April 9, 2003

film

Film listings are edited by Cheryl Eddy. Reviewers are Robert Avila, Meryl Cohen, David Fear, Dina Gachman, Susan Gerhard, Dennis Harvey, Johnny Ray Huston, Patrick Macias, and Chuck Stephens. See Rep Clock and Movie Clock, for theater information.

Opening

Anger Management Adam Sandler plays a mild-mannered guy who is mistakenly stuck with a wack-job anger management therapist (Jack Nicholson). (1:41) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London.

Better Luck Tomorrow See "Too Cool for School," page 42. (1:38) 1000 Van Ness.

Ghosts of the Abyss James Cameron returns to the sunken subject of his multi-Oscar triumph, but this time the end result is aimed more at Discovery Channel buffs than Leo DiCaprio devotees. Armed with some nifty inventions – a specially designed large-format 3-D camera and two compact, remote-controlled camera units created to investigate the interior of the wreck – Cameron has created a film that's a marvel, technologically speaking, and it's not surprising that Ghosts of the Abyss's best moments are those that incorporate the remarkable deep-sea footage. Reenactments help contextualize parts of the ship (including a dining room with near-intact windows) and bring to the forefront the tale's human tragedy. The underwater exploration scenes are so engrossing that everything else – such as the running commentary by actor Bill Paxton and a tense moment when one of the minicameras becomes lodged inside the vessel – could've been edited down to make way for more. Still, Ghosts of the Abyss is fascinating stuff for "Titaniacs" – and blessedly Celine Dion-free. (1:00) Metreon IMAX. (Eddy)

The Good Thief The rare Neil Jordan movie that feels like a "package" deal, this remake of Jean-Pierre Melville's classic (if slightly overrated) 1955 Gallic noir Bob le flambeur has everything good taste and quite a few euros can buy. But it all seems a trifle unnecessary, a vehicle that's all luxury and no destination. Bob (Nick Nolte) is a smack-jackin' gambler and semiretired underground scenester in Nice who gets clean for one last big score: robbing a Monte Carlo casino of its spectacular art collection. Various interesting international faces like Tchéky Karyo, Said Taghmaoui, Emir Kusturica, and guest-slumming Ralph Fiennes play colorful confederates; taking Isabel Corey's old amoral-prostitute role but channeling Milla Jovovich's dead-eyed runway "allure" is Nutsa Kukhianidze as "the Girl." Jordan dips the movie in cushy color-saturated, cool-club-tracked style – though having Bono sing the theme song (three times, by god!) isn't cool at all. His results do play better as updated Eurotrash capering than The Trouble with Charlie managed to. Yet somehow this high-calorie Good Thief ends up tasting like all batter, no steak. (1:49) Bridge, Empire. (Harvey)

House of 1000 Corpses Murder! Cannibalism! Satanic rituals! About time Rob Zombie's long-delayed directorial debut got released. (1:28) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake.

Levity See "Oh God," page 40. (1:40) Lumiere.

Marion Bridge Winner of Best First Feature honors at the 2002 Toronto International Film Festival, director Wiebke von Carolsfeld's Marion Bridge is the rare "family drama" that manages to avoid both melodrama and cliché. Recovering addict Agnes (Molly Parker) leaves Toronto for rural Nova Scotia, where she aims to help her sisters – one hurting from a troubled marriage (Rebecca Jenkins) and one sulky and television-obsessed (Stacy Smith) – care for their ailing mother (Marguerite McNeil). Agnes's presence ignites tension in the house, dredging up a dark secret the rest of the women have tried to forget. Of course, redemption, forgiveness, and a reforging of the family bond are bound to transpire. But von Carolsfeld's steady, subtle touch, matched with Daniel MacIvor's screenplay (adapted from his play), allows the characters to become truly three-dimensional; excellent performances all around (especially by Parker, as a woman healing old wounds with newfound strength) ensure Marion Bridge hits few false notes. (1:33) Roxie. (Eddy)

Stevie See Movie Clock. (2:20) Opera Plaza.

Unknown Pleasures See "Kings of the Road," page 40. (1:53) Opera Plaza.

Ongoing

Adaptation (1:52) 1000 Van Ness.

Agent Cody Banks (1:42) Century 20.

Amandla! A Revolution in Four-Part Harmony (1:43) Four Star, Rafael.

