Diane Lane, John Cusack, Elizabeth Perkins, Dermot Mulroney
If men are from Mars, this negligible movie will never make it to Martian multiplexes. Must Love Dogs is an unadulterated chick flick, from its female-heavy soundtrack to its references to watching Beaches when feeling low. Not that there's anything wrong with chick flicks, but, minus its high-caliber cast (Christopher Plummer and Stockard Channing play supporting roles), this trite tale depicting the bumpy coming together of two skittish, newly single folk (Lane and Cusack), both near 40, belongs on TV's Lifetime channel.
Lane, a preschool teacher, and Cusack, who builds boats, meet after Lane's pushy older sister (Perkins) posts an online personal ad for her sib. Although clearly well matched, the two endure missed signals and mix-ups to fill time until the predictable ending clinch. What Dogs does have going for it is the incandescent Lane, who hits just the right notes as a woman still hoping for the best even in disastrous situations. Watch her try to salvage a calamitous date after a depressed dinner companion breaks into sobs. Ever the schoolteacher, she starts singing, "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands." (PG-13)
ACTION
Josh Lucas, Jamie Foxx, Jessica Biel
His brush cut rustling in the breeze like amber waves of grain, studly Lucas is likable as the brash naval-pilot hero of this preposterously silly military thriller. He, Foxx (in a disappointingly minor role) and Biel make up an elite trio who fly high-tech jets on secret missions. (Such missions apparently require flight suits way too form-fitting to be standard military issue.) When a self-guided drone is added to the unit, Lucas is doubtful. "We have things computers never have, like moral judgment," he says. His fears prove well founded as the drone begins to exhibit a deadly mind of its own.
Essentially Top Gun crossed with Robots, Stealth features aerobatics, explosions and high-minded blather about attack ethics. We're talking hooey at hypersonic speed. (PG-13)
FAMILY
Kurt Russell, Kelly Preston, Michael Angarano, Lynda Carter
The starting premise is clever: Offspring of superheroes attend Sky High, a secret academy in the stratosphere, to prepare to become either heroes (if they have extraordinary powers) or sidekicks. ("Sidekicks must stop ordering hero sandwiches," blares a P.A. announcement in the cafeteria.) Great things are expected of Will Stronghold (Angarano), whose dad and mom (Russell and Preston) are both caped crusaders, though Will has yet to show evidence of any powers.
While no super shakes, Sky High is cute and funny for its first half (the second half devolves into a teen love triangle). There's a nifty bit by Carter, who, as the school's principal, declares, "I'm not Wonder Woman, you know." While kid viewers may miss that joke, there are plenty they will get. (PG)
Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
During Communist China's Cultural Revolution, two teen boys from accomplished families are dispatched from the city to a remote mountain village to be reeducated. How they cope, and continue to read banned literature covertly, makes for an engaging drama based on director Dai Sijie's own semiautobiographical novel. (Not rated)
The Aristocrats
In a documentary, nearly 100 comics tell, embellish and dissect a single colossally dirty joke. It's the equivalent of hearing multiple jazz musicians riffing on a tune. Aristocrats gets repetitive, but much of it is darn funny, especially versions of the joke told or analyzed by Drew Carey, Robin Williams, Paul Reiser and Wendy Liebman. Bob Saget offers, hands down, the most repellent take. (Not rated)
November
In a moody suspense thriller, a photographer (Courteney Cox Arquette) replays and broods over the circumstances that led to the tragic death of her longtime boyfriend (James Le Gros) in a convenience store holdup. Lightweight but intriguing. (R)
Jason Ritter
The son of the late John Ritter, Jason, 25, plays a youth struggling with his sexuality in the comedy-drama Happy Endings.
ON HIS LOVE SCENE WITH A GUY (RAMON DE OCAMPO)
My girlfriend [actress Marianna Palka] loves me more because I now understand the stubble problem. When I don't shave, it hurts her chin when we kiss. When I kissed Ramon, it was stubble against stubble. I was like, "This does hurt."
ON HIS LOVE SCENE WITH A WOMAN (MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL)
I was supposed to be awkward and a little nervous. She's the one saying, "Relax, leave your watch on." She led, and we were able to focus on the comedy.
ON REMEMBERING DAD
I think about him all the time. He was such a presence. If I have a question, I think, "Well, what would he say?" He prepared us to function without him and to use his knowledge to help us through life.
- Contributors:
- Leah Rozen,
- Nicholas White.
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!
