Movies 5-28-09

By Lisa Miller

Star Trek
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by J.J. Abrams
Starring Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Karl Urban, Simon Pegg, Eric Bana, Anton Yelchin, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Leonard Nimoy, Bruce Greenwood, Ben Cross, Winona Ryder
Paramount—Rated PG-13—Sci-Fi—126 min
Gene Roddenberry's brightly lit vision of space exploration is boldly reborn. Quickly ramping up to warp speed, the new "Star Trek" re-imagines the original crew replete with new back stories altered by the time-bending effects of a black hole. Though Kirk and Spock suffer defining personal tragedies, Federation missions aboard the Starship Enterprise still conspire to bind Kirk, Spock, Bones, Scotty, Chekhov, Sulu and Uhura into a cohesive crew.
Prior to signing on with Starfleet, young James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) is an angry rebel with a heroic heart. The son of a Starfleet captain, Kirk is challenged by his father's friend, Starfleet Commander Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), to test his mettle by joining up. On a distant planet, young Spock (Zachary Quinto) is subjected to discrimination as the half-breed progeny of a Vulcan father (Ben Cross) and a human mother (Winona Ryder), the latter regarded as a lesser species. To escape such narrow-mindedness Spock joins Starfleet. Both men's back stories go overboard in making these points, but the film's use of humor makes their tales enjoyable.
Where Spock is all intellectual muscle, Kirk operates according to a virtually infallible instinct. As before, Kirk and Spock are Yin and Yang, each made better by the other. For now, Spock is put off by Kirk's efforts to short circuit the system while Kirk is peeved by Spock's lip-locking with a pretty Starfleet crew member.
Trekkies are invited to boldly go further back than ever before with a stable of young actors making the characters their own—within limits. Quinto's Spock is set to follow in Nimoy's footsteps as the most popular Enterprise officer, but Pike's boyishly handsome Kirk will quicken many a feminine heart. Karl Urban's peppy cynicism narrowly misses DeForest Kelley's "Bones," but ignites a spark. Simon Pegg's Scotty is an impeccable bit of comic engineering transforming every line into overdrive. Zoe Saldana's Uhura is smartly saucy as the ship's xenolinguist, fluent in a dozen off-world languages, while Anton Yelchin's Chekhov splinters each "V" into a "W" with obvious joy. John Cho captures Sulu's efficiency, but has few comic moments.
Eric Bana is virtually unrecognizable as Romulan baddie Nero, requiring the actor to convey roiling anger and deep sorrow despite his character's facial prosthetics. The overly tattooed Nero seems almost ordinary next to his spaceship projecting a multitude of metal tendrils that remind me of a Troll Doll having a bad hair day. In contrast, the USS Enterprise remains a gleaming symbol of hope, further updated in this reboot. Leonard Nimoy gives an important performance that propels the plot while imparting a sense of continuity to this origin story. A major detractor is a musical soundtrack that might have been written for a romantic saga. Since 13 people are credited with the hodgepodge score, I'm not certain who is to blame, but someone deserves a blast from a phaser set to stun.
Having boldly conquered the movie universe with an astounding $72 million dollar opening weekend, the new "Star Trek" is sure to live longer and prosper well into the 21st century.

Angels & Demons
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Ron Howard
Starring Tom Hanks, Ayelet Zurer, Ewan McGregor, Stellan Skarsgard, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Piefrancesco Favino, Nikolaj Lie Kaas
Sony—Rated PG-13—Drama—138 min
Boosting its action quotient, Ron Howard and his screenwriters appear determined to overcome the "Da Vinci Code's" leaden adaptation. In this prequel Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon (Hanks), is summoned to find four kidnapped cardinals considered front-runners for the papacy. Aided by the recently deceased pope's friend (McGregor), along with Inspector Olivetti (Favino) and beautiful Italian scientist Vittoria (Zurer), Langdon tracks the Illuminati, a religious cult terrorizing the Vatican. As dead cardinals pile up, Langdon races from church to church, charting a path of religious symbols to locate the perpetrators. Generous helpings of mysterious deaths, explosions and gorgeous recreations of Vatican locations, are hopeful signs that this chapter has escaped its book-to-screen demons.

