U-571:

No, this isn’t a new medicine just approved by the FDA but rather a prescription for high sailing fun on the big screen. Lifting true-story elements about a German U-boat seized by an American Sub in World War II in order to steal their special encoder so they can crack their intercepted messages (in reality, it was mainly the Brits who did this), Jonathan Mostow displays the same clean and crisp handling of events as with his previous thriller Breakdown. Matthew McConaughey, Harvey Keitel, and Jon Bon Jovi are the Americans who eventually end up having to use the U-boat after their sub is sunk.

The action flows swiftly and the film knows how to deliver the goods. While this isn’t a movie that gives us utter originality, it certainly stays compelling enough to hold our attention throughout its slower spots and keep us rooting for the Allies to kick some ass and steal ’em boats.

American Psycho:

Finally, Bret Easton Ellis’ (Less Than Zero) novel comes to the big screen after years of controversy and director/cast changes. Published in 1991, Psycho was a brutal story of a Wall Street shark (played by Christian Bale, shedding his period-piece image) who is not only greedy for money, but apparently for blood as well. You see, our main man here is a serial killer who chops up his dates and is generally not a nice individual. Living in the excesses of the greed-soaked 1980s (I guess he still is stuck in period pieces after all), drugs and bad hairstyles abound around our intrepid psycho as he spends his time being narcissistic and comparing the look and feel of his business cards to those of his coworkers. Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) directs (and co-scripted) her second film and does a fitting job of it. Having a female helm this material was a smart move because it gives the proper tone for digesting this film. At times disturbing and at other times humorous, Psycho will undoubtedly cause a stir but ultimately be considered a good film instead of just a ‘controversy.’

Where The Money Is:

When a movie is sitting on some studio shelf and then gets a little fanfare quick release, flags usually go up to warn viewers that there may be a problem here. While the movie is actually fairly good, it isn’t something that will be remembered for more than a few moments after leaving the theatre. There is a feeling watching this that it belongs more on the small screen than on the silver one. Henry (Paul Newman) is a jailed bank robber. He is now being treated for his stroke-induced coma. Carol, a nurse (Linda Fiorentino, Dogma, Men In Black), suspects that this old coot is in fact faking his symptoms and is perfectly all right. This leads her to convince Henry to escape with her and perform one more heist to crown his body of work.

At times, the film flashes moments of heart (Newman gives a powerful monologue that reminds us just how good and understated he can be), and at other times, the film gets fun. The general mix of tone and genres in the film begin to grind against it and ultimately reduces the overall impact of the film, restricting it from becoming something more than it is.

ERIN BROCKOVICH –

Or, Being Erin Brockovich. Julia Roberts returns to where she needs to be. In a film that lets her show off her talents as a truly fine comedic actress (and those dresses don’t hurt, either). It’s based on the true-life story of Erin Brockovich, a single mom who goes to work for a down and out lawyer, wonderfully played by Albert Finney. While helping around the office with his work, Brockovich uncovers damning evidence against Pacific Gas & Electric and their pollutants and helps bring up one of the biggest lawsuits against them (despite having no real legal knowledge and background). Instead of legal savvy, she uses her body and wit as a tool to get what she wants. Whether it means wearing a shorter skirt, or pushing up her chest for maximum lift, she does what she needs to do in order to get her way.

Director Steven Soderbergh works from a true-life story and creates a smart, free-flowing film that is delightful to watch. Unlike his last couple of films (Out Of Sight, The Limey), Soderbergh stays away from the cinematic gimmicks that he’s used to great effect before and forgoes them for a more traditional approach with Brockovich. The result is a film that gives terrific acting and most importantly, a fresh take on the tired genre of little-law-firm-battling-big-bad-corporate-giant.

FINAL DESTINATION –

Alex (Devon Sawa), a high school student, convinces a few of his classmates and teacher that they should leave the plane that they just boarded. This was a good move because the plane crashes. You see, Alex has the Shining. Oh, wait, wrong movie. Alex has some sort of new ability to see when death is coming. Alex thinks that Death is upset because he and the others left the plane when their time was up and thus cheated him, so now Death has to go after each one of them and take care of his business.

