Ali (R) Sitting through all two-and-a-half hours of director Michael Mann's Ali is a lot like being locked in a small room with a feisty 8-year-old with Attention Deficit Disorder. Between the jittery, distracted style-gymnastics and a storyline that flits willy-nilly from one event to another, Ali gives us a scattershot picture, at best, of this iconic figure. There's little real dramatic momentum to the movie, and important events are frequently alluded to but not made particularly clear, almost as if key connective tissue from this already too-long film had been relegated to the cutting room floor simply in the interest of making the movie shorter. Individual sequences seem disconnected from one another and take on all the surreal weightlessness of virtual soundbites, as Ali slogs forward in time, mixing famous events with sketchy, oddly chosen private moments. Will Smith is passable as Ali, but fails to bring the considerable grandeur, gravity and, frankly, raw charisma that this role demands. Also stars Jamie Foxx, Jon Voight and Mario Van Peebles. 
Amelie (NR) Plucky, quintessentially quirky Amelie (saucer-eyed Audrey Tautou) spends her time choreographing good deeds and love connections for her neighbors and, eventually, herself. Amelie, which is as much a fairy tale as it is a cartoon, brims with imagination and emotion, and the impossibly fetching Montemartre neighborhood in which it's set is as much a dreamscape as it is an actual physical location. As is his stylistic want, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet crams every inch of the film with marvelously composed shots of bric-a-brac and arcane doodads, lavishing equal, fetishistic attention upon a kitschy garden gnome and the sensual pleasure of cracking open the crust on a well-turned creme brulee. Also stars Mathieu Kassovitz. 
A Beautiful Mind (PG-13) A Russell Crowe performance that has Oscar written all over it is the main reason to see this atypically twisty Ron Howard production about an emotionally fragile genius whose life spins out of control in all sorts of unexpected ways. The movie takes so many curious detours, in fact, that it's difficult to describe without giving too much away. Suffice it to say that it's nice to see the director-formerly-known-as-Opie flexing his filmmaking muscles with something this interesting. The movie's later sections feel a little too close for comfort to a disease-of-the-week movie, and the whole thing could be shortened by at least 20 minutes, but A Beautiful Mind is still rarely less than engaging. And did we mention Russell Crowe's performance? Also stars Jennifer Connelly. 
Beauty and the Beast (G) Disney's The Little Mermaid may have signaled the studio's second coming, but it was this 1991 feature that really solidified the animators' mastery of all the elements essential to the making of a modern Disney classic. Beauty and the Beast is alive with great scenes, songs and characters, and features a script by turns clever and emotionally resonant, and stripped down the essence of its timeless tale. Playing at IMAX Dome Theater and at Channelside Cinemas IMAX. Call theaters to confirm.
Behind Enemy Lines (R) This film was completed before 9-11, so instead of jihad-crazy Muslims, the nasty bad guys here are the murderous Serbs who shoot down bored Yankee fly-boy Owen Wilson during a routine reconnaissance mission over Bosnia. Wilson then spends the entire movie on the run from his vicious pursuers while his NATO superiors bicker over the delicate particulars of his rescue. The movie has all the depth of a Little Lulu comic, but director John Moore shoots the action in such a blatantly visceral, hyper-kinetic manner that we just can't look away.
Black Knight (PG-13) Martin Lawrence plays a medieval theme park employee who gets dunked in a funky looking moat and finds himself magically transported back to the actual 14th Century. The movie's too lacking in energy to bother developing a few decent jokes (not to mention characters), and simply goes through the motions of telling its story, not exactly incompetently, but certainly as if it had been written on autopilot.
Gosford Park (PG-13) Robert Altman has tackled just about every genre there is, reinventing everything from the western (McCabe and Mrs. Miller) to the war movie (M*A*S*H) to film noir (The Long Goodbye) and back again. Now, just a few years shy of his eighth decade of life, America's most venerated filmmaker has ventured into virgin territory once more in Gosford Park, although the results lack the fire and sheer imagination of Altman's best works. Gosford Park is Altman's spin on one of those English dramas where a bunch of well-heeled types congregate at someone's swanky country estate for the weekend and, eventually, someone gets murdered. The film's characters include both the aristocratic weekend revelers and their assorted servants, and Gosford Park pays considerable attention to the separate upstairs/downstairs worlds inhabited by these distinct classes and to modes of veiled innuendo and gossip both use to communicate. The characters are intriguing, the ensemble cast wonderful, but it all peters out in the last act with a series of anticlimaxes and revelations that just aren't that revealing. Gosford Park is rarely less than entertaining, but the film frequently seems a touch too rigid in a way that's at odds with this unique filmmaker's real strengths. Stars Emily Watson, Ryan Phillippe, Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Jeremy Northam and Alan Bates. Held over at Channelside Cinemas, Muvico Baywalk and Muvico Starlight. Call theaters to confirm.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (PG) A wizard, a true star. Living up to the hype in almost every way, Chris Columbus' big screen adaptation of the first Harry Potter book is a rousing blend of fantasy, mystery, action and pure charm that puts the film in a league with modern adventure classics like Raiders of the Lost Ark or the original Star Wars trilogy.
