BY LEAH ROZEN
ROMANTIC COMEDY
Midway through this delightful comedy, an old-time Hollywood screenwriter (Wallach) declares that he tried always to imbue his leading ladies with "gumption." It's a quality the two heroines of The Holiday start off needing more of. But by movie's end, both happily display it in abundance.
Iris (Winslet) and Amanda (Diaz), each trying to get over a heartbreak, swap houses for Christmas. Iris, a journalist, heads to Amanda's luxurious home in L.A., while Amanda, who runs a thriving business cutting movie trailers, settles into Iris's cozy cottage in the English countryside. Cue the fake film trailer that Amanda imagines in her head: "Amanda wasn't looking for love, but that doesn't mean it didn't find her." Ditto for Iris.
Writer-director Nancy Meyers (Something's Gotta Give and What Women Want) is a whiz at turning out fun, frothy commercial fare. She writes likable characters, hires adept actors (Winslet is the standout) and adds a subplot (current Hollywood fare versus that of a bygone era) that combine to make a welcome Holiday gift. (PG-13)
Will Smith, Thandie Newton, Jaden Christopher Syre Smith
CRITIC'S CHOICE
DRAMA
Raise a glass of holiday cheer to salute Will Smith. Rather than coast along through yet another slick comedy or explosion-filled action flick, the star stretches with a demanding role in an inspirational drama—and emerges a winner. The Pursuit of Happyness tells the (mostly) true story of Chris Gardner (Smith). Despite being broke and eventually homeless, Gardner struggles to become a stockbroker—all the while taking tender care of his 5-year-old son (Jaden Smith, 8, Will's real-life offspring).
Happyness—the misspelling is on a sign outside a daycare center—is a feel-good movie, but one that never glosses over the fortitude its hero needs to reach his own feel-good stage in life. Its commendable message: Never give up and never allow others to limit what you can do. Smith gives an exceptionally engaging performance, showing how Gardner's geniality, along with his drive, enabled him to succeed where others might fall by the wayside. The younger Smith proves a puckish charmer (like father, like son), while Newton makes convincing the weariness and frustration of Gardner's estranged wife. (PG-13)
Wilmer Valderrama, Lewis Black
FAMILY
When a massive snowstorm grounds all flights at a Pennsylvania airport, five kids flying alone turn the terminals into their own private amusement park. These little troublemakers are the contemporary equivalent of the bomber crew in a WWII movie: an average Joe, a fat kid, a brainiac, a spoiled rich girl and a sassy tomboy. Add a nasty airport-operations boss (Black) and a sympathetic passenger supervisor (Valderrama) and you've got all the ingredients for a Cheez Whiz-bland kids' comedy. (PG)
George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire
THRILLER
In 1945 Jake Geismer (Clooney), an American reporter, arrives in Berlin to cover the Potsdam Peace Conference, during which the U.S., Britain and Russia will divvy up post-WWII Europe. But his real reason for visiting is to track down Lena (Blanchett), a married German woman with whom he had an affair while in the city before the war. Jake finds her, and bad trouble follows.
Shot in black-and-white and imitating the visual and even acting styles of Casablanca and other '40s era movies, German is a cinematic curio. Director Steven Soderbergh (Ocean's Twelve) pays self-conscious homage to those earlier films but poses moral questions far more complex than his models ever raised. Does it work? Not entirely (the love story lacks heat), but it's a fascinating experiment. (R)
Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly, Djimon Hounsou
ADVENTURE
This ambitious movie succeeds in at least one of its goals: You'll pause the next time you consider buying sparkling ice. Set in war-torn Sierra Leone during the 1990s, Blood Diamond is an often gripping tale about the dangers facing an ex-mercenary (DiCaprio) and a fisherman (Hounsou) when they join forces to recover a big pink diamond.
Blood argues that the trading of illegal diamonds in Africa led to death and destruction as warring regimes and rebel groups used the money to buy arms. Intent on hammering home this message—talk about putting the carat before the horse—the film repeatedly puts its action on pause to allow characters, especially an annoying journalist (Connelly), to recite statistics or make preachy pronouncements. DiCaprio and Hounsou both give vigorous, thoughtful performances. Connelly tries, but her role is bunk. (R)
Dakota Fanning, Julia Roberts
FAMILY
Okay, so I cried. Fred, 7, my adviser on kids' movies, didn't. But he laughed a lot, paid rapt attention and said afterward, "That was a great movie!" (an endorsement he gives most films he sees). Based on the classic tearjerker by E.B. White, Web combines live action, animatronic puppets and CGI wizardry to tell how Wilbur, a pet pig, has his bacon saved by Charlotte (voiced by Roberts), a heroic spider. The movie is mostly true to the book, stressing the importance of friendship, keeping promises and—my favorite—using words precisely. (G)
Rudy Youngblood, Raoul Trujillo
DRAMA
Mel Gibson is one twisted puppy. He goes full bore on the gore in Apocalypto, making his earlier efforts at depicting man's inhumanity to man in his films The Passion of the Christ and Braveheart seem tame. Want to see a knife plunged into the chest of a still-alive man, his heart pulled out and his head cut off? Park yourself right here.
In the waning days of the Mayan empire, a warrior (Youngblood) is captured by invaders. Intent on saving his wife and small son, he must outwit and outrun his cruel captors. Gibson is an accomplished, visceral filmmaker who brings real oomph to the violent scenes, but what possibly could be the point of all this? That it was ever thus? That mighty civilizations are bound to fall? I'm not sure that's justification enough for requiring viewers to bring a barf bag to the theater. (R)
He starred in The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, but Eli Wallach knows from pretty—he's been wed to actress Anne Jackson for 58 years and worked with a bevy of Hollywood beauties. The 91-year-old heartthrob told all to PEOPLE's Lesley Messer.
WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WORK WITH KATE? We bonded quickly. She's a very bright actress. She listens.
MARILYN MONROE BABYSAT FOR YOU? Oh yeah! She was charming and loved to tell stories. My son loved her!
AND AUDREY HEPBURN? In How to Steal a Million, I kissed Audrey Hepburn, but she was taller than me. She said, "For Eli, I'll take my shoes off."
DOES YOUR WIFE EVER GET JEALOUS? At the [Holiday] party women were around me, and she joked, "I don't understand what they see in you!"
Don't miss cameos by James Franco and Lindsay Lohan. "It was fun to work with Lindsay," said director Nancy Meyers, who directed her in The Parent Trap. "It was as if no time had passed."
Saved by the Bell Reunion
The hookups, the meltdowns, the memoires
The case reveals what was really going on what they think of each other now!
