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THE PAINTED VEIL: This is an old-fashioned movie, and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s a story taken from a Somerset Maugham novel, and the tag line—Sometimes the greatest journey is the distance between two people —says it all. The love story is set in China in the 1920s. Walter Fane (Edward Norton) is a bacteriologist working for the British government in Shanghai. His bored frivolous wife, Kitty (Naomi Watts) doesn’t love her husband. She married him to escape a domineering mother. When Fane discovers that his wife is having an affair, he takes her with him on a medical mission to a small village devastated by Cholera. Norton is excellent playing a rather cold, clinical man and Watts is splendid as a young woman who learns to care for something besides herself. The scenery is gorgeous. Toby Jones, who played Truman Capote in the recent film, Infamous, is very entertaining as a British civil servant who has become acclimated to life in China. We were delighted to see Diana Rigg as a wise Mother Superior, although we didn’t recognize her at first. And I'm always happy to see Liev Schreiber, here playing the "other man." This is the third adaptation of the Maugham novel, and the personal project of Ed Norton. He and Watts are listed as Executive Producers. GRADE B

PANIC ROOM: Jodie Foster has done some unusual and interesting roles in her career, but I can't understand what prompted her to take this one. We were very disappointed in Panic Room. The idea of a modern castle-keep was intriguing, and the movie did have a few exciting moments, but the script was full of holes. Why did Mag Altman (Foster) buy such a big house, when only she and her daughter (Kristen Stewart) would be living there? Why were the heirs so quick to sell the house when there were rumors that a fortune was hidden in it? Why was the Panic Room stocked with water, but no food? Why did Meg spend many minutes talking with two policeman at the front door and not tell them exactly what was going on? Etc., Etc., Etc. And that "fortune-blowing-away-in-the-wind" ending was laughably hokey. It has been a while since we've seen the always fine Forest Whitaker, and his crook-with-a-heart is the most interesting character in the movie. But Whitaker's presence wasn't enough to save the film. Jared Leto and Dwight Yoakam were the other two home invaders. The film was directed by David Fincher and written by David Koepp. GRADE C-

PAN’S LABYRINTH: This is an amazing film: partly real and partly adult fairy tale; partly brutal and partly astonishing. It is set in 1944 Spain when forces of the fascist dictator Franco were still battling resistance fighters hiding in the forests. We meet Ofilia (Ivana Baquero) as she and her pregnant mother travel to a military outpost to be with the mother’s new husband. He is the captain of the fascist outpost, and as evil as they come. Sergi López is outstanding as a man so cruel he brings to mind the concentration camp commandant in Schindler’s List. To escape the brutal reality, Ofilia retreats into a magical world with fairies and a spectacular faun. Thirteen year old Ivana Baquero was chosen from among 1000 girls for the role of Ofilia, and the casting director chose well. She is remarkable. The movie weaves reality and fantasy together so seamlessly and with such consummate story telling that we were totally absorbed in both worlds. The director, Guillermo del Toro, previously directed Hellboy and a sequel to that film is currently in pre-production. When we first saw trailers for this film, we were convinced that we wouldn’t care for it. Quite the opposite proved to be true. It is not a film we will soon forget and we can understand why so many critics have put it on their 10 best lists. A word of caution: It is an adult fairy tale, and deserves its "R" rating. The film is in Spanish with English subtitles. GRADE A from Barb. A- from Gary.

PAPER CLIPS: This is an inspiring documentary about an ambitious educational project dealing with subject matter that nearly always arouses deep emotions in me. That makes it extremely difficult to evaluate with objectivity. So you may as well know up front that both Barbara and I loved this film despite any flaws and we were deeply moved by it. In 1998 in a tiny rural Tennessee town a middle school project was started in an effort to help young students better understand the Holocaust. Getting 8^th grade students to comprehend the enormity of Hitler’s crimes proved more difficult than the teacher’s thought. Just getting a handle on understanding a number like 6,000,000 Jewish victims, motivated them to collect 6,000,000 small inexpensive items. Paper clips were chosen because they were worn in Norway as a symbol of Nazi resistance. Once word spread of the students' efforts, letters of support and all kinds of paper clips poured in from across the globe. Documentaries are seen by very few, partly because of motivation, but often because they just aren’t available. If you have the opportunity to see this heart-warming film, we highly recommend it. GRADE A

