Capsule reviews of current movies

By ROBERT DENERSTEIN
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
A GOOD YEAR (C-) Director Ridley Scott and actor Russell Crowe, who worked together on the Oscar-winning "Gladiator," stumble in this comedy about a ruthless London financial trader who inherits his uncle's vineyard estate in France. Predictable, miscast and very far from a vintage entertainment. The scenery in Provence comes close to upstaging everyone _ but not close enough.

Rated: PG-13, language and some sexual content.

BABEL (A-) Director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu follows "21 Grams" with another panoramic drama about the surprising ways in which lives interconnect. Well-acted and full of powerhouse drama, "Babel" becomes a mosaic of stressed-out stories, taking us to locations in Mexico, Morocco, Japan and the U.S. As has been the case with all of Inarritu's work, "Babel" has a disturbing beauty that lingers. Beyond that, the movie takes full advantage of Inarritu's ability to shake us to the core. Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett lead a cast that includes Gael Garcia Bernal.

Rated: R. Violence, some graphic nudity, sexual content, language and some drug use.

BORAT: CULTURAL LEARNINGS OF AMERICA FOR MAKE BENEFIT GLORIOUS NATION OF KAZAKHSTAN (B+) British comedian Sacha Baron Cohen brings one of his characters to life on the big screen, and the result is an extremely funny movie that's also wildly and purposefully offensive. If you're the least bit uncertain about what Cohen does, you'd best inform yourself. But if you're ready for some magnificent audacity, as well as plenty of crude jokes and bizarre humor, you'll find big laughs in a movie with something that could infuriate just about every known group on the planet. Cohen plays Borat, a Kazakh TV reporter who travels to the U.S. to make a documentary.

Rated: R. Pervasive strong crude and sexual content including graphic nudity, and language.

CASINO ROYALE (B+) Daniel Craig does superlative work as the new James Bond. "Casino Royale" has its share of chases, but director Martin Campbell isn't afraid to slow down and make room for a high-stakes poker game that pits 007 against an adversary (Mads Mikkelsen) who funnels money to terrorist organizations. The movie has an appropriately expensive look, but this Bond has a leaner, meaner feel that compensates for an excessive running time (2 hours and 24 minutes) and a few dull spots.

Rated: PG-13. Intense sequences of violent action, a scene of torture, sexual content and nudity.

THE DEPARTED (B) Martin Scorsese isn't often thought of as a director who's in love with special effects, but he has one here _ Jack Nicholson. Nicholson gives a massively hammy and malevolent performance in Scorsese's look at Irish mobsters in Boston. Strongly acted by Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio, who play very different kinds of undercover cops, the movie also features tasty small performances from Alec Baldwin, Mark Wahlberg and Ray Winstone. Full of violence, inventively used profanity and rueful humor, "The Departed" begins in gripping fashion, but never entirely transcends the limitations of genre moviemaking.

Rated: R. Strong brutal violence, pervasive language, some strong sexual content and drug material.

DRIVING LESSONS (C) A mediocre coming-of-age comedy that seems to have been written to showcase Julie Walters' over-the-top performance as an aging actress. Walters Evie takes a young vicar's son ("Harry Potter's" Rupert Grint) under wing and helps him to break away from his domineering, hypocritical mother (Laura Linney).

Rated: PG-13. Language, sexual content and some thematic material.

CATCH A FIRE (B) In this mostly absorbing movie, based on a true story, Derek Luke plays Patrick Chamusso, a South African refinery worker who's radicalized after being arrested and tortured for a crime he didn't commit. Tim Robbins portrays Nic Vos, the Special Branch officer who tried to break Chamusso. Both Luke and Robbins give fine performances, and director Philip Noyce enlivens the movie with a thriller pulse. The material may be familiar, but the brutal story of apartheid can't be overexposed.

Rated: PG-13, thematic material involving torture and abuse, violence and brief language.

DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (D+) Director Gabriel Range adopts a faux documentary style, setting his controversial movie in the near future. Range speculates about what might happen after George Bush is assassinated. Range's provocative gimmick _ mixing real and dramatized footage to stage Bush's assassination _ proves little more than a springboard for familiar points and prosaic dialogue. Aside from the hype, "Death of a President" is a molehill of a movie that's likely to lead us to a mountain of hand-wringing commentary.

Rated: R, brief violent images.

