New in theaters

A roundup of fresh releases, including 'Rocket Science,' a quirky drama revolving around a high-school debate team, and actress Julie Delpy's derivative directorial debut, '2 Days in Paris.'

from the August 10, 2007 edition

New in theaters

Rocket Science (R)

Director: Jeffrey Blitz. With Reece Daniel, Anna Kendrick. (101 min.)

Jeffrey Blitz, who made his feature directorial debut with the acclaimed documentary "Spellbound," tries out his fiction chops in "Rocket Science" with mixed results. High-schooler Hal Hefner (Reece Daniel) is a stutterer who is dragooned into joining the debate team by the team's star member Ginny (Anna Kendrick). Hal is as geeky as Ginny is princessy and, to its credit, the movie doesn't try to turn them into Romeo and Juliet. Blitz captures high school atmosphere well – not an easy thing to do – but overall the movie coasts on quirkiness. Grade: B – Peter Rainer

2 Days in Paris (R)

Director: Julie Delpy. With Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg . (96 min.)

Actress Julie Delpy both wrote and directed "2 Days in Paris," which is like an amiable knock-off of "Before Sunrise" and "Before Sunset," the two films she made opposite Ethan Hawke for director Richard Linklater. She plays a French photographer who is with her American interior designer boyfriend (Adam Goldberg) as they play out the last gasp of their relationship on a European vacation. Much of their nattery byplay seems improvised, and the results are very hit and miss – inspired contretemps alternate with gabfests that seem to go on forever. Grade: B
– P.R.

Bratz (PG)

Director: Sean McNamara. With Nathalia Ramos, Skyler Shaye. (110 min.)

Four "best friends forever" start high school expecting to be trendsetters, but the egomaniacal and seemingly permanent student president quickly assigns them to separate social groups. Eventually they rebel, determined to unite the campus in love. A lofty goal certainly, but this film plays like an overproduced music video, swamping message and talent alike. Grade: C–
– M.K. Terrell

Sex/nudity: 3 mild instances of innuendo. Violence: 2 slapstick scenes. Profanity: 9 mild expressions. Cigarettes/drugs/alcohol: none.

Daddy Day Camp (PG)

Director: Fred Savage. With Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rae. (93 min.)

Buoyed by their success at running a child-care center, househusbands Charlie Hinton and Phil Ryerson (Cuba Gooding Jr., Paul Rae) decide to start a camp. Of course everything that can go wrong does. The movie, on the other hand, gets better as it goes along. The "Olympiad" contest with a neighboring camp is fun, not to say original. This kinder and gentler sequel features the main characters from "Daddy Day Care" but with a different cast. Grade: C–
– M.K.T.

Sex/nudity: 1 mild instance of innuendo. Violence: 7 scenes of comic violence. Profanity: 8 mild expressions. Cigarettes/drugs/alcohol: none.