(4 1/2 Planets)
Happenstance (R) Another romantic comedy in which a handful of oddly mismatched characters' lives intersect in such a way that every tiny action by one person somehow effects someone else. There are more than a dozen characters in director Laurent Firode's film, but you might well say that fate or destiny is the only one that matters (the title in French refers to the famous chaos theory example of a butterfly's wings beating over the Atlantic causing a hurricane in the Pacific). The entire movie is composed of an interlocking series of small, chance encounters, all of which turn out to have significant repercussions somewhere down the road, and most of which lead to some kind of romantic happiness for those involved. Happenstance features some winning performances (most notably an appearance by Audrey Tautou from Amelie) and is sometimes quite charming, but the bulk of the film simply wavers between the overly cute and the overtly pretentious. Also stars Nathalie Bescancon, Faudel and Eric Savin. Opens Jan. 18 at Channelside Cinemas. Call theater to confirm. 
Heist (R) David Mamet is back with a crowd he clearly loves — con artists and crooks — but don't expect the metaphysical mind games of The Spanish Prisoner or House of Games this time around. Heist is about as close to a no-frills action movie as Mamet's likely to come, with a number of set pieces revolving around finely tuned robberies, and a relative minimum of angst or stylized chat (although it does contain its share of prime Mametspeak). Gene Hackman is in top form as the leader of a gang of tough but weirdly endearing thieves, and it's his presence that really carries the film. The movie's twists and turns begin to seem a bit contrived after a while, but, on the whole, Heist is an oddly crowd-pleasing bit of business that shows that the commercialization of David Mamet continues apace. Also stars Danny DeVito.
How High (R) Rappers Redman and Method Man smoke weed that has the effect of making them so smart they can get into Harvard. When their stash runs out, they're left to fend for themselves in the elite halls of higher education.
(Not Reviewed)
Impostor (PG-13) In the not-too-distant future, a patriotic weapons designer (Gary Sinise) finds himself the object of a massive manhunt when authorities come to believe that he's actually a cyborg assassin planted by nasty aliens. There are some interesting Blade Runner-ish connections here (no fluke since Impostor is based on a story by Philip K. Dick) but there's really not much else to recommend this one-dimensional and vaguely unpleasant sci-fi film. For the most part, Impostor is dull, murky looking, confusingly shot and features the worst ever performance by the normally dependable Vincent D'Onofrio. Also stars Madeline Stowe.
In the Bedroom (R) A remarkable drama by turns subtle and fearsomely intense, Todd Fields' directorial debut always seems to be one step ahead of our expectations. In a manner strangely similar to that of another very good recent American film, The Deep End, most of what's truly intriguing about In the Bedroom lies just below the surface and is gradually revealed in a sly, sure way that invests every detail with maximum impact and mystery. Fields' thoroughly character-driven film introduces us to a handful of small-town folks (mostly the members of a white collar family living in a predominantly blue collar New England town) and then, just when we think we've figured out who and what the movie's about, we find the rug's been pulled out from under us and the movie's main focus is really somewhere else entirely.
Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius (G) It takes a little while for this computer-animated feature from Nickelodeon to find its groove, but once it does, it rarely lets us down. The brisk little romp of a story will appeal to adults almost as much as to kids (a pint-size savant with a hairdo like a scoop of softserve leads a rescue mission for alien-abducted parents) and it all cruises along nicely on a steady stream of nifty 3-D visuals and highly entertaining gags. Directed by John A. Davis.
Joe Somebody (PG-13) Lost-in-the-crowd loser Joe Sheffer (Tim Allen) finds himself slapped around by the office bully (Patrick Warburton, a.k.a. Puddy from Seinfeld). To save face he challenges the thug to a rematch and suddenly becomes the office star. Allen becomes popular, but with the age-old at what cost? theme. The film flops as the adults fall into more and more childish behavior.
—Robert Napper
Kate and Leopold (PG-13) A retro fairy tale (fashioned as a sci-fi love story) designed to have us yearning for a kinder, gentler time when chivalry wasn't dead and men charged to the rescue of women on speedy white steeds. Meg Ryan stars as successful but emotionally frustrated modern-day businesswoman who falls for a well-mannered 19th century duke (Hugh Jackman) who mysteriously materializes in her apartment building one day. The film is ridiculous but just charming enough to offer some pleasure.