DELIVER US FROM EVIL (B+) Director Amy Berg's shocking documentary deals with a pedophile priest and the way the Catholic Church mishandled his case. Amazingly, Berg got the former priest to talk for the camera. Despite a soft-spoken voice and gentle demeanor, Oliver O'Grady is one of the most disturbing characters ever captured on film. The Church hierarchy in Los Angeles doesn't come off particularly well, either.

Not rated. Strong subject matter, descriptions of pedophilia.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS (B+) Clint Eastwood directs this large-scale movie about the battle for Iwo Jima, concentrating on the men who fought and on the way three of them were used to sell war bonds. Eastwood can't solve all the movie's structural problems, and he creates a bit of confusion as he switches from the battle to stateside views of the war-bond tour. But if "Flags" falters at times, it eventually brings us to a point of stillness and reflection that's rare in movies.

Rated: R, Sequences of graphic war violence and language.

FLUSHED AWAY (B) Aardman Studios joins with DreamWorks to create an energetic animated feature about a pet mouse (Hugh Jackman) who discovers an exciting new world when he's flushed down a toilet into the sewers of London. Voice talent, including Kate Winslet, Ian McKellen and Jean Reno, proves exceptionally good and the movie mixes action and wit in ways that should satisfy both younger audiences and adults.

Rated: PG, crude humor and some language.

HAPPY FEET (B+) Director George Miller uses lots of soul music and a ton of tap dancing to bring an environmental message to life. Voice talent for Miller's animated feature includes Elijah Wood as Mumble, a misfit penguin who can't sing. Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman and Hugh Jackman offer voice support. Some of the movie's ecological message may sail over the heads of younger audiences, but a generous supply of cartoon antics help take the sting off the seriousness. Besides, Miller offers up some of the liveliest and best executed animation of the year. And when's the last time a movie with an ecological bent made you want to get up and dance?

Rated: PG: mild peril and rude humor.

HARSH TIMES (C+) Christian Bale gives another fearlessly intense performance as a battle-scarred veteran who's bent on self-destruction. Bale and Freddy Rodriguez, best known for his work on "Six Feet Under," play buddies at loose ends on the fringes of Los Angeles. Profane, violent and ambitious, the movie is full of macho posturing and hard-core attitude, but it's ultimately too thin to support Bale's powerful performance.

Rated: R, strong violence, language and drug use.

HOLLYWOODLAND (B-) This noir lite film _ centered on the 1959 case of George Reeves, who played Superman on TV before committing suicide _ winds up feeling like an imitation of a great movie. A detective (Adrien Brody) investigates whether Reeves (Ben Affleck) was actually murdered.

Rated: R. Language, violence

THE ILLUSIONIST (B) A visually accomplished period piece about a magician (Edward Norton) reunited with a childhood sweetheart (Jessica Biel). Only she's engaged to a ruthless nobleman who orders a police stooge (Paul Giamatti) to keep an eye on the "illusionist." Ultimately the film aims too high, but not before it delivers an entertaining blend of secrets, plot twists and decent acting.

Rated: PG-13. Sexuality, violence

INFAMOUS (B+) It may be difficult to believe, but we now have a second good movie about author Truman Capote's travels to Kansas to write "In Cold Blood." Director Doug McGrath follows last year's "Capote" with an intriguing, quick-witted movie that begins as a kind of slick comedy about Capote's life among New York's glitterati. McGrath slowly allows seriousness to pervade the proceedings as he explores Capote's devastating relationship with killer Perry Smith, portrayed by a volatile Daniel Craig. British actor Toby Jones makes a fine Capote, and Sandra Bullock gives the movie some heart as Capote pal Harper Lee. "Capote" is the better of the two movies, but this one sheds light of its own.

Rated: R. Language, violence and some sexuality

INVINCIBLE (B) It's no surprise that the producers who brought us "The Rookie," a baseball movie about an improbable triumph, have turned their attention to Vince Papale, the oldest non-kicking rookie to land a job in the NFL as a wide receiver who logged heavy time on special teams for the Philadelphia Eagles in '76. Mark Wahlberg stars as Papale, and Greg Kinnear plays his coach, Dick Vermeil. The movie does a decent enough job mixing Philly grit and pro football to make us overlook a few fumbles.

Rated: PG. Adult situations.

THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND (B) Forest Whitaker gives a towering performance as dictator Idi Amin, the monster who ran Uganda from 1970 to 1979. This one barrels along in compelling fashion, creating reservations only when it's done. By the end, we realize that we've seen one more movie in which Africa serves as the backdrop for the reclamation of a white character. James McAvoy plays a young Scottish doctor who winds up working as Amin's personal physician. In the bargain, he remains shamefully ignorant of the extreme violence around him.

