July 23, 2009

On Thin Ice
By Lisa Miller

Ice Age: Dawn Of The Dinosaurs
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Carlos Saldanha
Voiced by: Ray Romano, John Leguizamo, Denis Leary, Queen Latifah, Simon Pegg, Seann William Scott, Josh Peck, Chris Wedge, Karen Disher
Fox—Rated PG—Animated—87 min
The "Ice Age" franchise attempts to defrost its overexposed prehistoric characters by stealing from other movies. As the third chapter opens we find woolly mammoth couple Manny (Ray Romano) and Ellie (Queen Latifah) preparing for the arrival of their first born. The couple's nesting activities prompt severe reactions from their best friends. Saber-toothed tiger Diego (Denis Leary) believes the pair's domesticity is dulling his predatory edge. Sloth Sid (John Leguizamo) worries he will be abandoned by the others and left alone.
Then Sid discovers a clutch of three enormous eggs in a subterranean labyrinth beneath the ice. He carts the enormous eggs up top, hilariously losing and recovering them on slippery slopes that serve as abstract illustrations of parental duty. Soon Sid proudly declares himself a "single mother" to three T-Rex hatchlings. Mama T-Rex comes looking for her babies and after wreaking havoc on the company's home turf, she scoops up her brood and Sid, for the journey back to her tropical dinotopia.
Manny, Ellie, Diego and a pair of sidekick opossums (Seann William Scott and Josh Peck), seek to effect a rescue, but they are unable to save a story recycling the highlights of "Jurassic Park" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth." The film might have overcome the stigma had "Land of the Lost" not beat it to the punch, or had the third "Ice Age" been funnier. As it is there's little satisfaction and even less humor to be extracted from problems attributed to the central characters that are distilled to saccharine soundbites.
Hope springs once the company joins up with a dinosaur-hunting weasel named Buck (Simon Pegg), until what appeared to be an original notion proves to be a dumbed-down resetting of the classic "Moby Dick."
Some relief is provided by a parallel story featuring proto-squirrel Scrat's (Chris Wedge) relentless pursuit of a prize acorn. In these dialog-free segments, the acorn plays the Road Runner to Scrat's Wiley Coyote. It's always good for a laugh but the writers give it a twist, introducing Scrat to a comely female squirrel (Karen Disher) who is competing for possession of the nut. The romantic in Scrat considers gifting her the acorn in an act of love, but even as Lou Rawls croons, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" Scrat can't quite bring himself to give up his "Precious." This tug-of-war between the girl and an acorn that refuses to stay put, provides the film's most enchanting entertainment. It also serves as an object lesson to those making children’s movies: It's okay to let 'em see you sweat, but don't ever let them see you being predictable.

I Love You, Beth Cooper
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Chris Columbus
Starring Hayden Panettiere, Paul Rust, Jack T. Carpenter, Lauren London, Alan Ruck, Cynthia Stevenson
Fox Atomic—Rated PG-13—Comedy
Fox Studios rushes to capitalize on Hayden Panettiere while she's still famous enough to turn "Heroes" fanboys into movie ticket buyers. After nerdy valedictorian high school senior Denis (Rust), proclaims his crush on popular girl Beth Cooper (Panettiere) during his commencement speech, the teen queen amuses herself by introducing Denis and his geeky friends to her wild-child party scene. Panettiere cheerfully does her part by stripping for a nude scene, so plot problems shouldn't prevent the film from turning a buck. Meanwhile the MPAA's rating system gets a little more questionable every year.


