George Lucas’s Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (C) upgrades the effects and the action from its prequel predecessor but leaves at its centerpiece a burgeoning and head-scratching love affair between Hayden Christensen’s pouty Anakin Skywalker and Natalie Portman’s listless Padmé Amadala that is so poorly written and acted that it threatens to bury the whole franchise in the sands of Tatooine or the waters of Naboo. Some bounty hunter espionage helps put a spring in the film’s step, and Anakin gets to show a darker side when he kills some Tuskin Raiders (hey, aren’t those guys bastards anyway?); and the action of the passive voice title seems to partially occur. It’s largely an attack on good sense. John Williams’ love theme is pretty but underscores a Harlequin romance. Ewan McGregor is again wasted as Obi-Wan Kenobi solving a parallel mystery.
Scorsese Dream Project “Gangs of New York” is Epic, Uneven
Martin Scorsese’s Gangs of New York (B-) is an epic historical drama set in the mid-19th century in the Five Points district of Lower Manhattan. While Leonardo DiCaprio and Cameron Diaz are fine in their roles, it is Daniel Day-Lewis who steals the show as Bill “The Butcher” Cutting, the crime boss and political kingmaker of a time period inclusive of Irish immigration, the Civil War and the New York Draft Riots. It’s clear Scorsese was going for Dickensian characters and atmosphere on classic American turf, but then he rushes the final act. The story isn’t all that memorable, even if The Butcher’s menace lingers on.
“Punch Drunk Love” is Director PTA Having Fun
At around an hour and a half, Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch Drunk Love (B-) is a quirky trifle from a director who’s accustomed to directing an opus. Adam Sandler’s character is a schmuck with rage issues, but he’s paired with the super-sweet Emily Watson in a romance. To the tune of Jon Brion’s harmonium and through bizarre sequences with Phillip Seymour Hoffman and others, this is PTA’s version of After Hours. Sandler glows from the great writing and direction.
Related article: I reference Adam Sandler’s acclaimed role in this Wall Street Journal story.
“Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” Ups the Fantasy Ante
Even richer in its themes about the importance of telling stories, Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (A) centers on the friendship between the Hobbit characters played by Elijah Wood and Sean Astin while continuing to build a mosaic of characters preparing for a battle for the ages. The adventure in this installment is a wonder to behold. The sequences with Treebeard slow down the film a bit like the Yoda sequences do in another famous trilogy, but it’s mainly forward momentum all the way here as the merry band of adventurers encounter new obstacles.
Movie Version of “Chicago” One of the Best Big-Screen Musicals in Years
Rob Marshall’s 1924-set musical Chicago (A-) brings song and dance razzamatazz back to the screen as Renee Zellweger and Catherine Zeta-Jones take on the juicy roles of ladies who will kill for fame. Many musical numbers from the stage show become fantasy dream sequences in the film, which works beautifully. From the cell block tango to vaudeville sketches, this film brings all that jazz and more to the proceedings, and it’s a dark comedic good time.
“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” is a Weak Start
Despite access to a treasure box of imagination in the wildly popular source material, Chris Columbus’ tale of a boy wizard going to school, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (C+), rarely takes flight. Filmed in dim halls and corridors and employing too frequent a use of clumsy CGI effects, the film maps out an interesting world but is uneven in inhabiting it. The kid actors led by plucky Daniel Radcliffe are fine and often given gravitas by a slew of veterans (Alan Rickman, Maggie Smith and nearly every employable British actor). This is the film that sets the template for a franchise that ups the stakes considerably. There are some funny and enchanting moments and some nice action set-pieces, but this rather creaky movie should have been an absolute spectacular. In and of itself, this first film in the series is only beginning to understand its powers.
Ogre the Moon! Animated “Shrek” a Clever Fairy Tale Send-Up
Andrew Adamson and Vicky Jenson’s endlessly imaginative animated tale Shrek (B+) tells the tale of an ogre (voiced by Mike Myers), a donkey (Eddie Murphy) and a princess (Cameron Diaz) on an adventurous journey in a far-away fractured fairy tale land. The in-jokes are inventive and will keep parents in stitches while kids enjoy the lovable characters in hilarious pratfalls. This whole subversive DreamWorks Animation enterprise pokes gentle fun at the Disney kingdom and gets great laughs from a supporting cast of misfit characters such as its own version of Pinocchio and The Three Little Pigs. John Lithgow is also a hoot as the diminutive villain. Fun and frantically paced, it’s a delightful modern classic.
“A.I. Artificial Intelligence” an Austere Spielberg/Kubrick Hybrid
Steven Spielberg’s A.I. Artificial Intelligence (B-) is full of so many good ideas, many germinated by the late Stanley Kubrick for decades, that it’s a shame the final package is a bit, well, robotic. The story starts off with Frances O’Connor and Sam Robards adopting an android child, played by Haley Joel Osment, but they ultimately reject and abandon him to a cruel world of robot runaways (Jude Law plays a cyber-gigolo who befriends the tin tyke). The imagery cribbed from Pinocchio as the central character pines away to become a real boy is haunting, but the enterprise doesn’t seem to know what its viewers’ key takeaways are supposed to be. Both the humans and the androids in the film are equally unappealing, but the flickers and flights of fancy help the film occasionally rise to its ambitions.
“In the Bedroom” is Potent Domestic Drama
Todd Field’s In the Bedroom (A-) is a suburban stunner that starts out as a romance between Nick Stahl and Marisa Tomei, then something awful happens, then it’s something much more. Sissy Spacek and Tom Wilkinson play parents forced to face the aftermath of violence in this searing and perfectly acted piece. Field is masterful in his debut work directing quite an accomplished ensemble.
David Lynch’s “Mulholland Drive” a Mindbender of a Masterpiece
Brace yourself for David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive (B+), a wild ride into the illusions of Hollywood where nothing is what it seems; or if it is, it won’t be for long. Naomi Watts is wonderful as a classic Lynch protagonist in a film that may or may not involve souls switching bodies, color-coded lights that may or may not involve parallel universes and just enough weirdness to keep you hooked.
Director Ron Howard and Russell Crowe Reunite for Wonderful “A Beautiful Mind”
Ron Howard’s A Beautiful Mind (B+) is a 1940’s-set psychological drama starring Russell Crowe as a Princeton science and math prodigy who gets enlisted into some strange and secret experiments. Jennifer Connelly plays his long-suffering but supportive soul mate. The film is fascinating and surprising at times and is a great showcase for its fine actors.
“Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring” is Astonishing
Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (A) is an epic fantasy that transports viewers to Middle Earth where a band of Hobbits, dwarves, elves and more must transport and destroy an enchanted ring that brings great power to those who wear it before it falls into the hands of dark villains. Elijah Wood is charming as Frodo the Hobbit and Viggo Mortensen dashing as human Aragorn in this adventure that starts the epic journey. Jackson is reverent to J.R.R. Tolkien fans but adds his own twists and turns to make the work more muscular. Sir Ian McKellen is towering as Gandolf, the wizard who provides a touchstone for the film’s characters and clarification for their mission. The effects are great and leave you ready for the continuing saga to come.