THE PASSENGER: Barbara asked me to review this 1975 re-release of an Antonionio film staring Jack Nicholson because she couldn’t stay awake during the first half. When she awoke, I suggested we bail out because I wasn’t holding up too well. Refreshed, she wanted to see the last half. The film gets marginally better in the second half, but not enough better to recommend anyone spend 2 hours and 3 minutes with only the occasional rewards of beautiful settings. In fairness the critics give the film high marks. Here is a quote from the Boston Globe, "…one of the deepest, most rigorous, and most rewarding films of its era." Many see it to be moody and fascinating, whereas I saw it as profoundly boring. GRADE D

THE PATRIOT: This Revolutionary War epic hits all the Hollywood formula elements of movies that celebrate the conflict between the good guys and the bad guys. It has romance, battles galore, individual bravery, an incredibly evil bad guy, over-the-top sentimentality, a ridiculous climax, and a final hand-to-hand confrontation that is totally predictable and almost funny. But, it also has Mel Gibson in the title role. There are a few actors who can survive epics like this: John Wayne was one and Mel Gibson is another. He makes it watchable, if not enjoyable. Then, when you add in a big dollop of patriotism by setting it during the American Revolution, it seems almost unpatriotic to criticize the film. Certainly there are bits of truth in this story of a group of South Carolina militiamen who manage to outwit and outfight the British. The individual actors all do capable jobs. The film features Chris Cooper, and that is a point in its favor. It is, however, far too long. The action is constantly interrupted with the romance between Gibson's son and his sweetheart. I'm sure that will please the youngsters, but it didn't do a lot for us. If there is any philosophical point of view in this movie, it is that the act of killing unleashes the beast in the heart of even a peace-loving man. This movie isn't about philosophy though. It's about Mel--fortunately without a blue face this time. GRADE: C

PAY IT FORWARD: This movie is unabashedly sentimental but for someone who has been moved to tears by Hallmark commercials that's not necessarily a bad thing. The feel-good/tear-jerker genre is always manipulative, but in this case we didn't resent being manipulated. We rather enjoyed it. And we loved Helen Hunt in her role as Arlene McKinney, a trailer-trash single mother. She was perfect. What can I say about Kevin Spacey? The man seems incapable of not being good in whatever role he undertakes. Spacey is a seventh grade teacher who gives his social studies class an unusual assignment. He asks them to come up with an idea that will change the world. Arlene's son, Trevor comes up with a philanthropic pyramid idea. He does a good deed for three people and asks each to pay it forward to three more people. He is disappointed because his idea doesn't seem to be working but. . well, you'll have to see the movie. Haley Joel Osment, so good in The Sixth Sense, is equally good as Trevor. In this film he sees nice people. We were surprised to see Angie Dickinson in a small but important role. I almost didn't recognize her. Jay Mohr appears as a reporter trying to find the beginning of the pay-it-forward idea. We think most of you will like this one. GRADE: B

PEARL HARBOR: This over-hyped movie is neither as bad as some critics led us to believe, nor as good as we had hoped it would be. Michael Bay wasn't content to make a simple, historically accurate account of the Pearl Harbor sneak attack. He felt compelled to frame the attack in a triangle love story. Unfortunately, the love story falls flat for two main reasons: The characters and the dialogue. While there is no doubt that Ben Affleck (Rafe) has star quality, the other two sides of the triangle, Josh Hartnett as Danny, and Kate Beckinsale as Evelyn, are uninteresting characters. They weren't bad so much as lackluster. It may not be their fault, though, because much of the dialogue they had to spout belongs in a soap opera, and neither one of them was given much of a sense of humor. The love story also suffers from several plot points that strained credibility. For example, Rafe steals a police boat to take Evelyn on a tour of the New York Harbor, and Danny steals a plane to take her on a sunset flight over Honolulu, and nobody seems to notice. The war story fares better. The attack sequence, although shorter in real time than the actual two-wave attack, is frightening and the aftermath is incredibly moving. Tacked on to the end of the Pearl Harbor is the story of Jimmy Doolittle's Tokyo raiders. I actually found this the most interesting part of the movie, in spite of some typical war-movie dialogue about bravery, etc. This segment played like an abbreviated Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo, without Van Johnson. I also liked John Voigt's depiction of F.D.R. The film at times seemed disjointed as it flicked between the love story, Washington D.C. and the Japanese high command. Bay tried to tell too many stories and each story suffers for it. On the good news side, neither one of us was bored during the movie's 183 minute running time. GRADE: C+