Rated: R. Some strong violence and gruesome images, sexual content and language.

MAN OF THE YEAR (C) Robin Williams plays a savvy, Jon Stewart-style comedian who runs for president in director Barry Levinson's broad-ranging satire. Perhaps uncertain about what it wants to accomplish, the movie eventually morphs into a lukewarm thriller. The bottom line: "Man of the Year" is not funny or trenchant enough, and it takes aim at far too many targets.

Rated: PG-13. Language including some crude sexual references, drug related material and brief violence.

MARIE ANTOINETTE (C+) Director Sofia Coppola teams with Kirsten Dunst to introduce us to the teen-ager who was sent from Austria to France to marry Louis XVI (Jason Schartzman) in the years preceding the French Revolution. Coppola does a beautiful job of presenting the ostentation and emptiness of the French court, and she bravely tries to shatter period-piece boundaries by using contemporary rock music. Despite such daring strokes, the movie eventually runs out of steam.

Rated: PG-13, sexual content and partial nudity.

THE PRESTIGE (B) Director Christopher Nolan does a fine job adapting Christopher Priest's 1995 novel about two feuding magicians in Victorian England. Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman play the magicians, and Nolan pulls off some first-rate cinematic trickery of his own, but the payoff of this intricately plotted tale doesn't have quite the expected kick. The always-reliable Michael Caine appears as Cutter, a man who designs illusions for magicians.

Rated: PG-13, Violent scenes and unsettling images.

THE QUEEN (A-) Helen Mirren is terrific as the dour Queen Elizabeth II in a Stephen Frears-directed docudrama that looks at the royal response to Princess Diana's death. Not only does Mirren give an Oscar-caliber performance, but Michael Sheen also does brilliant work as Tony Blair. Frears avoids cheap shots, focusing instead on the how enduring societies are able to honor tradition while responding to change _ albeit not without plenty of pain, strain and wanton absurdity.

Rated: PG-13, brief strong language.

RUNNING WITH SCISSORS (C+) Augusten Burrough's much-admired memoir, reaches the screen with some of its humor intact, but without the necessary verve. Annette Bening scores as Augusten's narcissistic mom, and Brian Cox portrays Dr. Finch, the psychiatrist with whom the teen-aged Augusten (Joseph Cross) is sent to live. A strong cast _ Joseph Fiennes, Jill Clayburgh and Gwyneth Paltrow _ can't keep this one from turning into one more freak show set in suburbia.

Rated: R, strong language and elements of sexuality, violence and substance abuse.

SHORTBUS (C) This sexually explicit movie from director John Cameron Mitchell leaves nothing to the imagination with its loosely assembled overview _ or underview if you prefer _ of a group of New Yorkers who attend a private downtown club to engage in all manner of sexual activity. It's a bold idea, but the movie has a numbed-out feeling and the characters aren't all that interesting. If you're looking for eroticism, look elsewhere. If you're looking for any profundities, look elsewhere, as well.

Unrated. Explicit sexual material, profanity and drug use.

SHUT UP & SING (B) Directors Barbara Kopple and Cecelia Peck take an entertaining look at the problems faced by the Dixie Chicks after lead singer Natalie Maines told a London audience that she was ashamed to admit that George Bush hailed from Texas. The political fallout, captured in this mostly intriguing documentary, serves as a backdrop for a candid and often-charming look at the Chicks, who are forced into the unenviable position of trying to figure out what to say about was said. R: Language.

STRANGER THAN FICTION (B+) A subdued Will Ferrell does nice work as an IRS agent in director Marc Forster's clever, engaging look at a man trying to awaken to life's possibilities. Emma Thompson joins Ferrell to play an author suffering from writer's block. Dustin Hoffman (as a professor of literary theory), Maggie Gyllenhaal (as a baker whose taxes are being audited) and Queen Latifah (as a writer's assistant) lend support. The premise is best discovered in a theater where you'll also find a smart and quietly amusing movie.

Rated: PG-13,some disturbing images, sexuality, brief language and nudity.

THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED (B) Director Kirby Dick swipes at the ratings system, exposing its hypocrisies and providing an entertaining look at the veil of secrecy that shrouds those who rate movies for the Motion Picture Association of America. And, no, Dick's documentary isn't rated. He released it that way rather than accept the MPAA's NC-17, presumably awarded because of some of the sexually provocative clips that Dick uses to tell his story.

Unrated. Nudity, profanity, sexual material.