of a Naked Gun flick — but the story this time out is clearly aimed more at satisfying kids than engaging grown-ups. The basic plot here involves Shrek overcoming obstacles in order to own up to the responsibility of parenthood, while a young, untested Arthur (voiced by Justin Timberlake) jumps through similar hoops in a journey to become king. Meanwhile, anything-but-charming Prince Charming (Rupert Everett) enlists a gaggle of storybook villains to help him exact revenge on Shrek and snag the crown for himself. The odds are good that you can guess how it all turns out. Features the voices of Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz, Antonio Banderas, Julie Andrews, John Cleese, Eric Idle, Rupert Everett and Justin Timberlake. 3 stars
SICKO (PG-13) Michael Moore's documentary on the business of U.S. medical insurance mounts a righteously angry, alternately sentimental, blowhardy and often-effective argument. Useing anecdotal evidence and occasional numbers, Moore makes the case that U.S. health insurance companies, in the words of one e-mailer, "flat suck." Again taking up the cause of the working class victims and heroes he's made his focus since Roger & Me, Moore offers up some familiar villains. The first versions of medical profiteering trace back to the Nixon administration, specifically a 1971 conversation between John Erlichmann and the president (courtesy of the White House tapes) concerning Edgar Kaiser's proposal that health insurance could make money — lots of it. The film includes brief digs at Ronald Reagan (who appears to have been a paid spokesperson for the industry, before he was president) and "little lady" Hilary Clinton, who famously fought back, for a minute. It's an incisive analysis in its way, more nuanced than the most obvious conclusion, that congresspeople are greedy, conformist or categorically unthoughtful. Here the system, recounted by victims as well as former workers within it, looks dismal and dishonest. 3.5 stars —Cindy Fuchs
WAITRESS (PG-13) A slight and sweetly quirky affair, Waitress is an oddball fairy tale with a faintly naughty undertow. The movie's title refers to not one but three colorful women living lives of varying degrees of dissatisfaction while working in a curiously idealized dive called Joe's Pie Diner. The principal "pie genius" here is Jenna (Keri Russell), a pregnant backwoods beauty trying to figure a way out of her marriage to a bad-tempered jerk named Earl (Six Feet Under's Jeremy Sisto). The weirdo whimsy is sometimes a bit forced and it doesn't always fully mesh with the more "real" reality that periodically rears its head — but, at the risk of conjuring up tired old words like "bittersweet," it's quite a feat that director Adrienne Shelly manages to put a sunny and even silly face on material that might just have easily slipped into tragedy. Shelly's awkward characters and stylized cadences owe much to the skewered sensibilities of indie filmmakers like Hal Hartley and Jim Jarmusch, and the movie's connection with reality often seems so loose as to be a matter of convenience, a hook for the audience. Also stars Nathan Fillion, Adrienne Shelly, Cheryl Hines, Andy Griffith and Eddie Jemison. 3.5 stars
This article appears in Jul 4-10, 2007.