THE PERFECT STORM: I read that many of the actors and crew were seasick during the filming of this movie. I can understand why: I felt queasy just watching it. Wolfgang Petersen, who directed another watery epic, Das Boot, does a fine job with the special effects. The storm scenes are frightening and realistic-you can almost feel the spray. Based on a true incident, The Perfect Storm introduces us to the captain and crew of a swordfishing boat, the Andrea Gail. George Clooney is Billy Tyne, the captain, and Mark Wahlberg and John C. Reilly (Magnolia) are two of his crewmen. We learn just enough about the fishermen to create great sympathy for their plight. In an attempt to land a big catch, The Andrea Gail gets caught in the convergence of three weather fronts that create a storm of terrible ferocity. Early in the film, Clooney talks romantically about the thrill of setting off in the early morning on a fishing trip. He says, "You're the captain of a swordfishing boat, can anything be better than that?" When that comment was repeated at the end of the film, I turned to Gary and whispered, "Yes--NOT being the captain of a swordfishing boat." It was interesting to see what deep-sea commercial fishing entails, but it does not look like fun. I would have liked to see more of Clooney and less of a subplot concerning a sailboat caught in a storm off Bermuda. I thought the storm overwhelmed the human element in the film, and because of that, it's not an "A" movie. Gary agrees, although he was very impressed with the special effects. GRADE: B

PERSEPOLIS: This highly creative, mostly black and white animated film received higher marks from professional critics than from typical viewers. It was selected as France’s Oscar entry in the foreign-language category and was ultimately nominated by the Academy for best animated feature. The funny and heartbreaking story is based on a French-language autobiographical graphic novel by Marjane Satrapi. She describes the coming-of-age of Marjane, a precocious Iranian girl struggling to understand and find herself during the Islamic Revolution and later in a repressive theocracy. It was amazing to Barbara and me how effectively black and white drawings could portray the terror and humor in a young girl’s struggles. Though animated films do not easily win us over, we both liked Persepolis and recommend it. GRADE B

PHANTOM OF THE OPERA: I must say up front that I am not a fan of Andrew Lloyd Webber. I think his music is, for the most part, emotionally overwrought. It rarely touches me. (Entertainment Weekly says that Webber "holds a patent on romantic bombast.) I saw Phantom on stage and was underwhelmed. To quote a Glen Ellyn friend, "It’s no Les Miz." I was expecting to like the movie better than the stage version, but I didn’t. I do think that Joel Schumacher is a skilled director (Tigerland, Phone Booth, A Time to Kill, Cousins) and thought he was very creative with the musical numbers in this film. Also, the set and costume designers deserve kudos for their work. But, the story is thin and the music, except for "The Music of the Night," is unmemorable. I have no problem with the actors. Minnie Driver is very funny. Emmy Rossum gives Christine a beautiful face and a lovely voice. Patrick Wilson (Angels In America) is fine as the earnest young lover and Gerard Butler makes the Phantom sexy and evil at the same time. Both the men have excellent voices. In the original Phantom of the Opera (1925), Lon Chaney was hideously deformed. In this version, the Phantom looks incredibly handsome in his partial mask. I have to agree with Roger Ebert who wrote, "In this version, any red-blooded woman would choose the Phantom over Raoul, even knowing what she knows now." I thought Butler was particularly effective in the final scene, and his agony did touch me. Gary appreciated the quality of the filmmaking, but wasn’t crazy about the movie. For him, "It was no Chicago." GRADE B

PHONE BOOTH: Two Colin Farrell movies in one week. My cup runneth over. (See Video Views for a Review of Hart's War.) Farrell does a masterful job stuck in a phone booth for almost this entire 81-minute movie. I don't know of any actor who could have done a better job. Farrell is Stu Shepard, a media publicist in the mold of Tony Curtis' Sidney Falco in Sweet Smell of Success. Stu stops at a phone booth to call a young actress he is romancing--he uses the phone booth so his wife won't know about the call--and when he hangs up the phone, it rings. Stu answers it because that's what you do when a phone rings, and he hears a malevolent voice say, "If you hang up, I will kill you." For the rest of the movie, Stu alternately talks to the sniper and tries to convince the police that he doesn't have a gun. It's a somewhat contrived plot but the frenetic pace keeps your attention. We watch an arrogant man crumble as Stu is forced to apologize for his many transgressions. Kiefer Suthland has the perfect menacing telephone voice, and Forest Whitaker is interesting as the police Captain called to the scene. The movie was directed by Joel Schumacher who also directed Colin Farrell in his first film, Tigerland. Gary was totally caught up in the suspense and he gives this film an A-. I definitely liked watching Farrell do his thing, but couldn't grade the film itself higher than B. GRADE A-/B

