BY LEAH ROZEN
CRITIC'S CHOICE
DRAMA
A photo can vividly capture a moment, but rarely tell an entire tale. This masterful story from director Clint Eastwood movingly reveals the truth behind the iconic 1945 Pulitzer Prize-winning snap (top right) of six U.S. servicemen raising the flag at Iwo Jima during WWII. In examining how the picture came to be and what happened to the men in it, Flags of Our Fathers makes clear that real life is more complicated—both sadder and more inspiring—than a frozen, seemingly triumphant scene.
The three men in the photo who survived the bloody month-long battle were shipped back from the Pacific, hailed as heroes and put on display around the U.S. to help sell war bonds. Preening Rene Gagnon (Bradford) revels in the attention, modest John "Doc" Bradley (Phillipe) is quietly embarrassed (Flags is based on a book cowritten by Bradley's son James), while anguished Ira Hayes (Beach), a Pima Indian, is discriminated against and patronized even as he's being praised. None can forget battlefield horrors (depicted in flashbacks) or the fallen comrades they left behind.
Heroes know better than anyone else whether they deserve the title, and the trio's differing reactions to being lionized (and exploited) is Flags' poignant focus. Beach is the standout here, but all the main actors are solid. Eastwood, working on a bigger canvas than with Mystic River or Million Dollar Baby, again delivers a powerful, and powerfully complex, movie. (R)
Kirsten Dunst, Jason Schwartzman
DRAMA
Mean Girls Go to Versailles—that's the easy way to dismiss Marie Antoinette, writer-director Sofia Coppola's chirpy follow-up film to Lost in Translation. A sherbet-hued look at the life of teen queen Marie Antoinette (Dunst)—an Austrian who wed Louis XVI (Schwartzman) at 14, ascended the French throne with her hubby at 19 and lost her head at 37 to the guillotine in 1793—the movie is easy on the eyes but asks too little of the brain. The pampered princess comes off as little more than a flighty gadabout living in a bubble. With sumptuous montages of fashion and food (set to Bow Wow Wow's "I Want Candy"), MA's first half is fun but then wilts because there's not much of a storyline and even less context. Dunst flops around like a rag doll in her froufrou gowns, looking pretty but vapid, while Schwartzman amuses as the clueless Louis, more interested in studying antique locks than making love to his bride. (PG-13)
Tim McGraw, Alison Lohman, Maria Bello, Ryan Kwanten
FAMILY
Everyone knows, never come between a teenage girl and her horse. Except, it seems, for the concerned dad (McGraw) who forbids his feisty daughter (Lohman) to train Flicka, the wild mustang she captures and brings to their Wyoming ranch. An updated adaptation of Mary O'Hara's novel My Friend Flicka, this family drama is earnest, wholesome entertainment. A little too earnest. One keeps hoping the horse, like Mr. Ed, will start cracking jokes. (PG)
Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Scarlett Johansson, Michael Caine
SUSPENSE
The paradox to seeing magic performed onstage is wanting to know how it's done and wanting to believe that just maybe the man in the top hat really did turn a rabbit into a dove. Director-cowriter Christopher Nolan (Batman Begins) is counting on that push-pull to keep viewers paying attention—and you need to pay close attention—to The Prestige, a twisty-turny thriller about a deadly rivalry between two magicians during Victorian times. Robert (Jackman) is a gifted showman while Alfred (Bale) is the better magician. Each tries to sabotage the other's performances and learn his rival's secrets. Nolan throws in a few tricks of his own to keep things engrossing (savvy viewers will guess at least one halfway through). Prestige could use a touch more humor, but it assumes an intelligence on the part of viewers and that's magic enough these days. (PG-13)
ADAM BEACH Earns Our Salute
It's the way he crumples under accumulated hurts that makes Beach's performance in Flags so heartbreaking. As Ira Hayes, an American Indian Marine, he can't laugh off racist comments—"I heard you used a tomahawk," a senator says of his heroics at Iwo Jima. Instead his eyes go dead as he reaches for another drink. Beach, a Canadian-born member of the Ojibway nation, makes Hayes's pain palpable.
Rupert Grint hasn't been twiddling his wand waiting for the next Harry Potter film—this month he stars as a teen rebelling against his oppressive mother (Laura Linney) in Driving Lessons. "I got to do more than just be scared," said Grint, 18, of his recess from his timid Ron Weasley role. Meanwhile, Harry—alias Daniel Radcliffe, 17—will shed his robes for a nude scene in the early-'07 play Equus in London. And Emma Watson (Hermione), 16? She's hitting the books for her high school exams.