Management
(2008)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Stephen Belber
Starring Jennifer Aniston, Steve Zahn, Woody Harrelson, Fred Ward, Margo Martindale, James Liao
Image Entertainment—Rated R—Comedy—93 min
While on an out-of-town trip, button-down saleswoman Sue (Aniston) checks into a roadside motel owned by Mike’s parents. Hoping to get to know her better, Mike (Zahn) brings Sue a complimentary bottle of wine, and over a little vino, a romantic spark ignites. When Sue returns to her home in Maryland—and to her wealthy, but flaky boyfriend (Harrelson), Mike embarks on a journey to win her affections—despite Sue's belief that love needs money to thrive. Although their attraction must overcome Mike's stint in a monastery and his extremely ill, but unaccountably assertive mother, Aniston and Zahn make the most of their persuasive chemistry and offbeat roles. That's good management.

Next Day Air
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Benny Boom
Starring Donald Adeosun Faison, Mos Def, Mike Epps, Debbie Allen
Summit Entertainment—Rated R—Comedy
Leo (Faison), a lazy delivery guy working for his mom, has been toking up with his bud when he delivers a large package of cocaine to the wrong address. The accidental recipients are a pair of bumbling hoods who waste no time selling the drugs to one of the men's cousins. Meanwhile, both the sender and the intended receiver are determined to either get their goods back or make someone pay. Brought to you by the production company behind "Twilight," Mos Def reportedly banned the "N-word" from both the set and the film in an effort to raise its standards.

Battle For Terra
(2007)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Aristomenis Tsirbas
Voices of Evan Rachel Wood, Luke Wilson, Justin Long, Brian Cox, James Garner, Chris Evans, Dennis Quaid
Lionsgate—Rated PG—Animated, Family—Sci-Fi—85 min
Invading aliens have arrived—and they are—Us??!!!? Having destroyed our own planet, mankind's remnants wander space in search of a new home. We find it on Terra, a rocky planet we can terraform to suit our needs, however, oxygenating Terra's atmosphere will kill the planet's indigenous intelligent species. A conscientious human hopes to help Terra resist our invasion. The film, rendered in a muted palette, is uncertain about the identity of its audience and played to small audiences during its opening weekend.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Gavin Hood
Starring Hugh Jackman, Live Schreiber, Ryan Reynolds, Dominic Monaghan
Fox—Rated PG-13—Fantasy—107 min
Because Hugh Jackman is a major box office draw and because his character Wolverine is such a crowd-pleaser, it was inevitable he would get an X-Men movie of his own. Born in the Mid-1800s, Logan, aka Wolverine, and his brother Victor, aka Sabretooth (Schreiber), put their immortality and superpowers to good use as soldiers fighting in many wars. Eventually, the brothers are recruited onto a black ops squad of mutants. Wolverine tires of the violence, but his brother Sabretooth can't get enough. After Wolverine quits the squad, Sabretooth goes gunning for his brother, forcing the siblings into spectacular battles. Sabretooth's fingernails grow super-long, a match for Wolverine's clawlike metal knuckles. Schreiber is Jackman's screen equal in a moody film that stages knockout confrontations from different eras and around the globe. The video game spin-off possibilities are mindboggling.

Ghosts Of Girlfriends Past
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Mark Waters
Starring Matthew McConaughey, Jennifer Garner, Lacey Chabert, Michael Douglas, Emma Stone, Anne Archer, Robert Forster, Breckin Meyer
New Line Cinema—Rated PG-13—Comedy—102 min
Using the format from Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" as the foundation for a romantic comedy sounds promising, but doesn't pan out. Michael Douglas plays a deceased womanizer, returning as a spirit attempting to show his playboy nephew Connor (McConaughey) the error of following in his uncle's footsteps. It all happens one fateful weekend when Connor attends his brother's (Meyer) wedding. On hand for the event is Jenny (Garner), the one woman savvy enough to avoid Connor's bed, despite their longtime flirtation. After making a pass at the bride's mother (Archer), Connor falls under the spell of dead Uncle Wayne (Douglas), who compels him to tour his own past, present and future, guided by three girlfriends. Though McConaughey and Garner sport matching dimples, there's little chemistry there and we can't help hoping Jenny will leave the insufferable jerk for a better guy, preferably in a better movie.