THE PIANIST: This is an incredible story of survival with a moving performance by Adrien Brody as pianist Wladyslaw Szpilman. Szpilman was one of only a handful of Warsaw Jews who managed to stay alive through out the Nazi occupation. And he was the only one of his family to avoid a concentration camp. It is moving to watch him narrowly escape a cattle car bound for Treblinka--just one of the many close brushes with death he experienced. Adrien Brody is an inspired choice to play the pianist. He looks as though he is Polish and his long fingers look like those of a musician. Plus, his incredible soulful eyes are adept at registering a full range of emotions. When it comes to grading this picture, I must confess that ever since we saw Schindler's List, we have measured all other holocaust movies against it. Since The Pianist is the personal story of one man it is necessarily smaller in scope than Speilberg's masterpiece. In addition, Szpilman is not presented as a hero, but simply as a man who survived through strength of will, a bit of luck, and some help from Polish resisters. The film was directed by Roman Polanski who himself was saved from a concentration camp. The script is based on the book by Wladyslaw Szpilman. It is well worth seeing. Be sure to stay through the credits so you can experience the soaring music. GRADE A-.

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL: Errol Flynn was the master of the pirate/adventure movie, but this modern version is not quite like the pirate movies of old. In the first place, it is very, very long, at a running time of 134 minutes. In the second place, it stars Johnny Depp, whose offbeat portrayal is the best part of the movie. And Geoffrey Rush has so much fun playing the really nasty pirate that you have to laugh just watching him gnash those awful teeth. Plus, Keira Knightley (Bend It Like Beckham) and Orlando Bloom (Lord of the Rings series) are suitably good to look at and skilled enough to hold their own with Depp and Rush. But Ebert is right when he says, "There's a nice little 90-minute B movie trapped inside the 134 minutes of Pirates of the Caribbean, a movie that charms the audience and then outstays its welcome." Gary would elevate this one to a C because of the two main stars, but only because of them. I frequently enjoyed the movie, but got very bored in the interminable fight sequences. I might go as high as B-, but only because Depp is so delicious! (You might want to read MovieViewer Paul K.'s review of this film in the Readers' Views section.) Quote: Roger Ebert reflecting on Depp's Captain Jack Sparrow: There has never been a pirate, or for that matter a human being, like this in any other movie.GRADE B-/C

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN’S CHEST: My advice: Enjoy the trailer. Skip the movie. Most of the amusing bits with Johnny Depp are in the trailer, and what isn’t there isn’t worth sitting through 145 boring minutes to see. Even Depp’s quirky and considerably charming Captain Jack Sparrow can’t save this sequel for us. We loved the first one, but pretty much loathed this one. We have had our fill of ghostly pirates, sword fights and narrow escapes from death. They must have offered a big prize to the make-up artist who could come up with the most disgusting visage. Even the normal pirates look quite nasty, but the crew of Davy Jones’s Flying Dutchman are beyond hideous. Quite a few critics seem to like this film, though, and a lot of moviegoers give it high marks. In fact, the film set a record for opening weekend grosses, so Gary and I may be in the minority. (Although readers Diane & Lee U., didn’t care for this sequel either.) I guess I agree with the Boston Globe critic who called the film "...a noisy and lazy stopgap movie that goes absolutely nowhere and takes 2 1/2 hours to get there." I hear they’re already planning a Pirates of the Caribbean 3. We will definitely skip that one. GRADE D+.

