Film Clips: This weekend’s movie openings and more April 02 2010

Don’t give up on your dreams: Before hitting it big, both Tyler Perry and Sam Worthington lived in their cars.

OPENING FRIDAY

CLASH OF THE TITANS 2 stars (PG-13 ) While humans challenge the Greek pantheon and conniving Hades (Ralph Fiennes) plots to overthrow Zeus (Liam Neeson), reluctant demigod Perseus (Avatar’s Sam Worthington) must retrieve the head of Medusa to stop the gigantic Kraken before it eats Princess Andromeda and/or destroys the city. — Holman

THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO 3 stars (R ) An anti social, dragoon-tatted hacker (Noomi Rapace) teams with a disgraced journalist (Michael Nyqvist) to reopen a 40 year-old missing persons case that remote islands, wealthy industrialists and former Nazis. This adaptation of the internationally bestselling thriller features the workmanlike plot and slick direction worthy of a TV spy series, but Rapace’s avenging feminist character elevates it above the second rate. Neverthless, Roman Polanski’s recent ‘The Ghost Writer’ has about half the twists and twice the suspense. — Holman

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THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN (NR) Wild Reeds director (André Téchiné) helms this drama about a young Parisian woman (Émilie Dequenne) who claims to be the victim of an anti-Semitic attack and becomes the center of a media firestorm.

TYLER PERRY’S WHY DID I GET MARRIED TOO? (PG-13 ) What could mess up a vacation to the Bahamas? Four married couples. Perry’s sequel to Why Did I Get Married is sure to be a neat little package wrapped in humor, sweetness and sorrow. The bow? A lesson in love and relationships.

VINCERE 4 stars (R ) At a time when words like “socialist” and “Nazi” are used as interchangeable political epithets, director Marco Bellocchio presents a compelling refreshing course on the rise of Mussolini (Filippo Timi) from a rockstar among young revolutionaries to Italy’s fascist director. Beautician Ida Dalser (Giovanna Mezzogiorno) gravitates to Mussolini’s charisma, bears him a son and then suffers enormously when the war-mongering agitator abandons her and denies their relationship. Vincere maintains a stirring, operatic tone with larger-than-life performances and wall-to-wall music (particularly when Dasler is institutionalized), but Mezzogiorno keeps the passionate performance from reducing to histrionics. — Holman

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