Movie Guide

Director: Jonathan Demme. With Jean Dominique, Michele Montas, Jean-Bertrand Aristide. (90 min)

Sterritt ***See review.

Director: Nick Willing. With Goran Visnjic, Miranda Otto, Paddy Considine, Shirley Henderson. (108 min)

Sterritt ***A small-time psychotherapist takes time off from his stop-smoking practice to help a policewoman track down a serial killer, using what may be psychic powers to sense the thoughts of an escaped young victim who's lost her ability to speak. Strong acting and smartly tuned-in directing turn a run-of-the-mill detective story into a striking, sometimes harrowing blend of horror and suspense.

Director: Tony Scott. With Denzel Washington, Christopher Walken, Dakota Fanning, Giancarlo Giannini. (146 min)

Sterritt **An alcoholic, Bible-reading assassin (Washington) becomes the bodyguard of a little Mexican girl whose wealthy parents fear she might become a victim of kidnappers who are terrorizing their city. The first hour is sharply directed, character-driven drama that ranks with Scott's best work. Then he lapses into his usual mode - more a bombardier than an entertainer, filling the screen with sadistic violence and arbitrary plot twists. In all, a wasted opportunity.

Director: Gary Winick. With Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Kathy Baker, Andy Serkis. (98 min)

Sterritt **See review.

Director: Michael Almereyda. With Sam Shepard, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Woody Harrelson. (89 min)

Sterritt ****See review.

Director: John Lee Hancock. With Billy Bob Thornton, Jason Patric, Dennis Quaid, Emilio Echevarría. (136 min.)

Sterritt * Yet another last stand for the beleaguered fortress, where Republic of Texas forces died in 1836 defending what they thought (wrongly, as the movie shows) was the last bastion between Mexican tyranny and good Texan "values," including slavery. Thornton is good as Davy Crockett, but overall the movie is dull, derivative, and as lifelike as a heap of historical figurines. Few will remember this "Alamo" for long.

Director: Michael Lembeck. With Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Debbie Reynolds. (97 min.)

Staff DUD Nia Vardalos and Toni Collette play Connie and Carla, two unsuccessful dinner-theater performers who leave Chicago for L.A. after witnessing a mob murder. Once there, they disguise themselves as drag queens who offer up camp renditions of "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" and "Mame" in a gay cabaret. (If you find these versions remotely enjoyable, you're probably pining for Fox to air more early auditions for "American Idol.") Connie develops a crush on a straight man (Duchovny) who's distinctly uncomfortable around men in drag. In short, Vardalos's script pilfers the plot from "Some Like It Hot" and "Victor/Victoria" with none of the wit or suspense required for the premise to work. By Stephen Humphries

Sex/Nudity: 1 scene, 2 instances of innuendo. Violence: 2 scenes. Profanity: 7 mild expressions. Drugs: 8 instances.

Director: Tommy O'Haver. With Anne Hathaway, Hugh Dancy, Cary Elwes, Minnie Driver. (95 min.)

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