Movie Guide
Ratings and comments by David Sterritt and Monitor staff. Staff comments reflect the sometimes diverse views of at least three other moviegoers. Information on violence, drugs, sex/nudity, and profanity is compiled by the Monitor panel.
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STAR RATINGS MEANING
**** Excellent *** Good ** Fair * Poor DUD The Worst
New Releases
The Road Home (Not rated)
Director: Zhang Yimou. With Zhang Ziyi, Honglei Sun, Hao Zheng, Yuelin Zhao. (89 min.)
Sterritt ***
As he prepares for his father's funeral, a man recalls the stories he's heard about the long-ago love affair between his parents, a young peasant woman and a village schoolmaster, during the 1950s - a time of transition in China between ancient folkways and new-fangled ideas like romantic love. Zhang Yimou has directed much greater films, like "Ju Dou" and "The Story of Qiu Ju," but this effort has a graceful simplicity that many will find hard to resist. Ditto for the starring performance by Zhang Ziyi, who earned fame in "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon."
Pearl Harbor (PG-13)
Director: Michael Bay. With Ben Affleck, Kate Beckinsale, Josh Hartnett, Cuba Gooding Jr. (178 min.)
Staff *
The friendship of two pilots is threatened when they both fall for the same woman on the eve of America's defeat at Pearl Harbor. The script of this self-important epic is about as well-structured as a scrambled egg, and the acting is cartoonish. Even the much-vaunted depiction of the Japanese attack, while often visually arresting, still suffers from over-frenetic editing and more emphasis on adventure thrills than befits the tragedy of Pearl Harbor. By Stephen Humphries
Sex/Nudity: 1 sex scene, 11 scenes with partial nudity. Violence: 274 scenes. Profanity: 40 harsh expressions. Drugs: 5 scenes with cigarettes, 3 scenes with alcohol.
Strange Fits of Passion (Not rated)
Director: Elise McCredie. With Michela Noonan, Mitchell Butel, Samuel Johnson. (80 min.)
Staff **
The title comes from an 18th-century poem by William Wordsworth, which is fitting, since the main character is a literature fan who works in a bookstore while plotting ways to bring some romance into her life. This modest comedy-drama relies too much on stereotypes, from the self-absorbed modern poet to the gay best friend, but Noonan's earnest performance makes much of it worth watching.
Currently in Release
Along Came A Spider (R)
Director: Lee Tamahori. With Morgan Freeman, Monica Potter, Michael Wincott, Jay O. Sanders. (104 min.)
Sterritt **1/2
Morgan Freeman is back as detective Dr. Alex Cross in this well-paced thriller. He's on the trail of a villain who has kidnapped the daughter of a US senator. "Along Came a Spider" is filled with surprising twists, which often evoke a smile. By Steven Savides
Staff *
Stale dialogue, ridiculous twists, Morgan Freeman is the only redeeming aspect.
Sex/Nudity: 1 reference to sex. Violence: 9 instances of fairly graphic violence, including one car crash and several shootings. Profanity: 9 harsh expressions. Drugs: 1 cigarette.
Blow (R)
Director: Ted Demme. With Johnny Depp, Penelope Cruz, Ray Liotta, Paul Reubens, Rachel Griffiths. (119 min.)
Sterritt **
The fact-based story of George Jung, a small-time California crook who became a big-time associate of a Colombia drug cartel, is inherently stale. But Depp evokes emotional depth with a characteristically subtle performance, and Demme elicits fine acting from the supporting cast.
Staff ***
Realistic, thought-provoking.
Sex/Nudity: Brief nude shots in a photo collage, topless women in a pool, and backside shots of nude women. Violence: Graphic fighting scenes with guns and 1 slap to a woman. Profanity: 134 harsh expressions. Drugs: 31 scenes with alcohol and 39 with drugs.
Bridget Jones's Diary (R)
Director: Sharon Maguire. With Renee Zellweger, Hugh Grant, Colin Firth, Jim Broadbent. (94 min.)
Sterritt **
A romantic Englishwoman searches for a man who won't mind her slightly bulky figure and slightly dissolute habits. This lightweight comedy evidently sees itself as a Jane Austen spinoff in the "Clueless" vein, and fans of the genre will enjoy it if they're not distracted by trite plot twists, Firth's one-note formality, or Zellweger's on-and-off English accent.
Staff ***1/2
Exaggerated, v.g. (very good).
Sex/Nudity: 3 sex scenes, no nudity. 3 instances of innuendo and several sexual references. Violence: 1 scene with a fistfight. Profanity: 35 including many harsh expressions. Drugs: 15 scenes of smoking and drinking.