Bruno
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Larry Charles
Starring Sacha Baron Cohen, Richard Bey, Ron Paul, Paula Abdul, Domiziano Arcangeli, Emerson Brooks, Alice Evans, Gustaf Hammarsten
Universal—Rated R—Comedy—83 min
Flying high on his "Borat" success, Sacha Baron Cohen gets a new look when he becomes a bleached blonde (with highly arched eyebrows) for his latest mockumentary. This time Cohen plays Bruno, a gay, Austrian fashionista spending his exile in Hollywood where Bruno—his lovelorn assistant Lutz (Hammarsten) in tow—seeks stardom. Though a large portion of the humor is insulting and distasteful, the "Punk'd" scenes that depict Bruno offending the very celebrities he hopes to befriend, appear staged. Watch for male frontal nudity and numerous shots featuring skin-and-bones Cohen wearing nothing but itty bitty briefs.


Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Michael Bay
Starring Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro, Rainn Wilson, Jon Voight
Paramount—Rated PG—Fantasy—147 min
"Transformers" meets "Indiana Jones" and "The Mummy" in what feels like a hybrid of not-so-hot recent movies and LaBeouf's own screen roles. In order to save mankind from marauding Decepticon aliens, Sam Witwicky (LaBeouf) and his galpal Mikaela (Fox) travel to the Egyptian ruins where they hope to find a key capable of reactivating the good-guy Autobot Transformers. Ships, tanks, planes, rockets and giant shape-shifting machines battle for audience attention in this $200 million dollar special-effects bonanza. John Turturro, Rainn Wilson and Jon Voight rush to get in on the frenetic action of this video game movie—minus the joystick.

Year One
(2009)
*1/2 (Grade C-)
Directed by Harold Ramis
Starring Jack Black, Michael Cera, Olivia Wilde, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Vinnie Jones, Hank Azaria, Paul Rudd, Juno Temple, Oliver Platt, David Cross
Sony—Rated PG-13—Comedy
Jack Black and Michael Cera play Zed and Oh, friends and lazy members of a primitive tribe in the year one. The pair are exiled after Zed eats the forbidden fruit. Oh joins Zed on a biblical journey that leads them to Cain and Abel, Abraham and Isaac, and the lovely people of Sodom. Unfamiliar with the rules of this new world, Zed and Oh are pressed into military service, thrown out and threatened with execution. At one point the pair are enslaved. Oh is stripped nearly naked, painted gold, and made to rub a hairy priest's chest (Platt) with warm oil. Poorly organized storytelling is one problem; the other is gross out humor that rarely hits the funny bone.

Public Enemies
(2009)
* * * (Grade B)
Directed by Michael Mann
Starring Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Jason Clarke, Rory Cochrane, Billy Crudup, Stephen Dorff, and Stephen Lang
Universal—Rated R—130 min
Virtuoso style and cinematic bravado flesh out the retelling of John Dillinger's saga. After escaping from prison in 1933, Dillinger (Depp) goes on a bank-robbing spree that gains him public admiration in an era of failing banks and first place on J. Edgar Hoover's (Crudup) Public Enemies list. Dillinger breaks his own rules when he woos and wins the heart of coat-check girl Billie Frechette (Cotillard). Knowing their romance can not last, the pair make every moment count. As FBI Agent Melvin Purvis, Christian Bale uses his intensity, rather than his underwritten character, to convey the agent's determination to bring Dillinger down by any means necessary.

My Sister’s Keeper
(2009)
* *1/2 (Grade B-)
Directed by Nick Cassavetes
Starring Cameron Diaz, Abigail Breslin, Alec Baldwin, Sofia Vassilieva, Joan Cusack, Jason Patric, Thomas Dekker, Emily Deschanel, Lin Shaye
Warner—Rated PG-13—Drama—109 min
Abigail Breslin headlines a drama exploring complex ethical and familial issues. She plays 11-year-old Anna Fitzgerald, conceived by her parents (Diaz and Patric) to help their leukemia-stricken daughter Kate (Vassilieva) stay alive. During her short life Anna has happily donated blood and bone marrow numerous times, but when Kate needs one of Anna's kidneys, the younger girl hires an attorney (Baldwin) to secure Anna's medical emancipation from her parents. A cozy plot twist has Anna's mom resume her legal career in order to oppose Anna’s petition to the court. Despite all the squabbling, the Fitzgerald's are a loving family doing the best they can. From Jodi Picoult's novel, the film is sufficiently well-executed to assure there won't be a dry eye left in the house.

