Movie Guide
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Staff *** 1/2 Tender, moving, riveting.
Sex/Nudity: None. Violence: 5 scenes, including 2 gory beatings. Profanity: None. Drugs: 27 scenes of smoking; 3 with drinking.
Director: Joel Schumacher. With Colin Farrell, Katie Holmes, Kiefer Sutherland. (81 min.)
Sterritt *** A self-centered yuppie (Farrell) answers a pay phone in New York, and discovers he's talking with a psychopath (Sutherland) who threatens to shoot him if he dares to hang up. Farrell solidly holds the screen while allowing enough emotional space for other characters, and Schumacher has directed the high-voltage story without a wasted move.
Staff *** Riveting, fast-paced.
Sex/Nudity: Mild innuendo. Violence: 6 scenes; guns drawn throughout. Profanity: 97 profanities. Drugs: 4 smoking scenes.
Director: Don Algrant. With Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal, Téa Leoni. (95 min.)
Sterritt *** Imagine mixing "The Sweet Smell of Success" with "Eyes Wide Shut" and a dash of "ivans xtc," and you'll have an idea of this daringly offbeat fable about an aging publicity flack, a client aiming at political stardom, and a conspiracy that's as mystifying as it is menacing. Pacino gives his best performance in years, backed by a superb supporting cast and a screenplay that keeps you guessing and engrossed.
Director: Peter Sollett. With Victor Rasuk, Judy Marte, Melonie Diaz. (87 min.)
Sterritt *** This is a likable comedy-drama about a Latino teenager in New York who romances a pretty girl who's both standoffish and insecure, like him, and faces domestic difficulties with a grandma who doesn't understand the modern world. Sympathetic and unsentimental, this is a nice example of low-budget filmmaking on a human scale.
Staff *** Realistic, tender, well-acted, witty.
Sex/Nudity: 3 scenes of innuendo. 1 with implied sex. Violence: None. Profanity: 61 profanities. Drugs: 3 scenes of smoking, drinking.
Director: Rick de Oliveira. With 16 American college students. (96 min.)
Staff ** Reality TV comes to the big screen. Concept: Recruit a few van loads of college men and women to spend their spring break in Cancún, roll film, and see what happens. Throughout the movie relationships form, break up, or fail to happen. But much is filler (wet T-shirt contests, nighty parties), and a lot seems contrived. By M.K. Terrell
Sex/Nudity: 27 scenes, including nudity, sex, and innuendo. Violence: 1 mild scene. Profanity: 156 profanities. Drugs: Smoking, drinking throughout.
Director: Dennie Gordon. With Amanda Bynes, Colin Firth, Eileen Atkins. (103 min.)
Sterritt * Longing to meet her father, an English aristocrat who sired her in a romantic fling, a New York teen (Bynes) flies to London and barges into his life. Bynes buffs may never have a better chance to bask in her perky presence. Others may draw some entertainment value from the high-profile supporting cast, but that's all this warmed-over comic trifle has to offer.
Staff **1/2 Light, fun, goofy, standard fare.
Sex/Nudity: 2 scenes with innuendo. Violence: 3 scenes. Profanity: 8 profanities. Drugs: 5 drinking scenes.