Assassination Tango Robert Duvall wrote, directed, produced, and stars in this idiosyncratic homage to the tango. Duvall plays John J. Anderson, a hotheaded but basically good killer-for-hire, just trying to settle down with a nice girlfriend (Kathy Baker) and her 10-year-old daughter (Jenny Katherine Micheaux Miller). He gets sent on a short assignment to kill a general in Buenos Aires, but is stuck there waiting as the military leader is delayed in the countryside. In the meantime, Anderson becomes enthralled by the tango and by gorgeous Manuela (Duvall's real-life girlfriend, Luciana Pedraza), a wry instructor who guides him into the dance's culture. Duvall is great at playing out the shortcomings of age and character while maintaining a likable dignity. The plot meanders a bit, but that is not the point in this film. What lights the way is Duvall's passion for the tango and enthusiasm for improvisational acting. On the whole, Tango is eccentric and lovely, even if it does border on fantasy. (1:53) Lumiere. (Koh)

Basic A take-no-prisoners Army Ranger commander (Samuel L. "Bad Motherfucker" Jackson) stages an impromptu jungle exercise for six of his soldiers. Only two return alive, with wildly conflicting stories as to what happened. It's up to a brash Army lieutenant (Connie Nielsen) and a wild-card former Ranger (John Travolta) to find out what really happened, but can anyone be trusted? Still licking his wounds from that ill-advised Rollerball remake, director John McTiernan commandeers this ego-driven Hollywood star vehicle into the predictable territory of Military Thriller 101; even the 11th-hour plot twists and land mines of surreality (you've got to admire any film that stops its narrative to break for an inexplicable tango-choreographed fight/love scene) feel bland and safe. Much has been made of the Pulp Fiction twins' reunion, but anyone expecting the dynamic duo's chemistry redux will simply have to settle for Rashomon-lite asides and the sense that some actors may need a break from both their shtick and the spotlight. (1:35) Century 20, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Fear)

Bend It like Beckham With a witty screenplay, feel-good story, and kick-ass soundtrack, Gurinder Chadha's Bend It like Beckham (named, by the way, for the soccer star who's also known as Mr. Posh Spice) has already broken box-office records in the U.K. and arrives in the United States with a worldwide $50 million gross already under its belt. Jess, Beckham's protagonist, is a reluctant challenger who's driven by her passion for soccer to deviate from the expectations of her old-world family. Beckham pointedly punctures English, Indian, and immigrant foibles despite a few jokes that are broad enough to hit the side of a barn. But its pseudo-lesbian subplot is unlikely to ruffle viewers of any lifestyle. More satisfyingly, the film's climactic wedding scene erupts into high drama with mistaken-identity mischief delicious enough to ensure it won't be mistaken for Monsoon Wedding. (1:42) Embarcadero, Orinda. (B. Ruby Rich)

Boat Trip (1:35) 1000 Van Ness.*Bowling for Columbine (1:59) Embarcadero.

Bringing Down the House (1:45) Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Chaos The opening flurry of cocktail jazz and impatient movement in Coline Serreau's new French feature tells us all we need to know about the marriage of Helene (Catherine Frot) and Paul (Vincent Lindon). A functioning but meaningless machine, it continues to manufacture the upper-caste image required for his business contacts and social circle but has long since run out of more affectionate motivations. All that temporarily jerks to a halt when their luxury car almost runs into a scantily clad woman fleeing attackers who beat her senseless before fleeing an approaching police car. Paul's first impulse is to lock the doors. He then speeds away, mops blood off the windshield, and proceeds to a dinner party as though nothing had happened. Helene can't shake the incident so easily, however. She tracks the young woman to a local hospital, spending whole days, then weeks there as Algerian émigré Malika (Rachida Brakni) slowly wakes from a coma and regains her faculties. What starts out as an incisive if amusingly barbed clash of cultures and classes turns into something more frivolous – albeit quite entertaining – as the revived Malika enlists Helene in an elaborate plot to avenge herself against the family who'd misused her and the organized criminals who'd done far worse. She also orchestrates comeuppance to the husband and bratty grown son who've taken Helene for granted all of these years. Chaos turns into a caper flick so improbable (requiring Helene to demonstrate near-superherolike resources) and so rotely quasifeminist you might expect "Sisters Are Doin' It for Themselves" to underscore the final credits. But as caper flicks go, it's a clever, guilt-free pleasure. (1:49) Opera Plaza. (Harvey)

Chicago (1:47) Century Plaza, Century 20, Empire, Galaxy, Grand Lake, Metreon, Presidio.