The Proposal
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Anne Fletcher
Starring Sandra Bullock, Ryan Reynolds, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Betty White, Denis O'Hare, Malin Akerman
Disney—Rated PG-13—Comedy—107 min
In this chick flick banking on Bullock's wholesome appeal, the actress appears as cutthroat New York City book editor, Margaret Tate. Facing deportation to Canada, Margaret conspires to marry her young assistant Andrew (Reynolds) whom she knows nothing about. She finds herself succumbing to his charms during a trip to Alaska to meet Andrew's quirky family. A safe, non-offensive offering, 45-year-old Bullock and 33-year-old Reynolds make a cute pair, but never persuade as a couple. They aren't helped by a script lacking both an "aha" moment and evidence of their blossoming love.

The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
(2009)
* * (Grade C)
Directed by Tony Scott
Starring Denzel Washington, John Travolta, John Turturro, Luis Guzman, Michael Rispoli, James Gandolfini
Sony—Rated R—Action—106 min
The 1974 original film was an adrenaline rush casting Robert Shaw as the merciless mastermind behind a crew of hostage takers on a New York City subway. He was matched by Walter Matthau playing Walter Garber, a subway train dispatcher with a very grumpy disposition. Having gained Ryder's trust, Garber tries to keep Ryder calm while city officials plan their next move. This time, Travolta plays the madman demanding $10 million dollars in exchange for the hostages. Washington packs on the pounds for the Garber role, but director Scott has reversed his actors, putting the intense one where the funnyman belongs. It's a slick, passable production, but lacks the one, two, three punch that made the original a knock out.

The Hangover
(2009)
* * *1/2 (Grade A-)
Directed by Todd Phillips
Starring Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper, Justin Bartha, Heather Graham, Sasha Barrese, Ken Jeong, Rachael Harris, Jeffrey Tambor, Mike Tyson
Warner—Rated R—Comedy—100 min
Phil, Stu and Alan (Cooper, Helms and Galifianakis) take their soon-to-be-married buddy (Bartha) to Vegas for a bachelor blowout that quickly spins out of control. The following morning, Phil, Stu and Alan awaken in a luxury casino suite where they've somehow acquired both a human baby and full-grown tiger. Though questions abound, the trio's biggest problem is that they've misplaced the groom. Unable to remember events of the previous night, the three attempt to retrace their steps. Clues lead them first to the ER, then to Mike Tyson, and finally reveal that one of them has married a stripper. Using a second-tier cast, director Todd Phillips hits pay-dirt with marvelous comic performances from Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis, longtime supporting players earning their break out roles. Pumping its Vegas locale for everything its worth, the tale's zany humor combines with a crazy detective story to hit the comedy jackpot.

UP
(2009)
* * * * (Grade A)
Directed by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson
Voices of Edward Asner, Christopher Plummer, Jordan Nagai, Bob Peterson, Delroy Lindo, Jerome Ranft, John Ratzenberger, David Kaye, Elie Docter, Jeremy Leary
Buena Vista—Rated PG—Animated, Family—96 min
Another Pixar story, this one takes to the skies in a big way. When curmudgeon senior citizen, Carl Fredricksen (voiced by Asner), takes off to see a remote range of Venezuelan mountains, he ties thousands of balloons to his house that lift it up, up and away. Comfortably settled inside his flying home, Carl is appalled to discover that a young scout has inadvertently hitched a ride. Animated with spellbinding beauty and vibrance, the film follows the pair's adventures, and eventual meeting with Carl's boyhood hero (Plummer)—a famed explorer. Encountering wondrous animals, as well as with confronting an evil plot, will test the pair's resolve and leave audiences feeling "Up"- beat.