CRITIC'S CHOICE
ACTION
If you dropped the cubicle-dwellers from the cult comedy Office Space into The Matrix, you might get Wanted—a trippy, bloody and dazzling action thriller. Slacker account manager Wes (McAvoy) is jolted out of his life-funk by a sultry sharpshooter (Jolie), who introduces him to the Fraternity, a secret group of assassins led by Freeman who take their orders from the unfortunately named Loom of Fate. Soon Wes learns to curve bullets around objects, sprint atop speeding trains and target the man who killed his assassin dad.
Wanted is mind-blowing, and not just because it's stuffed with shots of exploding heads (the hardcore violence is not for the squeamish). In his U.S. debut, Russian director Timur Bekmambetov (the sensational Night Watch and Day Watch) unleashes his visual virtuosity again—in one scene, bullets collide, and flatten, in midair. Back in badass mode, Jolie is largely window dressing: Wanted belongs to McAvoy. As Wes transforms from timid to terminator, the actor finds his footing as a Hollywood action hero.
Mike Myers, Jessica Alba, Justin Timberlake | PG-13 |
COMEDY
If Guru Pitka (Myers) is indeed the world's second-best spiritual guru (Deepak Chopra remains top dog), the self-help world is in serious trouble. Despite his dubious skills (why would someone so supposedly enlightened relentlessly pepper a little person with slurs?), Pitka is hired by a hockey team owner (a comedically impaired Alba) to help her distracted star player win back his estranged wife. Quoth the guru: "There's no such thing as failure." That is, except for The Love Guru, which does fail on almost every level. Myers' fixed grin can't camouflage the comedy carnage, nor can lines like Alba's "I haven't laughed like this in such a long time." That makes one of us.
Will Smith's youngest daughter, 7, takes on Dad at the box office next week with her new film, Kit Kittredge: An American Girl.
YOUR DAD'S MOVIE HANCOCK OPENS THE SAME DAY AS YOURS. ANY COMPETITION? Daddy was like, "I'm sorry, baby, but I got to stomp you!" I was like, "Yeah, right!"
DID HE GIVE YOU ACTING ADVICE? He said, "Feel the moment." I felt it. It was really hard when I needed to do a sad scene, because I was so happy for myself.
ONLY IN People
With a cast that included two Grammy winners and a large-voiced Oscar winner, the set of The Secret Life of Bees, based on Sue Monk Kidd's bestselling novel, was filled with more than just the sound of buzzing. "Everyone sings on-set. It's a little intimidating," says Dakota Fanning, who plays Lily Owens, a girl searching for love and the truth behind her mother's death. Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys and Sophie Okonedo are three beekeeping sisters in the '60s South who befriend Fanning and her nanny, played by Jennifer Hudson. "The book was really the blueprint. I didn't want to change that," says writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood of the drama, due out Oct. 17. Latifah, who enrolled in "bee school" with Fanning, had few problems working with the half-million bees on-set. But watching her language around Fanning was another matter: "I'm cussing way more around her than I should," says Latifah. "So I try to stick to just the curses that start with S."
WORTH A LOOK
TRUMBO An engrossing documentary about '50s blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (right), highlighted by masterful monologues in which Liam Neeson, Paul Giamatti and others perform excerpts from Trumbo's writings, wrapping viewers in his elegant prose. (PG-13)
FINDING AMANDA Botching his directorial debut, Rescue Me co-creator Peter Tolan miscasts Matthew Broderick and Brittany Snow (left) in a comedy about an off-the-wagon gambler and his hooker niece facing their vices in Vegas. (R)
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!