City of God (2:10) Four Star.

The Core The main thing The Core has going for it, besides the Aaron Eckhart eye candy, is the fact that it has a somewhat original premise: instead of a threat from outer space, the human race is forced to deal with the consequences when a top-secret government weapon (an earthquake-making device dubbed "Project Destiny") causes the planet's core to stop rotating. Magnetic fields are horribly disrupted, causing atmospheric nightmares that see pacemakers and pigeons go haywire and Rome reduced to rubble in an electrical superstorm. Naturally, a ragtag team of scientists and astronauts (in addition to Eckhart, the surprisingly strong cast includes Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo, Bruce Greenwood, and Stanley Tucci) is assembled to pilot a makeshift subterranean transport and "jump-start the core" with nukes. From there, familiarity abounds – beady-eyed military villains, corny dialogue, obvious plot foreshadowing – and The Core easily falls short of gelling into the kind of cheesy goodness that so served the likes of Armageddon and Independence Day. (2:15) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

Cowboy Bebop The popular anime series from which Cowboy Bebop the movie sprang is a thoroughly modern and aggressively cool collision of film noir, cyberpunk, and about half a million other influences (Bob Dylan, Don Siegel, etc). The big-screen version offers more of the same plus a new dizzying attention to detail, and a whole lot of prescient millennial dread. The year is 2071 and Mars looks like a combination of Casablanca and upper Manhattan. Quite naturally, some bearded lunatic wants to destroy it with rush-hour car bombings and elaborate bioterror plots (that the film was originally released in Japan in September 2001 is an eerie coincidence). A gargantuan bounty reward on the culprit attracts lanky, semi-heroic cash-seeker Spike Spiegel and his motley crew of "Cowboys," who move in on the lone terrorist only to find a labyrinth of government conspiracies and military experiments. Under the hand of director and series creator Shinichiro Watanabe, the ambitious Bebop is fantastic when it sticks to a breezy tone punctuated by bursts of action. Things get more slippery when it strays into extended spiritual and existential musings, which dominate the overlong final act. Either way, sci-fi anime (usually the most escapist of genres) has seldom been this closely tied to current events intentionally or otherwise. (1:55) Opera Plaza. (Macias)

Divine Intervention Palestinian director Elia Suleiman's Divine Intervention is neither documentary nor docudrama, nor even a Costa-Gavras-style feature designed to prompt international action. Rather, shooting in Nazareth and on the road to Jerusalem with a largely Israeli crew and an irreverent eye, Suleiman translates his riven, battle-weary homeland into a comic parable full of slapstick provocation. Consider the opening: Santa Claus gets mugged. A spoof on local violence? A gloss on racial intolerance? A salvo in an ongoing argument about symbolism versus action? It's a bracing opening for a film that fuses humor with inchoate rage but only much later deploys fantasy violence to make a political point, albeit a surreal one. Distilling tragedy from tedium, Divine Intervention invites the viewer into a meditation on the absurdity of daily existence in today's Middle East, as seen from the perspective of Palestinians relentlessly occupied with occupation. Could anything be braver or more taboo at this moment than humor? It is a brave filmmaker who can set aside the easy posture of outrage to mine conundrums and contemplate deeper truths. It is a truly exceptional one who can do all of that without compromising the history that lies at the heart of the self. (1:29) Opera Plaza. (Rich)

Dysfunktional Family Comedian and actor (Undercover Brother, Malcolm and Eddie) Eddie Griffin's slickly packaged concert film finds him back on the scene of his original crimes – none all that bad, it seems, but duly treated at the time as execution-worthy by his very tough-loving mom. He credits her with steering him (and thrashing him, and smacking him, and almost hit-and-running him) away from various Kansas City, Mo., paths of sin and ruination, ultimately toward wealth and success. And she is still proud of him (if not so much of such routines as "Pussy Eatin' 101"); as are Uncle Curtis, who's always happy to share the amateur porn tapes, and another uncle who prefers spending his leisure hours on heroin and has been in and out of the pen for decades. These real-life folk are so gregarious, frank, funny, and relaxed on-camera that they frequently lift Dysfunktional Family into a sphere of divine "reality" comedy." Most of the time, however, we're stuck on Earth with Griffin's actual stand-up stuff. I liked his making public the undeniable visual link between latter-day Michael Jackson and Helena Bonham Carter's Planet of the Apes character, and his impressions of Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor, and Sammy Davis Jr. are pretty good. But otherwise, his routine is all "white folks do this, black folks do that" and the division of women into (a) Mom, or (b) pussy. Griffin is talented, but he needs better material – maybe his relatives should start writing some. (1:24) Century 20, Jack London. (Harvey)

Dreamcatcher (2:16) Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Frida (1:58) Balboa.

