STEP UP is a surprisingly wholesome bit of fluff with an amiably charismatic cast and a script that should be cited for violating the basic tenets of solid scriptwriting. Uneven, undecided, and rife with everything except aliens from space and a natural disaster, it’s further hobbled by cliches, bouts of stale dialogue, inadvisable turns into… Read More »
THE SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS
Based on the 1960 film THE SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRESL OF HOW TO WIN WITHOUT ACTUALLY CHEATING!, which was, in turn, very loosely based on the 18th century play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, THE SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS never deviates for a moment from the textbook arc for tales such as these. Loser at life, love, and… Read More »
DREAMGIRLS
If Jennifer Hudson never makes another movie, if she never sings another song, if she drops off the radar tomorrow, her place in cinematic history will nonetheless be cemented forever by her acting debut in DREAMGIRLS. It’s as though fate has conspired to keep the Broadway hit loosely based on the rise of Diana Ross… Read More »
OCEAN’S 13
OCEAN’S 13 is pure entertainment. As bright and shiny as perfectly restored vintage neon, it’s a throwback to an era when films could be fun without being stupid. When they could have a heart without being a cliché, and when guys who were just too cool for school ruled. There’s a caper, of course, intricately… Read More »
THE NANNY DIARIES
THE NANNY DIARIES rises above its whiffenpoof premise of a middle-class anthropologist charting the strange and treacherous milieu of an unfamiliar culture and comes up with something that is almost but not quite substantial. The anthropologist in question is the eponymous nanny, and the culture is the Upper East Side New York society in which… Read More »
I AM LEGEND
I AM LEGEND is a bittersweet tale of all that is best and worst about humanity, and a cautionary one about good intentions. It’s also one of Will Smith’s best performances as Robert Neville, the scientist driven by guilt to save humanity single-handed while and fighting his growing sense of nihilism after three years and… Read More »
PS I LOVE YOU
The single biggest problem with PS I LOVE YOU is that all the supporting characters are more interesting than Holly, the main character. This is as much a function of the writing as of the relative talents involved, even though the main character is played by two-time Oscar® winner Hilary Swank. Holly is gawky, maudlin,… Read More »
THE ELIZABETH — THE GOLDEN AGE
ELIZABETH, THE GOLDEN AGE is as ambitious and as opulent as its predecessor, ELIZABETH. Both starring Cate Blanchett in the title role, both directed with panache by Shekhar Kapur, the former was a triumph in depicting the private Elizabeth subsuming her personal desires in order to become a national icon. The latter is a muddle… Read More »
CASSANDRA’S DREAM
The funny thing, in the sense of odd rather than comedic, about CASSANDRA’S DREAM is that even though it is filmed in color, it is remembered in black and white. In Woody Allen’s lastest film, he returns to his consideration of morality, this time through the lens of classical Greek tragedy. Two brothers, Ian (Ewan… Read More »
27 DRESSES
27 DRESSES begins as a harmless little romp. It coasts along with a comfortable sort of premise, which lacks originality, but does have the fumbling effervescence of Katherine Heigl as its star. What starts out unremarkably quickly loses its way with writing that falters, dialogue that babbles, and a point of view that vacillates about… Read More »