Joaquin Phoenix, Reese Witherspoon, Ginnifer Goodwin, Robert Patrick, Shelby Lynne
CRITIC'S CHOICE
[STARS 3.5]
The best country songs are about heartache, and Johnny Cash suffered truckloads of it before finding lasting happiness with soulmate June Carter. Walk the Line, a moving, insightful portrait of the Man in Black, shares with last year's equally impressive Ray a recognition of its hero's gifts and flaws and an appreciation of how both contributed to his art.
Like most country stars of his generation, Cash (Phoenix) was born poor, to tenant farmers in Arkansas. Following military service and a stint as a door-to-door salesman, he climbed the charts in the mid-'50s alongside such seminal rockabilly stars as Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. Touring, he met Carter (Witherspoon), who as a member of the singing Carter family was already Nashville royalty. Each was wed to another, but a warm friendship blossomed. Cash subsequently lost years to pills and booze, all the while pining for Carter, before the two found their way back to each other.
Bravo. (PG-13)
ADVENTURE
Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson, Rupert Grint, Ralph Fiennes, Michael Gambon
[STARS 3.5]
Just as male critics reviewing 1980's Blue Lagoon had to rein in their enthusiasm for an adolescent Brooke Shields, it would be unseemly for me to drool over Radcliffe, now 16. Let's just put it this way: The boy is growing up nicely. When he removes his shirt in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we're talking, if not beefcake, at least calfcake.
Even better, it is now apparent that he and his onscreen buddies Grint and Watson are turning into accomplished young actors. In this fourth and best Harry Potter film yet, Harry (Radcliffe) and his loyal companions once more find themselves caught up in intrigue and enchantment at Hogwarts, that prestigious place of learning for fledgling wizards. This time out, Harry is coping with nightmares and competing in a dangerous tournament.
What makes this Harry, rousingly directed by Mike Newell (Mona Lisa Smile), so memorable is that Harry and his friends are now suffering the normal pangs of adolescence (first love, social unease, wardrobe anxiety, etc.) even as Harry battles ever more terrifying and powerful enemies. The special effects are extraordinary; watch how real it looks when a dragon scrabbles across a roof, scattering shingles. Finally, Goblet again serves up a delicious who's who of British acting, with hilarious contributions from newcomers Brendan Gleeson as instructor Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody and Miranda Richardson as nosy reporter Rita Skeeter. (Note: Goblet will scare kids too young to have read the Harry books for themselves.) (PG-13)
DRAMA
Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson, Campbell Scott
[STARS 2.5]
Derailed, Jennifer Aniston's silly, see-through thriller now in theaters, could learn from this elegant suspense film. The Dying Gaul has a plot as implausible as Derailed's and puts its characters through equal melodrama, but it's played with such savvy and commitment that one willingly rides it to the end of the line.
Though much of it takes place in L.A.'s bright sunshine, Gaul is about dark doings. A Hollywood exec (Scott) and his activist wife (Clarkson) befriend a gay screenwriter (Sarsgaard) still grieving over the death of his lover. Soon, hubby has seduced the writer sexually and professionally. Meanwhile, the wife is anonymously messing with his mind online. Nothing good will come of any of this, but writer-director Craig Lucas (who wrote Prelude to a Kiss) keeps you guessing about everyone's intent, and the acting is superlative. (R)
>Viola Davis
The Tony winner (King Hedley II), 40, plays 50 Cent's no-nonsense grandma in Get Rich or Die Tryin'. She also appears in Nov. 23's Syriana—the third time she has costarred with pal George Clooney.
ON PARALLELS BETWEEN HER LIFE AND GET RICH My mom had her first child when she was 15. My grandmother was 30 when she became a grandmother. My parents are raising a tot of their grandchildren now. When your children mess up, the thought of losing your grandchildren too is something that you cannot bear.
ON 50 CENT He's not an actor; he's a rapper. He became an open vessel to learn.
ON CLOONEY He's just a mensch. I told George that my husband [Friday Night Lights actor Julius Tennon, 51] and I had gotten engaged. George gave us a stay in his villa as a honeymoon gift. He makes you feel like a valuable piece of the puzzle.
>Happy Endings ($27.98) Movie [STARS 3] Extras [STARS 3]
A splendid ensemble comedy-drama with shimmering acting by Lisa Kudrow, Maggie Gyllenhaal (below) and, yes, Tom Arnold.
Extras: Convivial commentary by Kudrow and director-writer Don Roos and outtakes of Arnold telling dirty jokes. (R)
>Ellie Parker [STARS 2.5]
Naomi Watts (above, with Chevy Chase) is ferociously good in an astute little comedy about the misadventures of a self-involved, scatterbrained actress from Australia who's trying to make it in Hollywood. Shot in a faux cinema verité style, the film is knowing about what it takes to fake it 'til you make it. (Not rated)
Sarah Silverman: Jesus Is Magic [STARS 1.5]
Stand-up comic Sarah Silverman (below), whose schtick always has been that she's a sassy looker with a penchant, for saying the unsayable, delivers a filmed version of her live act, throwing in a few costumed sketches that fall woefully flat. She is so pleased with talking naughty that one just longs to tell her to grow up already and get over herself. (Not rated)
Breakfast on Pluto [STARS 2]
A picaresque comedy tracking the adventures of Patrick "Kitten" Braden (Cillian Murphy, above), an Irish transvestite, wears out its whimsy a while before our young hero finds his happy ending. While director Neil Jordan (The Crying Game) manages some affecting moments (Kitten finally meeting his real mother), much of it goes nowhere. Liam Neeson costars. (R)
- Contributors:
- Leah Rozen,
- Michael Fleemah.
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!
