S.W.A.T.
PG-13
3 stars
Starring Colin Farrell, Samuel L.Jackson, Michelle
Rodriguez, L.L. Cool J
Directed by Clark Johnson
Due to a split-second decision made during a hostage situation,
officer Jim Street is thrown off the S.W.A.T. team. Dan
”
Hondo
”
Harrelson gives him a second chance by reassigning him to his
own S.W.A.T unit. Back on the job, he has a chance to prove his
mettle against a deadly international criminal who has offered $100
million to anyone who can break him out of jail.
In a reversal of the way most retro-TV adaptations go, a really
good action film has sprung from a truly mediocre TV show. Although
somewhat clich
é-ridden, S.W.A.T. has an interesting story which moves at a
brisk pace.
S.W.A.T.
PG-13
3 stars
Starring Colin Farrell, Samuel L.Jackson, Michelle
Rodriguez, L.L. Cool J
Directed by Clark Johnson
Due to a split-second decision made during a hostage situation, officer Jim Street is thrown off the S.W.A.T. team. Dan “Hondo” Harrelson gives him a second chance by reassigning him to his own S.W.A.T unit. Back on the job, he has a chance to prove his mettle against a deadly international criminal who has offered $100 million to anyone who can break him out of jail.
In a reversal of the way most retro-TV adaptations go, a really good action film has sprung from a truly mediocre TV show. Although somewhat cliché-ridden, S.W.A.T. has an interesting story which moves at a brisk pace.
Le Divorce
PG-13
2 stars
Starring Kate Hudson, Naomi Watts
Directed by James Ivory
California slacker Isabel travels to Paris to visit her sister Roxeanne, who is pregnant and headed for divorce from her philandering husband, Charles-Henri. Isabel starts an affair with Charles-Henri’s married uncle, and relations between the two families become further complicated when a painting owned by Roxeanne turns out to be worth millions.
Although not without charm, Le Divorce never really packs the dramatic or comedic punch it was certainly capable of. Clever pieces about the differences between French and American culture abound, but mostly, Divorce lumbers along for two without ever letting the audience feel anything about its characters or what happens to them.
Freaky Friday
PG-13
3 stars
Starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Lindsay Lohan
Directed By Mark Waters
Tess Coleman and her teenaged daughter Anna don’t see eye-to-eye on anything. In addition to the standard stresses facing 15-year-olds, Anna’s problems are compounded by her widowed mother’s upcoming remarriage. During a heated argument, cursed fortune cookies cause Tess and Anna to switch bodies, giving each a chance to see life from the other’s perspective.
Yes, it’s a remake, and yes, this premise has been poorly adapted by entirely too many other films, but somehow, Freaky Friday still feels very fresh. The jokes bend without breaking and Lindsay Lohan does a great job of mimicking the clipped speech of Curtis’ character. All in all, a kid’s movie that adults can heartily enjoy.
American Splendor
PG-13
4 stars
Directed By Robert Pulcini, Shari Springer Berman
Starring Paul Giamatti, Harvey Pekar
Harvey Pekar turned the comic book industry on its head in the ’80s when he began documenting his life as a clerk for a Cleveland VA hospital in the comic book series “American Splendor”. Directors Pulcini and Berman bring his tale to the screen in American Splendor.
A biopic about a work that’s mostly autobiographical in nature, American Splendor is one of the more original movies to come around in some time. Paul Giamatti’s hilarious but faithful portrayal of Pekar is interspersed with interviews with Pekar himself, who narrates the film. A very different kind of comic book adaptation, Splendor is brilliant. An extraordinary tale about an extra ordinary life, Splendor may be the best film of the year.
American Wedding
Rated R
2 stars
Starring Jason Biggs, Alyson Hannigan, Eugene Levy
Directed by Jesse Dylan
Having dated through college Jim and Michelle are ready to take the next step into marriage. The promise of a storybook wedding is compromised when Stifler invites himself to participate as a groomsman and sets his eye on Michelle’s younger sister.
While Pie was a hilariously pleasant surprise, Wedding serves up something a little too familiar. Sappy expositions of love and growing up punctuate a steady stream of Farrely Brothers’ style gross-out jokes. That being said, the movie is not without its moments, mostly with Stifler’s character at the center of them.
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl
PG-13
3 stars
Directed by Gore Verbinski
Starring Johnny Depp, Geoffrey Rush, Orlando Bloom
Pirate captain Jack Sparrow steals a ship in hopes of catching the pirate crew that stole his own ship, The Black Pearl. However, a horrible curse has befallen his former crew, turning them into undead creatures in search of a means of reversing their fate.
Johnny Depp is fun to watch as the pirate captain, and his scenes opposite Geoffrey Rush are among some of the best in the movie. The special effects might be too frightening for small children, but Pirates should be lots of fun for everyone else.
