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Creative Loafing Atlanta

December 09, 2004 Movies & TV » Film Clips

        
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Short Subjectives

Capsule reviews of films by CL critics

Page 2 of 4

BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON (R) Yo-yo dieting Renée Zellweger packs the junk back in her trunk to reprise her role as the ditzy, plumpish London diarist, torn between her dashing but reserved boyfriend (Colin Firth) and her caddish ex (Hugh Grant). As the prat-falling, foul-mouthed Bridget, Zellweger hilariously embodies modern female insecurities, but Edge of Reason recycles too many of the prior film's big moments. The unnecessary sequel to the first novel becomes an unnecessary sequel to the first movie.--CH

CLOSER (NR) A clever, but hardly earth-shattering adult drama about the interlocking sex lives of two couples in contemporary London, Mike Nichols' titillating but contrived film adapts Patrick Marber's hit 1997 stage play. Julia Roberts and Jude Law prove remarkably banal as the adulterous pair who set the sexual roundelay in motion. Far better are Natalie Portman as an emotionally vulnerable stripper and a laceratingly clever Clive Owen as Roberts' cuckold husband and one of the most intriguing combinations of masculine vulnerability and vengeance to strut across a movie screen.--FF

CHRISTMAS WITH THE KRANKS (PG) A middle-aged couple (Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis) decide to skip Christmas when their only child joins the Peace Corps. The cinematic equivalent of a lump of coal, this adaptation of John Grisham's Surviving Christmas could have gained depth by exploring the characters' motivations, instead of using dialogue as simply a break between seasonal slapstick.--Heather Kuldell

FINDING NEVERLAND (PG) Director Marc Forster finds a connection between Scottish author J.M. Barrie (Johnny Depp) and his most famous creation, Peter Pan. Both desire to avoid the bitter realities of death and growing up by escaping to a Neverland of perpetual childhood. Depp gives a magical performance in this wonderfully bittersweet, loose adaptation of Barrie's life, which imagines how his friendship with four young boys and their widowed mother (Kate Winslet) -- and their shared experience of death -- might have inspired him to create Peter Pan.--FF

THE GRUDGE (PG-13) Takashi Shimizu realizes every director's dream of remaking a film with more money and the lessons learned on the first attempt. Based on his Japanese ghost story Ju-on, The Grudge takes place in Tokyo but almost everyone speaks English, with numerous American characters on hand. Exchange student Sarah Michelle Gellar faces ghostly entities in a house with an attitude. The original structure seems slightly dumbed down for Americans but the most memorable visuals and hokey scare tactics have been retained. --Steve Warren

I HEART HUCKABEES (R) A "screwball sophistry" could describe this fast-talking, deep-thinking comedy from Three Kings director David O. Russell. A frustrated environmental activist (Jason Schwartzman) finds himself torn between the forces of order, represented by Lily Tomlin and Dustin Hoffman's "existential detectives," and a nihilistic -- but sexy -- French intellectual (Isabelle Huppert). Huckabees tests your tolerance for deadpan whimsy but pays off with persistent laughs and relevant commentary on suburban sprawl and celebrity-obsessed corporate culture.--CH

I AM DAVID (PG) A young boy (Ben Tibber) makes a perilous, allegorical trek from a Bulgarian labor camp across Europe. Debut filmmaker Paul Feig (creator of the cult TV series "Freaks and Geeks") excels with the intense early scenes of the boy's escape and pursuit, but as his journey continues, Feig spells out the themes with the subtlety of a roadside billboard. James Caviezel and Hristo Shopov, who played Jesus and Pilate, respectively, in Passion of the Christ, reprise their S&M dynamic as a saintly prisoner and a ruthless guard.--CH

IMAX THEATER: Amazing Journeys (NR) Here's the movie Imax was made for! Neither didactic nor evangelical, it appeals to all ages and images you'll never forget. The film examines migration -- of monarch butterflies, gray whales, red crabs, zebras and wildebeest, birds and humans. Director George Casey adds cinematic touches of comedy, drama and suspense to avoid a dry documentary feel in what may be the best Imax film yet. Forces of Nature (NR) Volcanoes and tornadoes and earthquakes, oh my! Not to mention the scientists who study them to improve their forecasting ability in hopes of saving lives. It's like watching the best of the Weather Channel on a giant screen -- without getting your local forecast. NASCAR: The Imax Experience (PG) Stock car racing seems a perfect subject for 3-D Imax but this survey course -- "NASCAR 101" -- doesn't begin to realize the potential. Fans have seen it all before and if non-fans had any interest, they'd be fans. The film includes surprisingly little racing footage, and cuts away too quickly from the shots that put you in the action. Fernbank Museum of Natural History IMAX Theater, 767 Clifton Road. 404-929-6300. www.fernbank.edu. -- SW