THE POLAR EXPRESS: AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE: We're glad we decided to see The Polar Express at an I-Max theater. It was a remarkable experience! I don't know if we would have been as impressed if we had seen the standard film, but we were both entranced with the 3D version. The huge plastic glasses we wore fit over our regular glasses and provided the best 3D ever. The digitally rendered animations are incredibly real. It is true that the characters' eyes are rather lifeless and this lends an eerie quality to the film, but it didn't bother us. Some critics have been hard on the film calling it "a grave and disappointing failure (NYTimes). On the other hand, Roger Ebert thought the film had a "haunting, magical quality" that would make it a Christmas classic for all time. The story is a simple one of faith in things you cannot see and in the magic of a child's imagination. We thought it was both spectacular and touching. Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump) used a process called "performance capture," in which human actors perform the movements which are translated into lifelike animation. Tom Hanks was the executive producer and provided the movements for five of the characters. He wore a cap that transmitted a record of his movements to a computer, creating templates for the animated characters. The film was written by Zemeckis and William Broyles Jr., and is based on the book by Chris Van Allsburg. We give this 3D version an A. I suspect the regular version would have been in the B to B+ range. GRADE A

POLLOCK: You don't have to be a depressed alcoholic to be an artist, but the two often go hand in hand. At least they did for Jackson Pollock. Ed Harris, in a bravura performance, brings the tortured artist to vivid life in this film that he also directed. The story begins in 1941, when Jackson Pollock meets Lee Krasner (Marcia Gay Harden) but before he has achieved any acclaim. Krasner literally takes him under her wing, and, before long, he has a one-man show at Peggy Guggenheim's gallery. (Amy Madigan appears as Guggenheim.) Pollack was fortunate in that he lived to see his art become successful, but unfortunate in that he also saw other, newer, more original talent take over his place in the art world. We greatly admire Pollack's work but I suspect we would have disliked the man. Practically inarticulate, given to violent fits of temper and terrible alcoholic binges, Pollack is not as easy film subject. It's surprising that a film about his life could be so absorbing. For that we give credit to Ed Harris's performance and to Marcia Gay Harden's beautiful portrayal of the woman who loved the artist and the man. But the painting sequences are the true magic of the movie. The scenes of Harris painting with Pollock's distinctive splatter technique have amazing vitality and credibility. I would have to vote for Harris for Best Actor. I agree with Movie Viewer Seth W. that Harden and Julie Walters (Billy Elliot) have given far and away the best performances in the Supporting Actress category. Of course, neither of them has much of a chance to take home the Oscar. Too bad. GRADE: B+
(Well that was a surprise. I'm so pleased that Harden did win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar!)

NOTE: Ebert wrote this about Harris's dedication to the film and to the artist:
" This is Ed Harris' movie. He started thinking about it 15 years ago, after reading a book about Pollock. He commissioned the screenplay. He raised the money. He stars in it, and he directed it. He knew he looked a lot like Pollock (his father saw the book and thought the cover photo resembled his son). But his similarity to Pollock is not just superficial; he looks a little like Picasso, too, but is unlikely to find the same affinity. He seems to have made a deeper connection, to have felt an instinctive sympathy for this great, unhappy man."

POSSESSION: There are two parallel love stories in this film--one modern and one over 200 years old--and both are totally absorbing. In addition, there is an academic mystery to be solved. Roland Mitchell (Aaron Eckhart), an American majoring in Victorian Literature, is a research assistant for an English professor who specializes in the poetry of Randolph Henry Ash. Ash is famous for romantic poetry that everyone believes was written for his wife. Mitchell finds evidence that perhaps Ash had another love. He enlists the help of Maud Bailey (Gwyneth Paltrow), a Professor who is an authority on Christabel LaMotte, a poetess who may have been involved with Ash. As the modern couple investigates the mystery, they begin to form a relationship, though each is terrified of giving in to "true love." They seem to save their passion for scholarly discovery and not for each other. That is not true of Ash, played by Jeremy Northam, and LaMotte, brought to life by Jennifer Ehle. Director Neil LaBute has intercut the 21^st Century story with scenes of the impressively passionate relationship between Ash and LaMotte. Northam and Ehle seem born to play period characters and Paltrow and Eckhart are cool and modern as Maud and Roland. The transitions from the past to the present are handled deftly and creatively. There is also a subplot of academic rivalry--two other scholars are hot on the trail of the Ash/LaMotte affair. Gary commented that is was refreshing to see academic inquiry handled with so much passion. This one may not be popular with the teenagers that seem to be the intended audience for so many films these days, but it is an exceptionally fine movie. GRADE A-

A PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION: We enjoyed the gentle humor of this Robert Altman film, but then, we also enjoy Garrison Keillor’s radio show. If you, too, enjoy his show, you will find the movie charming. If you don’t care for Keillor, or have never heard the radio show, the movie will have little appeal. It does provide some good celebrity watching, though. Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep play the singing Johnson Sisters, with Lindsay Lohan as Streep’s suicide-obsessed daughter. Woody Harrelson and John C. Reilly are hilarious as the slightly off-color singing cowboy duo, Dusty & Lefty. Garrison Keillor plays himself, and Kevin Kline is Guy Noir, Keillor’s fictional detective. The movie is classic Altman: Conversations overlap and the story is rather slight. It’s supposed to be the final performance of the show because a new owner (represented by Tommy Lee Jones) is going to tear down their theater and put up a parking lot. But the movie is really about the family of performers who take part in the radio show. As Roger Ebert said in his review: Like the show that inspired it, "A Prairie Home Companion" is not about anything in particular. Perhaps it is about everything in general: About remembering, and treasuring the past, and loving performers not because they are new but because they have lasted. There are some wonderful old songs, and we especially enjoyed Meryl Streep’s singing. The casting of Kevin Kline as Guy Noir was brilliant—he’s very funny. And we loved the sound effects guy who played himself. It looked like the actors were having a ball making this film. Streep says that collaborating with Altman for just 10 days, had an impact, more than other films I’ve done that took five months. (No stories of Lake Woebegone were included because Keillor wants to make a movie set in that fictional Minnesota town.) We think this is a B+ movie. GRADE B+

THE PRESITGE: Have you ever seen a magic trick that had a great buildup but fizzled at the end? This movie is a bit like that. It’s unusual to have two movies so close together both about magicians and both set in turn of the century London. The Illusionist was reviewed in the last issue and we gave that one an A-. I’m afraid this one suffers by comparison. It has an exceptional cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, and Scarlett Johansson, who seems to be in every other film these days. The premise is promising: Two rival magicians compete to create the best trick. Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) directed and wrote the screenplay along with his brother, Jonathan. But the story is muddled. It tries to be dark and mysterious, but instead it’s just confusing. And the ending surprise reminded me a bit of the soap operas I watch—or to be more precise—fast forward through. I would have liked to fast forward through this one. Gary and I agree on a grade of C. GRADE C

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: We saw this film with my sister and brother-in-law and all four of us liked it very much. We agreed it was a wonderful adaptation of the familiar and much loved Jane Austin novel. Gary and I had seen a stage version a few weeks ago and Gary wasn’t sure he wanted to see it again, but he was delighted with the film. Keira Knightley is an absolutely perfect Elizabeth Bennet, every bit as feisty, witty and intelligent as Austin imagined her. What a talent she is. Brenda Blethyn and the marvelous Donald Sutherland were perfect as the loving though sometimes bewildered parents. We also like Rosamund Pike as the sweet and lovely Jane Bennet. At first I wasn’t sure that Matthew Macfadyen had the sexual intensity I think Darcy must have, but he grew on me and by the end, I quite liked his interpretation. As usual, Judi Dench was memorable as the imperious Lady Catherine. Director Joe Wright created a beautiful backdrop for the story—surely England must have looked exactly like that in the early 19th Century. We can find no fault with this one. GRADE A

PRIME: This is a love story with complications. In the first place, the boy is 14 years younger than the girl. The boy’s mother is another problem: She is disturbed that her son is dating a gentile and even more disturbed that the girl in question is her therapy patient. As these complications unfolded, fairly early in the movie, we worried that the story would have nowhere to go. We were pleasantly surprised that we enjoyed the rest of the movie. It is to the credit of the writing and the acting that what appeared to be one-note plot (what Roger Ebert calls "the Idiot Plot") was fleshed out with such interesting people that we were involved to the end. Meryl Streep, looking quite matronly, is the therapist/mother, Uma Thurman is the 37-year-old divorcee, and Bryan Greenberg is the 23-year-old son. Although there are some funny moments, the movie isn’t played strictly for laughs. Instead, it has some nice moments and people who act in a very human way. There is one bit that made us laugh every time. It concerns the boy’s paternal grandmother and a skillet. GRADE B.

