Life as a House (R) Kevin Kline stars as a terminally ill man who decides to spend his last few months building himself a swanky home by the sea, while simultaneously attempting to build bridges with his estranged son (Hayden Christensen) and ex-wife (Kristen Scott Thomas). Director Irwin Winkler's ham-fisted approach often makes it feel like the movie might have been better expressed on a greeting card.
The Man Who Wasn't There (R) From its very title to its blackmail and murder-laced plot, The Man Who Wasn't There is about as close to classic film noir as the Coen Brothers have ever come (Blood Simple included) albeit with a few flying saucers and Lolita-esque nymphets thrown in, just to screw with our heads. Billy Bob Thornton is just about perfect as a milquetoast husband trapped in a loveless marriage and a joyless job, while Roger Deakins' black-and-white photography is lush and mesmerizing. Also stars Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Tony Shalhoub and James Gandolfini. Held over at Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm.
Monsters Inc. (G) Imagination runs rampant in the best possible way in this latest animated treat from the folks at Pixar Studios (Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug's Life). The movie's a vaguely screwballish comedy of errors, a bit like Three Men and a Baby, except that the men are actually monsters. Cute, likable monsters that is, who belong to a community of multishaped beasties who accidentally come into contact with one of the adorable little children they're charged with scaring. If the material isn't quite up to the trend-setting brilliance of the Toy Story movies, that's only a minor stumbling block in an otherwise clever and endearing entertainment. Featuring the voices of John Goodman, Billy Crystal, James Coburn and Steve Buscemi.
Novocaine (R) A slightly quirky, slightly humorous update of vintage film noir, replete with double and triple crosses, femme fatales and a slippery world where one small mistake turns hero into antihero and plunges the everyday into chaos. The everyday shnook at the center of Novocaine is a boring and bored dentist (Martin) whose life quickly begins to go down the tubes when he falls for a drug-gobbling grifter (Helena Bonham Carter, doing a subtle variation on her role in Fight Club).
Ocean's Eleven (PG-13) Steven Soderbergh's briskly entertaining remake of the 1960 Rat Pack vehicle is about as disposable as the original but, as with the original, it's so much fun you'll hardly notice. About all that really happens here is the planning and execution of an elaborate Las Vegas casino heist, but Soderbergh stages and shoots the action with such an appealingly economic style and immediacy that we find ourselves sucked right into the proceedings. The film moves at a breezy clip propelled by the star power of George Clooney and Brad Pitt, and colored by an able supporting cast that includes co-conspirators Matt Damon and Carl Reiner. It's all very light and jazzy, with charm outweighing grit in the mix, and with an unexpectedly romantic core revealed in a pair of key scenes. Also stars Julia Roberts, Andy Garcia and Don Cheadle. Opens Dec. 7 at local theaters.
The One (PG-13) Apparently failing to learn any sort of lesson from all those awful Jean-Claude Van Damme flicks where the Muscle from Brussels plays battling twins, Jet Li takes on himself in this vaguely sci-fi-ish action blow-out. The non-stop heavy metal soundtrack is alone enough to drive you from the theater.
Out Cold (PG-13) Skateboarding slackers versus yuppie entrepreneurs in Alaska. Stars Jason London, Flex Alexander and Zach Galifianakis.
(Not Reviewed)
Riding in Cars with Boys (PG-13) Beverly Donofrio (Drew Barrymore) lives out the first two decades of her life of as a nice Catholic girl who gets pregnant at age 15 and then finds her dreams of college and a career constantly squashed by the demands of her dead-end life. The first 90 minutes of this overlong movie are listless, stodgy comedy, alternately screechy and sappy, while the last half-hour makes a bizarre and unpleasant turn into the realm of bargain-basement soap opera. The cumulative effect is a mess.
Serendipity (PG-13) Another sticky-sweet and thoroughly uncomplicated romantic comedy about fate and true love, in which the main characters spend the entire movie trying to find each other. The movie is basically harmless but overly long, and its allusions to destiny and mystical connections are just short of pretentious. Stars John Cusack and the chick from Pearl Harbor.
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (PG) An engaging mix of history, drama, fascinating archival footage and breathtaking, state-of-the-art photography, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure tells the incredible true tale of an epic battle for survival in the wake of a failed expedition to cross Antarctica in 1914.
