Movie Guide

Director: Brett Ratner. With Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek, Woody Harrelson, Don Cheadle, Jeff Garlin, Naomie Harris. (97 min.)

Sterritt ** A cop chases a crook who covets a huge, exotic diamond. This indirect rehash of "To Catch a Thief" trades Hitchcockian shrewdness for the slickest kinds of Hollywood glitz, gloss, and vulgarity.

Director: Beeban Kidron. With Renée Zellweger, Colin Firth, Hugh Grant, Gemma Jones. (108 min.)

Sterritt ** The sequel to the 2001 hit "Bridget Jones's Diary" is basically more of the same, with our weight-conscious heroine caught between snooty attorney Firth, cheeky journalist Grant, and her own indecisive nature. The movie catches occasional fire when Bridget suddenly says what's really on her mind. The rest is silliness.

Director: Rodney Evans. With Anthony Mackie, Roger Robinson, Aunjanue Ellis, Ray Ford. (94 min.)

Sterritt ** A young African-American writer meets an aging veteran of the Harlem Renaissance movement who's lost none of his hard-boiled intelligence since his glory days in the pre-War World II era. Interesting for its historical content.

Director: Marc Forster. With Johnny Depp, Kate Winslet, Dustin Hoffman, Julie Christie. (113 min.)

Sterritt *** See review.

Director: Bill Condon. With Liam Neeson, Laura Linney, John Lithgow, Oliver Platt. (118 min.)

Sterritt *** Fictionalized biography of Alfred Kinsey, a professor who switched his research from insects to human sexuality in the 1940s, opening controversial new doors for scientific inquiry. The movie's style is fairly staid, but it's hard to imagine how Neeson could be better, and the subject is handled with taste and tact.

Director: Bilge Ebiri. With Kelly Miller, Tobi-Lyn Byers, Jonathan Uffelman, Scott Janes. (85 min.)

Sterritt * A new employee is given a hard time from impish colleagues at the office. Alas, the movie is less clever than its characters.

Director: Chazz Palminteri. With Susan Sarandon, Alan Arkin, Penélope Cruz, Robin Williams. (96 min.)

Sterritt * A lonely divorcee, an eccentric old man, and a squabbling couple are among the characters of this Christmas Eve comedy-drama. Santa Claus's bag couldn't hold as many clichés as the screenplay dishes out.

Directors: Mark Brian Smith, Tony Montana. With Troy Duffy, Willem Dafoe, Billy Connolly. (81 min.)

Sterritt **** Documentary about filmmaker Duffy, a Boston bartender whose first screenplay got bought by Miramax, then dumped into "turnaround" limbo, and finally made by someone else, flopping at the box office. The fault appears to lie with Duffy, but the movie takes such a strong stance against him that it's hard to be sure of anything except that this movie is a hilarious and harrowing cautionary tale.

Director: Claude Miller. With Ludivine Sagnier, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Nicole Garcia. (104 min.)

Sterritt *** Modern retelling of Anton Chekhov's play "The Seagull," focusing on a would-be movie director, his actress girlfriend, and his mother's boyfriend, a famous filmmaker. Splendidly acted and directed. In French with subtitles.

Director: Robert Zemeckis. With voices of Tom Hanks, Nona Gaye, Eddie Deezen, Peter Scolari. (100 min.)

Sterritt ** See review.

Director: Charles Shyer. With Jude Law, Susan Sarandon, Omar Epps, Marisa Tomei. (103 min.)

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