Fighting
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Dito Montiel
Starring Channing Tatum, Terrence Howard, Brian White, Luis Guzman, Zulay Henao
Universal—Rated PG-13—Action—105 min
Small-town transplant Shawn (Tatum) is hawking counterfeit goods on NYC's streets when his fight prowess garners the attention of hustler Harvey Boarden (Howard). At first glance it appears to be a thugged-up version of "Rocky," but the film scores points for its brutal vision of bouts waged on the illegal fight scene. Director Dito Montiel uses fly camera-batics, but gets in close to bring his lead characters to life. If that seems like a tall order where Channing Tatum is concerned, that actor is excellently cast as the slightly dim Shawn. After becoming a hit in the fight world, Shawn falls for Zulay (Henao), a pretty single mom. If Shawn's going to make a life with her he needs to extricate himself from the fight scene, but doing so means fighting his way out.

Obsessed
(2009)
* (Grade D)
Directed by Steve Shill
Starring Idris Elba, Beyonce Knowles, Ali Larter, Bruce McGill, Jerry O'Connell, Christine Lahti
Screen Gems—Rated PG-13—Drama
The ongoing effort to make an actress of singer Beyonce Knowles reaches fever pitch in this "Fatal Attraction" look-alike. Knowles appears as the beautiful wife of a beset executive (Elba), while Larter stretches her resume as a stalker in the guise of a temp secretary. Though her cowardly husband fails to confess his difficult situation, wifey stands by her man after the dejected secretary threatens to sue him for sexual harassment. The interloper's ambition finally leads to a catfight-and-a-half, but we've seen this one 18 ways from Sunday on the Lifetime Channel.

The Soloist
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Joe Wright
Starring Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr., Catherine Keener
DreamWorks SKG—Rated PG-13—Drama—109 min
The true story of the friendship between LA Times reporter Steve Lopez (Downey Jr.) and homeless Nathaniel Ayers (Foxx), was scheduled for a November, 2008 Awards season release, then bumped to this spring. While seeking a subject for his column, Lopez stumbles upon Ayers playing a 2-stringed cello in the park. Astounded by what he hears, Lopez discovers that Ayers attended Juilliard until mental illness robbed him of a promising career. Moved by Ayers's plight three decades later, Lopez embarks on a journey to earn his trust, and bring Ayers closer to his dream of playing Walt Disney's Concert Hall. Adapted from Lopez's memoir, the film benefits from striking characters, classical music, a touching story, and hundreds of homeless people appearing as themselves.

Earth
(2007)
* * * 1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Alastair Fothergill, Mark Linfield
Narrated by James Earl Jones
Disney—Rated G—Documentary—99 min
In an attempt to document the effects of global warming on the planet's animal life, DisneyNature spent $47 million sending 30 camera teams to more than 200 locations over the course of on 4,500 shooting days. Three animal families, humpback whales, elephants and polar bears are followed on their seasonal treks. Cutesy narration by James Earl Jones is the main complaint, but astounding photography allows viewers to see earth's wildlife like we've never seen it before.

State Of Play
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Kevin Macdonald
Starring Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Helen Mirren
Universal—Rated PG-13—Thriller—132 mins
Adapted from a highly-rated BBC mini-series, this dramatic thriller returns Russell Crowe to a thinking man's role. He portrays Cal McCaffrey, an established Washington reporter and friend of Stephen Collins (Affleck), rising star U.S. Congressman serving on the defense committee. When Collins's assistant dies mysteriously and violently, McCaffrey investigates. Teamed with rookie reporter Della (McAdams), and under the scrutiny of his tough editor (Mirren), McCaffrey finds links to corporate wrongdoing and cover-ups. Assassins come crawling out of the woodwork, prompting McCaffrey to question his longtime association with Collins.