Gangs of New York (2:57) Galaxy.

Gaza Strip American director James Longley's crucial Gaza Strip is a must-see. Ariel Sharon's election in January 2001 led to an eruption of violence that persuaded Longley, who originally intended to stay in the area for two weeks, to film for the next three months. The film's focus is children, especially a group of newspaper boys whose numbers dwindle and whose profound sense of despair (so jarringly out of place in 10- and 12-years-olds) leads some to wish out loud for death and a chance at paradise instead of a world of grief and increasing degradation. (1:14) Roxie. (Avila)

He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not (1:42) Four Star.

Head of State First-time director Chris Rock stars as Mays Gilliam, a D.C. Alderman who becomes the first African American major-party presidential candidate just weeks before the election (the scheme behind this, which includes a plan to have an unknowing Gilliam lose on purpose, proves hardly important). At first, Gilliam follows the orders of his tightly wound campaign advisors (Dylan Baker, Lynn Whitfield), but he's soon convinced by his brother/running mate (Bernie Mac, underused but spot-on as always) to unleash his true personality, which includes for-the-people speeches delivered stand-up style ("How many of you have two jobs so you can afford to be broke?") Rock is less polished a director than a performer, but when he's on, there's nobody funnier, as this largely enjoyable comedy proves. (1:35) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Eddy)

The Hours (1:54) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

The Hunted (1:34) 1000 Van Ness.

Laurel Canyon (1:43) Embarcadero, Empire.

The Lion King IMAX (1:29) Metreon IMAX.

A Man Apart Perhaps it's too early for Vin Diesel to make movies where he keeps his shirt on. This overly earnest, just-adequate crime drama is strictly '80s-style vigilante action fodder of the "this time it's personal" variety, B-grade material granted an unnecessary "A" budget. V.D. – hey, we didn't choose his initials – plays a freewheeling DEA operative who busts a really baaaad Mexican drug cartel boss (Geno Silva). Said villain then has Vin's wife killed. Uh-oh: Vin go boom. Decently assembled by director F. Gary Gray, the movie tries hard to pretend it invented numerous hoary clichés, from the "You've crossed the line! You're off the force!" scene, to the holding-back-tears-at-her-grave moment, to the inevitable instance when our hero fumes, "You call me a fuckin' faggot?!" to outscare scary thugs. Also, many vehicles explode. A Man Apart struggles to put a gritty face on cartoonish material, but the surgery never quite takes. After all, the villains here are named "Diablo" (as in "you cannot keel Diablo") and "Lucero," while climactic dialogue can't resist fanning America-wants-vengeance hyperbole enough to suggest the great Satan himself – no, not us silly, we mean Saddam! Keepin' it so "real" that all of his homies here must call him "dawg" (amid a Dr. Dre soundtrack, yet), the new Diesel is so feh you might actually miss last year's XXX party-blowhard action figure. (2:00) Century Plaza, Century 20, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Harvey)

Nowhere in Africa Fleeing Germany on the eve of Hitler's rise to power, an upper-class Jewish woman (Juliane Köhler) and her five-year-old daughter relocate to Africa. Helping her husband manage a farm in Kenya, she bristles at her new surroundings while the girl must adjust to the confinement of English boarding school rules. But thanks to a kindly cook (Sidede Onyulo) and their new environment's "primitive" charms, the family slowly falls in love with their adopted homeland. The inexplicable winner of this year's Best Foreign Film Oscar, director Caroline Link's melodramatic travelogue seems constructed from spare parts of typical nondomestic favorites: a pinch of historical tragedy made personal here, a dash of inner-journey cliché there, a hefty amount of semipatronizing attitudes toward the "other" (when, really, we're all the same underneath!). It's a familiar enough safari through foreign film-lite landscapes perfect for the toothless section of Blockbuster Video's import shelf, though anyone expecting anything past pretty scenery will find themselves heading nowhere fast. (2:18) Castro, Rafael. (Fear)