What could have been set up and played out as a really intelligent horror flick for its target audience (teens) was sorely missed. While some of the scenes are entertaining, others are extremely gruesome and none of them come together well to create anything of a real thrill ride, which is what this should have been. Those who saw the original Scream a few years back when it came out and liked it for what it did to the genre, would be disappointed with this entry that fails to breath new life into the horror category that Scream helped revive for a while.

REINDEER GAMES -

Director John Frankenheimer resurrected his theatrical-release career a couple of years back with the contemplative and adult action drama, Ronin. Before that, for quite a while, Frankenheimer was relegated to fine television movies (Andersonville, George Wallace) and poor box-office duds like Island of Dr. Moreau and Year of the Gun. This, from a man who made such classics as The Manchurian Candidate, Grand Prix, and Black Sunday just to name a few. That’s why it is sad to see that he got himself (or the rest of the fine cast), mixed up in this rambling mistake. Ben Affleck is Rudy, a recently released ex-con who is looking forward to spending time with his family and meeting Ashley (Charlize Theron), a girl he’s read a lot about. Rudy meets up with Gary Sinise, who plays Gabriel, a very naughty boy. Gabriel forces Rudy to help them with a casino heist that Rudy’s old prison buddy was supposed to help out with. Frankenheimer is very good at staging action sequences. If anything can salvage this film it would be the fact that some of them are very fun to watch, instead of the usual ‘crash that there,’ ‘blow this thing up here’ boredom that some recent action films give us. For Frankenheimer fans looking for one of his better films, stay away. If you are looking for a jumbled action film that has some redeeming explosive scenes in it, there isn’t much out there for you right now, so you might as well see this.

WONDERBOYS -

Michael Douglas made a fine script choice when he decided to be the lead in Curtis (L.A. Confidential) Hanson’s new dramedy. Douglas is a writer and Professor in Pittsburgh that has had his share of weddings and writer’s block and now spends his time chasing a valuable historic dress and getting frisky with the school’s (un-single) chancellor (Frances McDormand). Boarding in Douglas’s house is a student, (Katie Holmes) and she is very interested in our rumpled hero. And that’s just the start of things to come in this unpredictable and enjoyable movie. This film plays great for a mature audience as a comedy that has enough emotional ingredients to make it truly endearing. Douglas gives a wonderful performance, like none he’s given in quite some time, and the rest of the cast shine along side him. With Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey, Jr., Richard Thomas, and Rip Torn.

NINTH GATE, THE –

Johnny Depp has a pretty neat job. He has to go around the world and track down priceless books, or at least find out if they are forgeries or not. A rich booklover, played by Frank Langella, commissions Depp to retrieve a mysterious old book for him. Depp goes all around the world and begins to notice that everyone who’s had some sort of history with this book has, gulp, died. The film doesn’t rise to a truly scary and jolting level, but it tries to keep a consistent mode of tension, and at least manages that. There are a few surprises and some interesting characters that we get to meet towards the end. Director Roman Polansky has fallen a long way from films like Chinatown and Rosemary’s Baby. The fact that this film has been sitting on Artisan’s shelves for over a year doesn’t inspire much confidence, either. What it has going for it is some decent atmospheric scenery (not to mention the numerous countries it is set in), and a storyline that while not very good, doesn’t reach the bottom of the barrel either.

MISSION TO MARS –

When astronauts on a mission on Mars disappear, NASA has to send up another group to find them. What ensues is a clichéd-ridden mess that only continues director Brian De Palma’s spiral down the black-hole of poor filmmaking. De Palma has made a good career for himself imitating, er, paying homage, I should say, to Hitchcock’s work. Here, he takes after countless other well-known sci-fi films (especially towards the last few minutes) and forgets ho to steer this vessel into some original territory. Also to blame are the writers. This film had at least three very talented screenwriters and that could have been the overkill problem as well. The cast is admirable with what they have and do the best that they can. Gary Sinise, Jerry O’Connell, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle and Connie Nielsen all have to go to Mars and save the other crew. Drifting away from sci-fi thriller and more towards sci-fi spirituality bogs the film down too much, much like Contact, which flirted with the mystical aspects of space a little too much. With a ‘PG’ rating, there is a limit to where the film can take us with its gore-factor, but it does give us some decent action scenes that make the film more bearable.