Crank: High Voltage
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor
Starring Jason Statham, Amy Smart, Clifton Collins, Efren Ramirez, Bai Ling, David Carradine, Reno Wilson, Dwight Yoakam, Corey Haim
Lionsgate—Rated R—Action—85 mins
Intense action, and maximum pain inform the efforts of protagonist Chev Chelios (Statham), who works overtime just to stay alive in this sequel. Viewers of the original "Crank" will recall a final scene depicting Chev's death, but as we learn in chapter two, he has been saved by technology. This includes an artificial heart that needs to be recharged regularly—and more often when Chev is extremely active. The Chinese Triad has harvested Chev's heart and he'll do anything—kill anyone—to retrieve it. Central characters from chapter one are back, most notably a scantily clad Amy Smart who gives Chev a shag for good luck. He'll need it.

17 Again
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Burr Steers
Starring Zac Efron, Matthew Perry, Leslie Mann, Thomas Lennon, Michelle Trachtenberg, Sterling Knight
New Line—Rated PG-13—98 min
Having forsaken his basketball and college dreams on one fateful day in high school, Mike O'Donnell (Perry), now 37, is separated from his wife (Mann), estranged from his teen kids (Trachtenberg and Knight) and stuck in a dead end job. After reliving his glory days during a visit to his old school, Mike is magically transformed into a 17-year-old boy (played by Efron). Now a student at his kids' school, Mike befriends his children who take him back to their house. His body may be that of a teen, but Mike's still in love with his wife and feels compelled to keep his kids on the straight and narrow. Capitalizing on his do-over turns out to be harder than Mike ever imagined.

Hannah Montana: The Movie
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Peter Chelsom
Starring Miley Cyrus, Billy Ray Cyrus, Emily Osment, Jason Earles, Lucas Till, Vanessa Williams
Disney—Rated G—Comedy—102 min
Expanding on her sitcom show and incorporating her music videos, Miley Cyrus takes to the screen—again—as Hannah Montana. Miley's growing up and her father, played by Miley's real-life dad, Billy Ray Cyrus, is worried. Miley's pop-star alter-ego Hannah Montana, is becoming a testy diva, losing her temper in public. To halt Miley's downward spiral, Dad spirits her off to Crowley Corners, Tennessee, home of the family ranch. Along for moral support is Miley's best friend Lily (Osment) and Miley's screw-up brother (Earles). Just as Miley begins to gain perspective, a local boy (Till) catches her eye and Hannah's antics rear an ugly head. Featuring 12 new songs including Miley's hit, "The Climb," the film cashes in on Disney's highly profitable asset while positioning Miley for bigger and better things to come.

Observe And Report
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Jody Hill
Starring Seth Rogen, Anna Faris, Ray Liotta, Michael Pena, John and Matthew Yuan, Celia Weston
Warner—Rated R—Comedy—86 min
An unexpectedly violent comedy, "Observe and Report" relies on a bevy of gross-out gags. Rogen appears as Ronnie Barnhardt, a bipolar mall security guard stirred to action by a flasher ruining many a shopper's spree. But there's a silver lining to the problem since Ronnie plans to use the flasher threat to get closer to cosmetics counter-girl, Brandi (Faris). To catch the perp Ronnie marshals help from his fellow security guards—only to be pushed aside by a police detective (Liotta). Between living with his alcoholic mom (Weston), Ronnie's own bipolar disorder and the detective's efforts to sideline the security team, Ronnie's success is far from assured. Additionally, Kevin James beat Rogen to the security guard theme with his highly successful "Paul Blart: Mall Cop." Nevertheless Rogen gives a disquieting performance that should cement his status as the Hollywood's oddest security guard.