Old School (1:30) Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

Phone Booth Slimy media publicist Stu Shepard (Colin Farrell) stops by New York City's last operating public phone booth daily to call a young actress (Katie Holmes) he's trying to seduce (his wife checks his cell phone bills, y'see). One morning the phone rings after he's hung up; picking up the receiver, he's told by the voice on the other end that if he hangs up, he will be shot. There's a sniper who's watching him, an all-purpose avenging angel whose "wake-up call" to Stu comes with an ultimatum: either use this metaphorical kick to the head to change your ways or risk a literal bullet to your brain. Joel Schumacher is a director whose plentiful excesses tend to be curbed under the governance of imposed restraints (see the low-budget, low-key Tigerland), and the built-in tension of the plot's geographical space is foolproof enough that even split screens and fish-eye lenses can't smother the claustrophobia. Still, Phone Booth is a pleasant enough one-trick pony to ride to the end. (1:21) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, Oaks, 1000 Van Ness, Orinda. (Fear)

The Pianist (2:28) Albany, Clay, Orinda.

Piglet's Big Movie (1:15) Grand Lake, Oaks, 1000 Van Ness.

The Quiet American (1:52) Embarcadero.

Rabbit Proof Fence (1:34) Balboa, Rafael, Red Vic.

Russian Ark (1:48) Balboa.

Sandstorm A potter in rural India (Nandita Das) organizing a women's rights group is gang raped as a "warning." She then finds that her search for justice only proves India's male-centric society runs rotten to the core. Basing Sandstorm on a true story, director Jag "Jagmohan" Mundhra courts controversy from the outset. While the film certainly aims high by setting its crosshairs on the rampant sexism, caste-ism and corruption in India's social landscape, its central motif of gender-specific struggling is undone by Mundhra's broad, kitchen-sink approach to directing. Everything from sly satire to courtroom drama to gaslight theater caricatures is paraded out in lieu of a consistent narrative style, while elemental thematic factors, such as the westernized Anglo-Indian journalist covering the persecuted woman's story, go unexplored in favor of melodramatics. As an exposé of the country's medieval treatment of women, Sandstorm seems stilted and stillborn; should India ever start up its own Lifetime channel, however, it will have at least one film perfect for programming. (2:00) Galaxy, Oaks. (Fear)

Shanghai Ghetto (1:35) Balboa.

Spider (1:38) Four Star.

Spirited Away (2:04) Galaxy, Kabuki, Metreon.

Spun Following the doings of a loosely connected gang of SoCal drug addicts, Spun accurately approximates a crystal meth high by being hilarious, grotesque, and annoying in equal parts. Swedish director Jonas Åkerlund has a wicked fascination with the low end of American life (the kind in which trailers figure prominently), and he lays out the environs and inner worlds of his speed freaks with every music-video edit and visual gimmick in the armory. Meanwhile, a not entirely convincing air of "slumming it" hovers around Jason Schwartzman, Brittany Murphy, and Mena Suvari as they toot, jabber, and interact with an odd collection of cameo players (including Deborah Harry, China Chow, and Rob Halford). John Leguizamo's bug-eyed hyperactive shtick gets by on sheer volume alone, but it is Mickey Rourke's quietly monstrous performance as the cook that holds Hurricane Spun together – at least until the third act, which trades in intense black humor and grimy close-ups for overreaching dramatics that reduce something wild to nothing more than another Just Say No piece. (1:36) Lumiere. (Macias)

*Talk to Her (1:52) Embarcadero.

View from the Top (1:27) Century 20, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness.

What a Girl Wants On the off chance that the previews left room for doubt, rest assured this coming-of-age comedy starring Nickelodeon luminary Amanda Bynes falls squarely into the teeny-bopper chick-flick genre. Within that lowbrow context, though, it's actually quite good – that is to say, enjoyable. True, the überfashionable protagonist leads an unusually exciting and enviable life, despite the requisite obstacle in her path, but she's also funny and smart, and she embarks on a cool adventure through the hip streets of London. True, there is a conveniently adorable boy to help her through the rough spots, but novice Oliver James brings such a sincere breed of adolescent aplomb to the screen, that his abnormal cuteness is easily forgiven. And then there's Colin Firth, charming as ever, rocking out on the air guitar in a pair of old leather pants. Schmaltz has never looked so good. (1:44) Century Plaza, Century 20, Grand Lake, Jack London, Kabuki, Metreon, 1000 Van Ness. (Cohen)