THE PRINCESS DIARIES: It's hard to criticize a movie that has Julie Andrews in it. It was lovely to see her again on the big screen. It's also hard to find fault with a movie that is designed for children and embodies the classic Cinderella story. What's more, I really can't criticize Ann Hathaway, who plays Mia, the gawky teenager who suddenly discovers she is a princess, because she is very appealing. But, as entertainment for adults, we really can't rate the film higher than a C. Nathan, the ten-year-old who went to see the movie with us, thought it was "pretty good." He would give it a B. And the children in the audience when we saw it seemed to enjoy it. If you decide to go, we suggest you take a kid with you. GRADE C/B

THE PRIZE WINNER OF DEFIANCE, OHIO: Early in the movie, Evelyn Ryan (Julianne Moore) consults her parish priest asking for advice. She tells her priest that her husband most of his paycheck on liquor, leaving her and their 10 children practically destitute. The priest tells her that there is a lot of pressue on her husband to provide for the family and she should provide him with a "better home." You’re right. It is the 50s! When else could a woman listen to advice like that with a straight face. Evelyn, relentlessly cheerful, does her best to provide for her children by entering and winning an amazing number of contests. Once again, Moore plays a "perfect wife" as she did in The Hours and Far From Heaven, and she does it beautifully, as always. The movie, directed by Jane Anderson, is based on a memoir written by Terry Ryan, daughter of the real-life Evelyn. Woody Harrelson plays Evelyn’s hapless and self-loathing husband so well that, although you spend much of the film hating him, you can also feel pity for him. At times, Moore’s character talks directly to the camera and sometimes her prize-winning jingles come to life on-screen. Gary said he wasn’t certain he liked the movie at first, mostly because he was so angry at the husband’s behavior, but it grew on him and by the end, he liked it quite a bit. I liked it from the beginning. Laura Dern appears briefly as another champion prize-winner, and all the Ryan children seem suitably authentic. GRADE B

THE PRODUCERS: This film version of the hit Broadway musical turns out to be the flop that Bialystock & Bloom were looking for. I have no doubt that Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick were showstoppers on stage. They aren’t bad in the movie version, but the broad farce designed for the stage just doesn’t work on screen. What’s more, there are no memorable songs, except for "Springtime for Hitler," which was introduced in the 1968 film with Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder. Uma Thurman is agreeably tall, limber and lovely in the Ulla role, and Wil Ferrell is amusing as the playwright. Although there were a few laughs, for us the movie was mostly tedious. (I did get a kick out of the posters commemorating former Bialystock productions, such as "The Breaking Wind," and "King Leer.") The production numbers were appropriately glitzy, and the one with Bialystock’s "investors" on their walkers was clever. We both felt that Brooks really overdid the "gay" jokes. Enough already! The two gay characters were way, way over the top. I’m afraid neither one of us can go higher than a C. GRADE C

PROOF: We liked the movie version of David Auburn’s play better than the stage version we saw here in Phoenix. We thought the film did an excellent job of illustrating the complex emotional relationships between the characters. Catherine (Gwyneth Paltrow) is the daughter of a brilliant but mentally unstable mathematician. She left her own studies in mathematics to care for Robert (Anthony Hopkins), and for the last five years has put her life on hold. Her father was only 28 when mental illness put an end to his brilliant career. Catherine has just turned 27. It appears that she may have inherited her father genius, but she is terrified that she has also inherited his mental instability. The story opens one week after Robert has died. Catherine's older sister, Claire (Hope Davis), comes back to Chicago for the funeral and proceeds to take over Catherine's life in the guise of "taking care of her." Claire is not emotionally strong enough to resist her sister's dominating presence. Hal (Jake Gyllenhaal) is the other character in the mix. He was a student of Catherine's father and hopes to find something extraordinary in the papers that Robert left behind. David Auburn, the playwright, graduated from the University of Chicago, so he knows the landscape. In his review, Roger Ebert, who also attended that University, writes that the film contains one scene after another that is pitch-perfect in its command of how academics talk and live. I know it made me nostalgic for both the campus atmosphere and the beautiful Chicago skyline. Auburn co-wrote the screenplay, and John Madden (Shakespeare In Love) directed. Paltrow gives an extraordinary performance as Catherine, Davis and Gyllenhaal are terrific, and the film benefits from the presence of Anthony Hopkins. It's true that he is dead, but we see much of him through Catherine’s eyes and heart and memory. GRADE A-