Fast & Furious
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Justin Lin
Starring Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster, John Ortiz, Laz Alonso
Universal—Rated PG-13—Action—107 min
No expense was spared on the $85 million dollar four-quel starring everybody who was anybody in the other three. Vin Diesel returns as ex-con and street racer Dominic Toretto (Diesel), primed for a hardcore feud with agent Brian O'Connor (Walker)—that is until the pair agree to an uneasy truce to take down a common enemy. Brewster and Rodriguez return as love interests, joining the guys in their efforts to relieve a trucker of his million dollar fuel-train while keeping their muscle cars tuned up for each street race. Fans of "Tokyo Drift" will be glad to know that Sung Kang reprises his role. Tensions run high, but expectations are even higher for the latest installment of a $600 million dollar franchise based on Ken Li's "Vibe" magazine article, "Racer X."

Adventureland
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Greg Mottola
Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Ryan Reynolds
Miramax—Rated R—Drama—107 min
Set in the 1980s, collegiate and carnival cultures intertwine in an atmospheric drama-comedy. Eisenberg plays James, a Renaissance studies graduate whose dream of a European vacation goes bust when his family's fortune takes a turn for the worse. To earn graduate school tuition James gets a summer job at an amusement park. There he falls for tomboyish, acerbic Em (Stewart), unaware of her clandestine affair with an older man (Ryan). Period ambience is captured by a soundtrack trolling "Poison," "Yo La Tengo," "Crowded House," and others along with big-haired girls and carnie tricks for hanging onto those prized stuffed animals. Using humor to highlight the best and worst of the '80s, "Adventureland" is writer-director Greg Mottola's semi-autobiographical ode to coming of age through lost innocence.

Monsters vs. Aliens
(2009)
* * 1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon
Voices of Reese Witherspoon, Rainn Wilson, Hugh Laurie, Will Arnett, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland, Paul Rudd, Stephen Colbert
DreamWorks—Rated PG—Animated, Family—94 min
Reese Witherspoon headlines this animated science fiction entry voiced by an all-star cast. The plot, spoofing '50s sci-fi flicks, finds a 4-eyed alien (Wilson) threatening to destroy earth. To save our planet, the government releases monsters held in a secret hangar. Susan (Witherspoon), made into a 50-foot-tall-woman by an accident, leads efforts by earth's monsters to repel the aliens. She works with the brilliant Dr. Cockroach (Laurie), a gelatinous blob (Rogen), a fishy primate and a 350-foot grubworm. Fun and scares arise from action-packed, humorous confrontations that rarely let up. I smell sequel-bait.

The Haunting In Connecticut
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Peter Cornwell
Starring Virginia Madsen, Martin Donovan, Elias Koteas, Kyle Gallner, Amanda Crew, Martin Donovan, Sophi Knight, Ty Wood, Erik Berg
Lionsgate—Rated PG-13—Horror—92 min
Though reportedly based on a true story, and boasting first-rate special effects, "Haunting" has received middling early reviews. Virginia Madsen makes a welcome return to the screen as Sara, a mother devoted to helping her eldest son, Matt (Gallner), overcome cancer. Experimental drugs appear to be working, but frequent trips to the treatment center compel Sara and her three children to move closer to the facility. Husband Peter (Donovan) must stay behind to work, leaving Sara and the kids to battle angry spirits that are drawn to Matt in their home away from home. The film pulls out all the stops to depict Matt's torment, but uneven storytelling fails to create tension in this instantly forgettable horror.

Knowing
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Alex Proyas
Starring Nicolas Cage, Rose Byrne, Ben Mendelsohn, Terry Camilleri
Summit Entertainment—PG-13—Sci-Fi—115 min
Directed by Alex Proyas of 1998's "Dark City," and 2004's "I, Robot," "Knowing" is a hollow sci-fi/thriller. Cage appears as a professor who comes into possession of a paper containing mysterious numbers. Close study reveals that the numbers correctly predict the time and place of various impending disasters, including one that could spell mankind's demise. When officials refuse to listen, the professor searches for both the paper's author, and a means of warning those in danger. Although the big action set pieces are well-orchestrated, the film's final act is a huge letdown.