Movie reviews - 2004-04-01

Along Came Polly

Director: John Hamburg

This film belongs in the category of dim-witted romantic comedies that are only interesting and funny if there is an intelligent hand behind all the dumbness. "Along Came Polly" is highly unintelligent. The film hinges on diarrhea jokes and daft slapstick. It believes that the more people and animals you have accidentally falling, slipping and smashing into things, the funnier the film automatically becomes. Ben Stiller's control freak and Jennifer Aniston's free spirit make out for the "opposites attract" love story, but they fail to generate any sparks between them. Philip Seymour Hoffman is a great actor but is awfully let down by the mindless jokes and gags he has to perform - this goes for everyone in the film. I1/2

Julie Vinten

This comedy is so utterly eccentric that you end up laughing, despite all the silliness going on. Ben Stiller, as always, plays his stoic self. There is an unequivocal amount of chemistry bubbling away between Stiller and his leading lady, Jennifer Aniston. However, it's the supporting players who really save this film from being simply average. The laughter begins with a super buffed-up Hank Azaria as a French-accented scuba instructor. Then along comes Philip Seymour Hoffman in the part of a well-known former child star. His character is so full of himself that he wants to play both Judas and Jesus in an amateur production of "Jesus Christ: Superstar." This has to be one of the juiciest roles in the able actor's eclectic career. Alec Baldwin also puts in a brief but brilliant cameo. III

Laimons Juris G

Under the Tuscan Sun

Director: Audrey Wells

The novelist Frances Mayes (Diane Lane) goes on a get-away trip to Italy after divorcing her cheating husband. On impulse she buys an old villa, which she restores while also restoring herself and her life. This film is every romantic's dream. It looks like an ad for an Italian tourist agency with sunsets on the beach and mountainside villages. And in the middle of all this scenic beauty, Frances goes through both extreme sorrow and ecstatic joy. Lane is stunning as Frances in her ability to be both immensely strong and vulnerable at the same time. Yes, "Under the Tuscan Sun" is overly sentimental and cliched. But the film is saved by the fact that it doesn't aspire to be anything other than a romantic, feel-good fairytale, and it delivers on that, sentimental cliches included. III

Julie Vinten

This may just be another so-called chick flick, but it's totally engrossing and quite enjoyable to watch. Still smouldering from her Oscar-nominated role in "Unfaithful," Diane Lane once again dazzles our senses with her phenomenal acting skills. Scene-by-scene she draws us into the personal world of the genuinely likeable character she lucidly portrays. Thanks to Geoffrey Simpson the cinematography is knock-your-socks-off gorgeous, right down to the last color pixel. The beauty of the magnificent Tuscany countryside has never been so irresistible. This reviewer seriously considered hopping on the first plane out of this town at the slightest reference to maestro Federico Fellini. You may not physically end up in Italy, but you will feel refreshed after watching "Under the Tuscan Sun." IIII

Laimons Juris G

If this had been meant as a joke it would have been a good one. But "Gothika" wants to be a serious spook-psycho-thriller, which is unfortunate. Halle Berry is a psychologist who one day wakes up in a cell at the mental asylum where she works, accused of murdering her hubby. Did she? Didn't she? And who is the flaming girl? "Gothika" is so far-fetched and illogical (and I don't mean the supernatural stuff), it is hilarious. The filmmakers end up with one big mess by trying to actually make sense of their brainless story. But the film knows what is fear provoking (being possessed, children's ghosts and so forth), and as stupid as it may be, "Gothika" is unquestionably a very spooky film. And Berry screams beautifully. II

Julie Vinten

Although there is nothing really original about the story, French director Mathieu Kassovitz ("The Crimson Rivers") has created a moderately scary ghost story. Basically, it all boils down to Halle Berry and Penelope Cruz acting their pretty brains out. Beautiful Berry plays a psychologist at a woman's prison, who ends up in a padded cell next to her wacked-out patient Cruz. A particularly suspicious Robert Downing, Jr. adds his creepy presence for this party to start. "Gothika" is an absolutely great title for a horror movie, but there are more unintended laughs here than surprising shocks. However, if you're a fan of European kitsch, then you won't mind sitting through this quirky oddity at least once. II 3/4

Laimons Juris G