2002 Mega Movie Guide
(Page 30 of 49)
Staff * No matter what name Adam Sandler assumes, he's the same persona in every movie: the ultimate village idiot savant. In this remake of Frank Capra's "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town," he plays a simpleton from Vermont who's whisked to New York to collect a $40 billion inheritance. Deeds finds himself attended by more butlers than you could cram into Gosford Park. But nefarious interests are sniffing around. Though the film has a "wealth doesn't equal happiness" message, it's clear filmmakers put more thought into product placement than storytelling. By Stephen Humphries
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Staff ** Silly, uninspired, dumb.
Sex/Nudity: Some innuendo. Violence: 5 scenes of comic violence. Profanity: 22 expressions. Drugs: 14 scenes of drinking, smoking.
Director: Michael Rubbo. With Rubbo, Mark Rylance, John Michell. (93 min.)
Sterritt *** And you thought William Shakespeare wrote his own plays? This entertaining documentary makes a lively argument that his works - even sonnets - were penned by Christopher Marlowe, who allegedly faked his own murder at age 29 and high-tailed it for Italy, smuggling his plays back to England under an assumed moniker. All right, it's a far-fetched theory. But it's fun to think about, and Rubbo's collection of quibbling scholars provides a colorful account. Will the real Bard of Avon please stand up?
Director: Stephen Earnhart. With Beanie Andrew, Annabelle Lea Usher, Larry Parrot, Ricky Lix. (93 min.)
Sterritt *** Earnhart met the residents of a rural trailer park in Florida while shooting a music video, and stayed to make this documentary about a handful of would-be filmmakers who create a home-grown horror flick starring themselves. The result is as deliciously eccentric as the characters it chronicles.
Director: Barbet Schroeder. With Sandra Bullock, Ryan Gosling, Michael Pitt, Ben Chaplin.
Staff ** Bullock stars as a wise-cracking investigator whose own dark past is a mystery. She quickly figures out who committed a horrifying crime, but can she prove it? Gosling and Pitt shine as her troubled-teen suspects, and Chaplin is fine as a low-key partner and potential love interest. A must-see only for Bullock fans. By Gregory M. Lamb
Sex/Nudity: 2 sex scenes (unseen). Violence: 16 scenes, including some with severed body parts. Profanity: 33 expressions. Drugs: At least 16 scenes with alcohol and smoking.
Director: Joel Zwick. With Nia Vardalos, John Corbett, Michael Constantine. (95 min.)
Sterritt * An ugly duckling gets a makeover, goes to college, and snares the man of her dreams even though he's not Greek enough to please her parents. The title could have been "My Big Fat _____ Wedding," since the screenplay is a string of stereotypes and clichés that have worn out their welcome in comedies about Italians and Jews, and will surely be recycled in by-the-numbers farces about other ethnic groups in years to come.
Staff *** Hilarious, light, family fun.
Sex/Nudity: 12 scenes, including a few with implied sex. Violence: 5 mild scenes. Profanity: 7 expressions. Drugs: About 22 scenes with alcohol.
Director: Yvan Attal. With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Terence Stamp, Yvan Attal, Lionel Abelanski. (93 min.)
Staff ***1/2 A happy heart is the first casualty when a man's affection for his movie-star wife is bedeviled by pangs of jealousy for her role in an arousing screenplay. This humorous French film is exquisite, handling the drama of a suffering marriage with delicacies of character that save the plot from being yet another formulaic lechery-fest. By Aaron Bingham
Sex/Nudity: 6 scenes, including sex, nudity. Violence: 2 instances. Profanity: 23 harsh expressions. Drugs: 20 scenes with drinking and smoking.
Director: Ismail Merchant. With Aasif Mandvi, Om Puri, Ayesha Dharker, Zohra Segal. (117 min.)
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