BIOPIC
CRITIC'S CHOICE
This true tale of tenacious boxer James J. Braddock is an old-fashioned movie in the best sense of the phrase, and not just because it's set back in the 1930s. It's smartly written, silkenly made and superbly acted, just what one would expect from the talented trio (director Ron Howard, coscreenwriter Akiva Goldsman and star Crowe) that put together A Beautiful Mind.
Essentially, Cinderella is Seabiscuit with humans. It's the Great Depression and millions of folk, including has-been Braddock (Crowe), are out of work and suffering. Desperate to feed his family, he signs on for one last fight against a high ranked opponent. He wins and keeps on winning, inspiring a nation. A working man like themselves, he becomes the hope of the downtrodden. "I know what I'm fighting for," Braddock says simply. "Milk."
Cinderella has a hero viewers can root for as Braddock takes on champ Max Baer (whose punches had already killed two opponents)—and there's nothing wrong with that. Crowe is sinewy perfection in and out of the ring, giving a full-hearted performance in which every gesture feels right. Playing Braddock's loving wife, Zellweger is peachy; ditto Giamatti as the boxer's long-suffering manager. So, what's the catch? Just as Ron Howard is, by all accounts, a thoroughly nice guy, so is this a thoroughly nice, uncomplicated film. A viewer will remember Cinderella fondly, but unlike that true heavyweight Million Dollar Baby, the film won't haunt you for months. (PG-13)
Heath Ledger, Emile Hirsch, John Robinson
DRAMA
This story of young skateboard rebels in L.A. already rolled through four years ago as an excellent documentary called Dogtown and Z-Boys. Directed by Stacy Peralta, himself a former skateboarder and one of the film's subjects, Z-Boys gave off the cool phosphorus glow of an entire subculture brought back into the light. In the 1970s, the fringes of the California surfing community spawned a breed of punk skateboarders obsessed with creating new dares in the empty pools of L.A. Now Peralta has written a slightly fictionalized version, and it's directed by Catherine Hardwicke, who made the tight, gritty Thirteen. Okay, but why? Hardwicke knows how to re-create this particular atmosphere, sunny yet dank, and the kids are good—the intensely blond Robinson, as young Peralta, looks like a bleached Chris Klein. Ledger plays the surf-shop guru who inspired the skateboarders as a zonked, desiccated charmer. (Think Mick Jagger or even Andy Warhol as a beachcomber.) But this movie, in the end, is just a sentimental tale of kids growing up and apart. It wimps out.
Milwaukee, Minnesota
Troy Garity (son of Jane Fonda) shows sly charm in a wispy comedy. (R)
Crash
This complex ensemble drama about race relations in L.A. is a must-see. The stellar cast includes Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle and Matt Dillon. (R)
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants
Four girls, best friends, weather the rites of passage in one weepy summer. Sensitive but a bit too slick. (PG)
His last three films have done decent business, but otherwise Brad Pitt's box office record has been less than stellar. He'll try to change that pattern with Mr. and Mrs. Smith, out June 10.
DOMESTIC TICKET SALES (in millions)
THE DEVIL'S OWN March 1997 $42.9 SEVEN YEARS IN TIBET October 1997 $37.9 MEET JOE BLACK November 1998 $44.6 FIGHT CLUB October 1999 $37 THE MEXICAN March 2001 $66.8 SPY GAME November 2001 $62 OCEAN'S ELEVEN December 2001 $183.4 TROY May 2004 $133 OCEAN'S TWELVE December 2004 $125.5
- Contributors:
- Leah Rozen,
- Tom Gliatto.
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!