The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (PG-13) The first of Peter Jackson's long-awaited adaptations of J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy succeeds on just about every level it's supposed to. For virtually its entire three-hour running time, Jackson's epic fantasy keeps us happily immersed in the stuff of legends, sort of like a Harry Potter for grown-ups. A top-notch ensemble of name actors throw themselves into their roles, and scenes of considerable intimacy are handled with as much care and conviction as the fantastic, sprawling battle scenes that are laced throughout the movie. The movie's overall tone is heartfelt, graceful and even surprisingly cheery for a film about, among other bits of nastiness, the impending end of the world. Stars Elijah Wood, Ian McKellen, Liv Tyler, Viggo Mortensen, Cate Blanchett and Christopher Lee.
Life as a House (R) Kevin Kline stars as a terminally ill man who decides to spend his last few months building himself a swanky home by the sea, while simultaneously attempting to build bridges with his estranged son (Hayden Christensen) and ex-wife (Kristin Scott Thomas). Director Irwin Winkler's ham-fisted approach often makes it feel like the movie might have been better expressed on a greeting card.
The Majestic (PG-13) Jim Carrey stars as a blacklisted Hollywood screenwriter who loses his memory and winds up washed ashore in an idyllic little town where he's mistaken for a long lost war hero. Carrey's character soon discovers that it's a wonderful life — only problem is it isn't his. This latest effort by director Frank Darabont (The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption) has its heart solidly in the right place, but the movie seems to just coast along on elaborate padding and sugary frills; The Majestic is too long, too slow, too sweet and doesn't carry nearly the emotional punch it ought to. Also stars Martin Landau and Laurie Holden.
The Man Who Wasn't There (R) From its very title to its blackmail and murder-laced plot, The Man Who Wasn't There is about as close to classic film noir as the Coen Brothers have ever come (Blood Simple included) albeit with a few flying saucers and Lolita-esque nymphets thrown in, just to screw with our heads. Billy Bob Thornton is just about perfect as a milquetoast husband trapped in a loveless marriage and a joyless job, while Roger Deakins' black-and-white photography is lush and mesmerizing. Also stars Frances McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Tony Shalhoub and James Gandolfini.
Monsters, Inc. (G) Imagination runs rampant in the best possible way in this latest animated treat from the folks at Pixar Studios (Toy Story 1 & 2, A Bug's Life). The movie's a vaguely screwballish comedy of errors, a bit like Three Men and a Baby, except that the men are actually monsters. Cute, likable monsters that is, who belong to a community of multishaped beasties who accidentally come into contact with one of the adorable little children they're charged with scaring.
Not Another Teen Movie (R) A spoof of all those teen-of-the-month-movies, from the spoof specialists responsible for Scary Movie, and pretty much in the same mold. Just about every convention and cliche of every teen movie of the last few years is skewered, with humor that veers from the extremely raunchy boobs and bodily function variety. Some of the jokes hit home, but the movie takes aim exclusively at easy targets and after 45 minutes or so we're ready for it to be over.
Ocean's Eleven (PG-13) Steven Soderbergh's briskly entertaining remake of the 1960 Rat Pack vehicle is about as disposable as the original but, as with the original, it's so much fun you'll hardly notice. About all that really happens here is the planning and execution of an elaborate Las Vegas casino heist, but Soderbergh stages and shoots the action with such an appealingly economic style and immediacy that we find ourselves sucked right into the proceedings.
Orange County (PG-13) A smart surferboy has just 24 hours to get into his dream college by proving that his high school guidance counselor accidentally sent in the wrong transcripts. Stars Colin Hanks, Jack Black, Catherine O'Hara and Lily Tomlin.
(Not Reviewed)
Out Cold (PG-13) Skateboarding slackers versus yuppie entrepreneurs in Alaska. Stars Jason London, Flex Alexander and Zach Galifianakis.
(Not Reviewed)
The Royal Tenenbaums (PG-13) Tragedy has rarely been so much fun as in this latest black comedy extravaganza from director Wes Anderson (Bottle Rocket, Rushmore). This time out, Anderson and co-writer Owen Wilson (who also stars) give us the epic tale of the rise and fall of a brilliant, relentlessly bizarre and fatally damaged American family — the cumulative effect of the film being a sort of cross between The Magnificent Ambersons, a J.D. Salinger short story and The Addams Family. The movie's first half is all color and eccentric verve and, even though elements both conventional and sentimental begin to creep in from the mid-point on, the film rarely disappoints. Many of the performances are quite wonderful and the soundtrack is filled with perfectly chosen chestnuts from the likes of Nick Drake, John Lennon and Nico. Also stars Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Gwyneth Paltrow, Luke Wilson, Ben Stiller, Danny Glover and Bill Murray.
