CRITIC'S CHOICE
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Mr. Incredible has a round bald spot the size a tangerine peeking out from the top of his blond head. Who knew superheroes lost their locks? The shiny pate is one of the myriad clever and humanizing touches that make this imaginative tale about a family of retired superheroes so enormously appealing, maybe even more for adults than kids.
Mr. Incredible (voiced by Nelson) and his bride, Elastigirl (Hunter), must give up the work they love after the government bans costumed crusaders (too many costly nuisance lawsuits). Flash forward 15 years to find the Incredibles, now passing as Bob and Helen Parr, raising three offspring in suburbia. Mr. Incredible toils at an insurance company ("Go save the world, one policy at a time," Elastigirl bids him as he heads to work) but pines for his glory days. When he is recruited for a return to active duty by what turns out to be a nefarious villain, his family—the kids have superpowers too—swings into action to save him, and the world.
As audiences have come to expect of films from Pixar—the digital animation studio behind Toy Story and Finding Nemo—The Incredibles boasts a strong, entertaining story and a truckload of savvy comic touches. Director-writer Brad Bird {The Iron Giant) has created lead characters as compelling as Spider-Man or Superman at their cinematic best. Nelson and particularly Hunter contribute deft vocals, animating their animated characters. At 118 minutes the film seems 15 minutes too long, with chases and heroics growing repetitive. But that's a minor quibble. Will I happily sit through this one again? It will be incredibly fun to do so. (PG)
COMEDY DRAMA
COMEDY DRAMA
Jude Law, Marisa Tomei, Susan Sarandon, Omar Epps, Nia Long
Some movies don't need to be remade. Alfie is a persuasive case in point. The 1966 prefeminist version, which made Michael Caine a star, was about a cockney chauffeur on the make in swinging London who used women the way other men use shaving cream. Viewed today, it still crackles with nasty energy.
The same will never be said of this pallid remake, which casts Law in the title role, relocates him to contemporary New York City (though he's still an Englishman) and declaws him. Now Alfie's just a guy suffering from commitment problems—he feels the pain of those he hurts. Director-cowriter Charles Shyer (The Affair of the Necklace) allows Alfie to meander. Halfway through, you no longer much care what it's all about. Don't get me wrong. This Alfie isn't an awful film, it's just not an especially good one. On the plus side: Law is certainly easy on the eyes, and the many actresses snuggling up to him, particularly Sarandon, Long and Tomei, are adept. (R)
DRAMA
Fanny Ardant, Jeremy Irons
This what-if film, set during the last year of Maria Callas's life, offers a fond tribute to the opera diva by writer-director Franco Zeffirelli (Tea with Mussolini), who was her friend and colleague for many years. It's 1977 and Callas (Ardant), her spectacular voice a croaking memory, is a recluse in her Paris apartment. With much flattery and persuasion, her former manager (Irons) talks her into making a movie version of Carmen. She will act the title role, lip-synching to her own earlier recordings of the arias. (Zeffirelli tried in vain to sell the real Callas on a similar scheme.)
The film is a minor effort by Zeffirelli, but Ardant is marvelous, whether mooning around her luxe flat or throwing a fit of artistic pique. She convincingly conveys the conundrum that was Callas. And the music is glorious. Scenes of the Carmen that might have been, a minifilm within the film, dazzle with energy and eye-popping staging. (Not rated)
Ray
Jamie Foxx offers what just may be the performance of the year as singer Ray Charles in an entertaining biopic that captures the complexity of the late musical master. Regina King and Kerry Washington costar. (PG-13)
Saw
In a relentlessly gory horror film, two men (Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell) awaken to find themselves shackled to pipes in a bathroom. A sadistic serial murderer is abducting folks and then forcing his victims to kill themselves in nasty ways (seen in flashbacks). The yuck factor is way too high here. (R)
Brother to Brother
An ambitious but sketchy drama has a contemporary gay black collegian (Anthony Mackie) befriend an elderly artist who flourished during the 1920s Harlem renaissance. The older gent shows him that the more things change, the more they stay the same. (Not rated)
SECRETS OF HOLLYWOOD'S TOP ACTING TEACHER She taught Brad Pitt the power of using props, and her students have bagged two of the last three Best Actress Oscars. Ivana Chubbuck, 50, the reigning queen of Hollywood acting teachers, explains her technique—which adds elements of behavioral psychology to the Method approach—in her new book, The Power of the Actor. She reflects on some top pupils.
CBARLIZE THERON She came to me early on [in her career]. She's incredibly hardworking. She would ask for double the work in class and for the most challenging scenes. In my class Charlize learned that murderers feel they are righteous. You can see it in her work in Monster.
BRAD PITT Before he was famous, he'd work three jobs so he could afford class. Brad would ask me to coach him on three lines. He learned the value of using objects to communicate without words. In Ocean's Eleven he was playing a con man, so his character was always eating the freebie shrimp that are all over Las Vegas. He was beating the system.
HALLE HERRY Before Monster's Ball no one believed anyone this beautiful could understand the character's pain. I helped Halle prepare to convince the director she could do it. Her character is in denial. We decided to have her drinking out of little airplane bottles of whiskey so she could tell herself, "I don't drink that much."
JIM CARREY
In Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind he used one of my principal ideas—the actor must identify the objective of the character. He understood his character's desire for this relationship, so he could show us his pain.
Shrek 2 (DreamWorks, $19.99)
Movie:
In an exceedingly clever sequel (the box office champ so far this year), the green ogre and bride Fiona journey to her home kingdom of Far Far Away. There they hit a few bumps on the road to happily ever after.
Extras: Loaded. There's an amusing parody of TV's American Idol, including feisty Puss in Boots singing—what else?—"These Boots Are Made for Walking." Also, a self-congratulatory audio commentary by the codirectors, oodles of activities for kids (games, a sing-along) and bloopers. (PG)
Gone with the Wind (Warner, $39.92)
Movie:
No matter how many times you've seen the 1939 classic about Scarlett O'Hara, the ur-southern belle, it still knocks your bonnet off, especially in this luscious digital restoration. Extras: Fabulously comprehensive. There's an exhaustive making-of feature; lively reminiscing by an impish Olivia de Havilland, 88, who played Melanie; and samples of scenes dubbed into French, Italian and German. (G)
The Stepford Wives (Paramount, $19.95)
Movie:
In a muddled, milquetoast comic remake of the 1975 sci-fi thriller, an ex-Manhattan career gal (Nicole Kidman) slowly discovers that her ultra-perfect housewife neighbors in a suburban paradise are really robots. Glenn Close, playing a manicured-to-the-tips-of-her-ears matron, steals the film, especially in her final scene. Extras: Unexceptional. Director Frank Oz offers an amiable audio commentary, and there are deleted and extended versions of scenes (including a funny one with Bette Midler). (PG-13)
- Contributors:
- Leah Rozen,
- Maureen Harrington.
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!
