BY LEAH ROZEN
DRAMA
A movie that tries hard to get beyond its ripped-from-the-headlines premise, Freedomland fizzles at exactly the points it should fly. Based on a novel by Richard Price and directed unevenly by Joe Roth (Christmas with the Kranks), the film follows a police detective (Jackson) as he attempts to get to the bottom of a high-profile case. The victim is a white woman (Moore) who says she was carjacked by a black man near an inner-city New Jersey housing project and that the assailant drove off with her 4-year-old son still in the backseat. The deeper the cop digs, the more he suspects there's something fishy about her story.
Freedomland is full of big emotion-packed scenes, but they fail to add up; it's all noise, signifying nothing. Jackson, his deep brown eyes conveying miles of hurt, is the best thing here. His is a character worthy of a coherent sequel. Moore, saddled with a role that wavers between comatose and I'm-ready-for-my-close-up theatrics, goes down flailing. (R)
Paul Walker, Jason Biggs, Bruce Greenwood, Moon Bloodgood
ADVENTURE
For a limited time only at your multiplex, there's a two-for-one sale going on. Eight Below is really two movies in one—each dandy in a rugged way. Both are survival tales involving derring-do and gritty resolve, the first with humans and the second with dogs. What's not to like?
Below begins at an American outpost in Antarctica with an experienced guide (Walker) escorting a scientist (Greenwood) out to the field on a sled pulled by eight huskies and malamutes. When a storm brews and injury strikes, only the men's courage and the dogs' sense of direction can get them back to base. On to the second half: When the humans hurriedly evacuate the base camp via a plane to seek medical care, the dogs are unintentionally left behind. These canny canines must survive for months on their instincts and wits. It's at this point that Below becomes The Incredible Journey, except our animal heroes never journey far, confine their communicating to barks (no human voice-overs for these guys), and there's not a kitty cat in sight.
Walker's puppyish charm complements that of his canine costars, and he looks appropriately brawny in a parka and wind goggles. (Note: There's a scary scene involving a carnivorous leopard seal that may be too intense for children under 8.) (PG)
Larry Peterson, Evamarii Johnson
MOCKUMENTARY
So what was Abraham Lincoln, disguised in blackface, doing trying to escape to Canada along the Underground Railroad route using Harriet Tubman as his guide? It's just one of the many tweaks to history made by this biting faux documentary from writer-director Kevin Willmott, which takes as its starting premise that the South won the Civil War. Looking and sounding remarkably like a Ken Burns documentary for PBS, CSA: The Confederate States of America is a fast-paced, clever satire that plays a wicked game of What If?
What if the Confederacy had triumphed? Jefferson Davis, who headed the rebel states during the war, would succeed Lincoln as President. Lincoln, following his apprehension and imprisonment, would head for Canada, home to exiled American abolitionists and blacks who had managed to elude captivity. Slavery would continue to this day in America, with the government offering generous tax benefits to white owners. With its skillful interweaving of fact (real historical figures and products) and fiction, CSA makes you laugh—and then it makes you squirm. (Not rated)
Julia Jentsch, Alexander Held
TRUE STORY
In 1942 and 1943, a small group of German college students, calling themselves the White Rose, covertly distributed a series of pamphlets denouncing the Nazis. It was a dangerous act of high treason. This German-language movie, which has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Film, recounts in a straightforward but compelling manner what happened to several of them upon their arrest by the authorities in 1943. The film's main focus is Sophie Scholl (Jentsch, in an appealingly unshowy performance), a 21-year-old student at the University of Munich who, though once a member of a Hitler youth group, had come to despise the Nazi dictatorship. Her bravery in the face of arrest and her unwavering commitment to freedom have the power to inspire still. (Not rated)
The Pink Panther Steve Martin toils mightily to get laughs in a lame remake of the Peter Sellers comedy. Kevin Kline and Jean Reno costar. (PG-13)
The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada Tommy Lee Jones stars in and directs a moving, often funny contemporary Western set in Texas. It's about crossing borders, whether physical, psychological or emotional. (R)
Winter Passing Intending to sell his letters, a daughter (Zooey Deschanel) returns home to visit her father (Ed Harris), a famous, reclusive writer. Starts off promisingly but fails to jell. Will Ferrell costars. (R)
Dan Futterman Dan Futterman's acting résumé includes Judging Amy and Will & Grace. But Futterman, 38, got an Oscar nod for a screenplay: Capote.
HOW LONG DID IT TAKE YOU TO WRITE CAPOTE? Six long years. Without my wife, Anya Epstein, a writer [Commander in Chief], I might not have succeeded. I met her when I was beginning to work on Capote. It wasn't easy, but she was patient and supportive.
WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE TRUMAN CAPOTE BOOK? Breakfast at Tiffany's. I liked In Cold Blood, but the most interesting character, Truman Capote, isn't in it. You could feel him behind the scenes, but he's hidden. That's the reason I wrote the screenplay—I wanted to show how ambition got the better of him. It's a cautionary tale.
YOU MADE THE MOVIE WITH TWO PALS Bennett Miller [Capote's director], Philip Seymour Hoffman [its star] and I met at a theater workshop when we were 16. We were in touch, but Capote brought us closer. I'd work with them again in a minute.
WHAT'S BETTER: ACTING OR WRITING? I want to do both. Acting is all about your character; writing gives you a global view. I know a bit about acting. With writing, I have a lot to learn.
North Country ($28.98) In a year during which Hollywood offered few plum parts for women, an antidote was provided by this inspiring 2005 drama about female miners battling sexual harassment in Northern Minnesota's iron mines. Based on a true story, it provided roles meaty enough to earn Oscar nominations for Charlize Theron (Best Actress) and Frances McDormand (Supporting). Sissy Spacek and Michelle Monaghan also strut their stuff. Extras: Deleted scenes, an informative behind-the-script look at the real women who brought the lawsuit on which the film is based, and brief interviews with cast members and director Niki Caro (Whale Rider). (R) Movie:
Rent ($28.96) All-singing, all-dancing and nada to show for it. Although there are a few affecting moments in director Chris Columbus's big-screen version of the Broadway musical hit about struggling young folk living in Manhattan's East Village in 1989, the show's vitality and sense of mission have been neutered. The hardworking actors include original Broadway cast members Taye Diggs, Idina Menzel, Adam Pascal and Anthony Rapp and newcomer Rosario Dawson. Extras: Deleted scenes, including two musical numbers ("Halloween" and "Goodbye Love"); convivial audio commentary by Columbus and stars Pascal and Rapp (who seem unduly concerned about how their hair looks); and a lengthy documentary about composer-lyricist Jonathan Larson, who died at age 35, just before the show opened Off-Broadway. (PG-13) Movie:
Nine Lives ($26.96) A beautiful, delicate movie that dips briefly into the lives of nine women at crucial emotional moments for each. For example, Robin Wright Penn gives a gut-wrenching performance as a pregnant woman who runs into a former boyfriend while at the grocery store and immediately loses whatever hard-won equanimity she had won in the years following their breakup. Castmates include Glenn Close, Dakota Fanning, Lisa Gay Hamilton, Holly Hunter, Kathy Baker and Amy Brenneman. Extras: A question-and-answer session with director-writer Rodrigo García and several actors and a look at the film's single-take shooting technique. (R) Movie:
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!