Serendipity (PG-13) Another sticky-sweet and thoroughly uncomplicated romantic comedy about fate and true love, in which the main characters spend the entire movie trying to find each other. The movie is basically harmless but overly long, and its allusions to destiny and mystical connections are just short of pretentious. Stars John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale.
Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure (PG) An engaging mix of history, drama, fascinating archival footage and breathtaking, state-of-the-art photography, Shackleton's Antarctic Adventure tells the incredible true tale of an epic battle for survival in the wake of a failed expedition to cross Antarctica in 1914.
Shallow Hal (PG-13) The notorious Farrelly Brothers' least gross and, frankly, least funny film to date. Shallow Hal is the unconvincingly sweet story of the redemption of a sexist pig (Jack Black) who is one day magically blessed/cursed with the ability to only see inner beauty — resulting in his falling head over heels with a 300-pound woman (Gwyneth Paltrow, sometimes seen in an elaborate fat suit). A trim of about 20 minutes would have been a considerable help, and most of the best jokes were given away in the movie's trailer. Also stars Jason Alexander.
The Shipping News (PG-13) A film about the ties that bind and blast families apart, director Lasse Hallstrom's dysfunctional dish du jour stars Kevin Spacey as an aimless screw-up who takes off with his aunt and young daughter to make a new start in the frozen expanses of his family's old stomping grounds, Newfoundland. The Shipping News doesn't add up to all that much, but the movie delivers an engaging and often mysterious atmosphere, Spacey turns in yet another strong performance, and director Hallstrom manages his most effective merging of the heartwarming and the eccentric since My Life as a Dog. Also stars Cate Blanchett.
Snow Dogs (PG) Cuba Gooding Jr. plays a Miami dentist who inherits a team of sled dogs, and must learn to race them or lose the pack to a grizzled old mountain man.
(Not reviewed)
Vanilla Sky (R) Tom Cruise chews up the screen in this faithful-to-a-fault remake of a Spanish cult film about a self-obsessed playboy who finds reality and fantasy blurring after he's involved in a terrible accident. It's to director Cameron Crowe's credit that he didn't try to dumb down or sugarcoat the source material — Vanilla Sky is one of the strangest and most fascinating meditations on identity to emerge from a major Hollywood studio in decades — and yet there seems to be very little reason for this version's existence, other than as a bone thrown to subtitle-resistant English-speaking audiences.
—Reviewed entries by Lance Goldenberg unless otherwise noted.
DVD PickHedwig and the Angry Inch (R) It's a long, long way from Communist East Germany to a Kansas trailer park, but that's only the tiniest fraction of the journey undertaken by Hedwig, the main character in the glam-rock extravaganza Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The biggest journey here takes place in the no-man's land otherwise known as Hedwig's genitalia, and, deeper still, inside our hero's whirligig of a brain.
Hedwig (played by John Cameron Mitchell, who's also the writer-director) is a gender-busting, acid-tongued, tortured trisexual (he/she'll try anything) wannabe rock star, and Hedwig is as pure a dose of rock theater as you'll find. Clever and often spectacularly entertaining, the film tells its story in the form of flashbacks, fantasies, extended monologues, animation sequences and zippy stylistic devices that look incredible on New Line's wonderful new DVD edition.
Most of all, though, the movie tells its story through song, since, for all its daring, multileveled sexual ambiguity, Hedwig is really an old-fashioned musical at heart, albeit one that's been outfitted in rabbit fur, rhinestones, spandex and a seemingly limitless supply of retro-futuristic wigs. Hedwig cruises along during its first hour in a manner that's so engagingly wacky that we're not quite prepared for the emotional shocks that occur during the film's far more serious last act, when Cameron's movie verges on going full-blown freak show on us.
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is a movie that demands repeat viewings and further exploration, which is exactly what the DVD invites us to do. Besides the immaculate widescreen picture and punchy, carefully mixed 5.1 Dolby digital soundtrack, the DVD features a running audio commentary with Cameron (curiously subdued in spots but still quite interesting), a selection of fascinating deleted scenes (also with director commentary) and an engaging feature-length documentary on making the film, appropriately called Whether You Like It or Not. And thanks to the magic of digital technology, Hedwig fans that want to skip all the chatter and plot development can, with the touch of a button or two, simply watch the movie as an uninterrupted song cycle.
—Lance Goldenberg
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2001.