MOVIE BRIEFS
by: Steven Snyder

NEW MOVIES

“Le Divorce”

(PG-13, 115 minutes)

What initially appears to be an intimate film about one woman’s divorce and another’s affair quickly derails into a melodramatic mess that abandons its characters and their stories in favor of cultural flavor and international intrigue. But without people to care about, director James Ivory (“The Remains of the Day”) loses the context for these exotic sights and sounds, and the story suffers as a result. Kate Hudson and Naomi Watts, as the two women, hold up well with the limited material they have, but their characters become so watered down by the chaos that surrounds them that they become lifeless by “Le Divorce’s” overdone climax atop the Eiffel Tower. Save your money on this one by staying home and getting the same buzz from a tour of France on the Travel Channel.

“ S.W.A.T.”

(Rated PG-13, 112 minutes)

What starts as a behind-the-scenes look at the most intense police officers in the country quickly degenerates into just another summer blockbuster yawn-a-thon. Lt. Hondo Harrelson (Samuel L. Jackson) has been charged with assembling a new SWAT team for the L.A. police, and selects outcast Jim Street (Colin Farrell) as one of his team members. When a wealthy inmate offers $100 million to anyone who breaks him out of custody, Hondo’s team is called in to handle an important transfer of the inmate out of the city. But instead of tactics and procedure, “S.W.A.T.” fills its action scenes with explosions, car chases, an implausible aerial stunt and a climax in a deserted, moonlit train yard. It’s never a good sign when a movie’s most intense and entertaining moments occur in the first twenty minutes. “S.W.A.T.’s” realistic hostage situation, which opens the film, is better than anything that comes after.

“The Eye”

(Not Rated (parents extremely cautioned), 99 minutes)

“The Eye’s” premise is its greatest asset. Mun (Lee Sin-Je), who has been blind almost her entire life, has been given a corneal implant which restores her sight. But with these new eyes comes a curse – mysterious, blurry images she cannot identify nor reason with. It becomes clear that Mun can see the dead, and that a recurring nightmare is connected to the donor of her implants. When Mun finally investigates her visions, and starts to cope with her new abilities, “The Eye” starts to gain momentum. But the film is never all that scary, and wastes more than half its time in unsuccessful moments of impending dread. Other recent thrillers from “The Sixth Sense” to “28 Days Later” have set the bar high, and “The Eye” falls short.

“ Uptown Girls”

The makers of “Uptown Girls” appear to have forgotten the old adage that sometimes less truly is better than more. What starts as a movie about the bonding and friendship between an immature, pampered woman and a cynical, ignored child quickly gets lost in side bits of romance, betrayal and psychoanalysis. Director Boaz Yakin (“Remember the Titans”) cannot decide whether it wants to make the film a comedy or drama, and this indecision results in an aimless and off-key failure. While some may blame the actresses, Brittany Murphy (“8 Mile”) and Dakota Fanning (“I Am Sam”) do the best they can with the wish-washy material they are saddled with. In the end, they are the best part of this movie. Audiences will remember their characters, but will likely forget the fakeness of the world they inhabit.

(Rated PG-13, 93 minutes)

VIDEOS

“Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers”

(PG-13, 179 minutes)

The second film in the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Two Towers” is much more an action film than its predecessor, “The Fellowship of the Ring.” In “Fellowship,” Frodo (Elijah Wood), a humble hobbit in the fantastic world of Middle Earth, took upon himself the mission of destroying the Ring of Power – a ring which holds the evil of the world. Accompanying him are eight companions, of various races, who must prevent the ring from falling back into the hands of Saruman (Christopher Lee), an evil wizard. “Two Towers” continues this adventure, with the fellowship divided, fighting battles on multiple fronts. While attention has been diverted from Frodo’s place in this story and the camaraderie of the fellowship, what has been added are action scenes of such scope and grandeur – notably a climactic battle between thousands outside a fortress - that “Rings” may go down as one of the most entertaining trilogies ever made.

“He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (2003)”

(Rated PG-13, 92 minutes, In French with English subtitles)

Recent French thrillers have towered over their American counterparts. Movies like “Swimming Pool (2003),”now in theaters, and “With A Friend Like Harry (2000)” or “Read My Lips (2001),” now on video, have been the highlights of recent years. “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not” is an intoxicating look at a romance from multiple points of view. Audrey Tautou, from “Amelie,” is having an illicit romance with a married man, and events are shown from both points of view. The thrilling aspect of “He Loves Me” comes from the starkly different perceptions that emerge when seen from one set of eyes and then through the other. It is a deceptive work, one that begins as an ordinary romance and then morphs into something far more memorable and haunting.

“ Chicago (2002)”

One of last year’s best films and winner of the 2002 Academy Award for best picture, “Chicago” completes what “Moulin Rouge (2001)” started in bringing the musical back to mainstream Hollywood. Based on Bob Fosse’s Tony Award-winning musical, “Chicago” finds the perfect balance between stage and screen, fusing the mindset of a stage choreographer with the editing energy and close-ups afforded by the movies. The story concerns Velma (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Roxie (Renee Zellweger), two female inmates accused of murder who use their sex appeal and the media to sway public opinion. The result is something energizing, imaginative, funny, ironic, visually-intoxicating and, above all, fun.

(Rated PG-13, 113 minutes)

“ Bowling For Columbine (2002)”

Winner of last year’s Oscar for best documentary, “Bowling for Columbine” is a scathing and often salaciously humorous journey through the violent culture that is modern America. Initially an anti-gun film, “Columbine” quickly, and wisely, realizes that the questions are much larger than the issue of gun control. So the endlessly-controversial Michael Moore (“Roger and Me”) goes on a quest to press the bigger questions that others seem unable or unwilling to ask: Why is America so much more violent than the rest of the world? While the film is not exactly a cohesive or objective argument, it is a film with the guts to confront issues that few are willing to face. And love it or hate it, “Columbine” is a film guaranteed to leave people talking.

(Rated R, 120 minutes)

“ Ghostbusters (1984)”

(Rated PG, 107 minutes)

Seeing “Ghostbusters” again after several years, it is more refreshing now than ever. In an age when slapstick has replaced most attempts at sophisticated humor, and when most comedy has become something negative and mean-spirited, “Ghostbusters” is a treasure trove of silly, good-natured laughs. About a band of supernatural detectives, who hunt down ghosts and then zap them away, the fun is had in the casual interactions of the four trained “professionals.” Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis lead the cast, and as the group debates starting the business, busts ghosts in the dining room of a fancy hotel or faces a gargantuan marshmallow man in the film’s greatest highlight, “Ghostbusters” is a comedy that stands as one of the best of the decade.

“The Empire Strikes Back (1980)”

(PG, 127 minutes)

Equaled only by “The Godfather part II” and “Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” “Empire” is one of the most successful sequels ever made. Following the characters of “Star Wars (1977)” from a ground battle on an ice world to training with the masterful Yoda, to spaceship battles in an asteroid field and finally to a city in the clouds, “Empire’s” imaginative scope is matched only by the surprises in store for its heroes.

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