THE PROPOSITION: Gary said that as he watched this film he had the feeling he was watching an "A" film that few people would want to sit through. Harsh, brutal and violent does not even begin to describe it. Set in Australia, the film is as bleak as the outback in which it is filmed. It reminded him of a Sam Peckinpah movie, only bloodier. I agree with Gary that if you are squeamish about violence, avoid this film. This Australian frontier is even bloodier than Deadwood! Guy Pearce (looking incredibly scruffy), Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, Danny Huston, and John Hurt give flawless performances, but there are no heroes in this movie. "Loathsome" would fit just about everyone except Emily Watson. Winstone is a sheriff and I guess he’s the best of a bad lot, but I wouldn’t want to cross paths with him. When Winstone arrests Charlie Burns (Pearce) and his younger brother, Mikey, he offers Charlie a proposition: Save your younger brother from the gallows by killing your older brother, Arthur. Huston (21 Grams) is outstanding as Arthur, the leader of the vicious Burns gang. He kills without a qualm, yet quotes Irish poetry, appreciates a beautiful sunset, and talks about the importance of love and family. Huston gives a wonderfully nuanced performance. The Proposition is a beautifully photographed and brilliantly directed film, and Roger Ebert gave it 4 stars. However, we can’t, in good conscience, give it an A, so we’ll settle for a B+. See it at your own risk. GRADE B+

"A pitiless yet elegiac Australian Western as caked with beauty as it is with blood..."

Lisa Schwarzbaun, Entertainment Weekly

PUNCH DRUNK LOVE: There is no doubt that this is one weird movie. But then, we rather like weird. Nothing that happens is expected and nobody behaves as expected in this strange love story written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson of Boogie Nights and Magnolia fame. Adam Sandler is Barry Egan, a shy lonely man whose mild exterior masks a wealth of rage. Emily Watson is Lena Leonard, a woman who is attracted to Barry in spite of his odd behavior--or perhaps because of it. Barry has seven sisters, so you can understand that he might be a bit bent. I can't begin to give you a synopsis of this plot because it would sound too bizarre. I think the director is saying that people are never what they seem to be, and that life, for many people, is an endless corridor whose doors are mostly closed to them. I can understand why so many people think this is an awful movie, but also why so many critics think it is brilliant. Gary and I are somewhere in between, and while we rather enjoyed it, we can't recommend it for most viewers. It's no Magnolia, that's for sure. The director has been quoted as saying, "I have a feeling, one of those gut feelings, that I'll make pretty good movies the rest of my life. And maybe I'll make some clunkers, maybe I'll make some winners, but I guess the way that I really feel is that Magnolia is, for better or worse, the best movie I'll ever make." So far, I agree with him. GRADE B

THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS: If you are interested in pursuing some happiness, we recommend this movie. The ever charming Will Smith is ably supported by his real-life son, Jaden, in this story of a man so down on his luck that he and his son are forced to spend a night in a subway men’s room. Smith’s Chris Gardner is a salesman who isn’t making a living selling a portable high-density bone scanner: A scanner that he schleps all over San Francisco. His wife works two shifts in a laundry and they still can‘t pay the rent. Thandie Newton is excellent in a minor role as a woman so desperate to find a better life that she leaves her husband and son for the promise of a job in New York. After she and her paycheck leave, the father and son become homeless. The story is unabashedly sentimental, but both of the Smiths are so appealing that you forgive the sentimentality and root for a man who loves his son and vigorously pursues a better life for the two of them. That better life consists of making a lot of money as a stockbroker. First, however, Gardner must take an internship at Dean Witter—an unpaid internship. How he manages to excel at Dean Witter and shield his son from the harsh realities of poverty make for a compelling pursuit. The role of Chris Gardner is a departure for Will Smith. There are no aliens, no guns, no fast cars or space crafts. Richard Roeper believe this is Smith’s best role ever, and he may be right. Although the film has both humor and drama, Pursuit is really a love story: the love of a father for his son. Jaden Christopher Smith has inherited his father’s good looks, appeal, and his acting ability. The young actor has a loose, natural style. He said in an interview, "You have to just be in the moment. My dad told me to do that." I predict we will see this pint-sized charmer in other films. Steve Conrad wrote the screenplay after the producer saw a 20/20 story on the real-life Gardner. We both give this one a B+. GRADE B+