Over Her Dead Body (PG-13)
Atonement (R)
In The Eye (PG-13)
Fool's Gold (PG-13)
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (PG-13)
Definitely, Maybe (PG-13)
Jumper (PG-13)
The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG)
Vantage Point (PG-13)
There Will Be Blood (R)
Movie Review Archive (Prior to July 2007) or search by keyword.
Vantage Point (PG-13) This is one of those movies where there are lots of layers. Things and people are not what they seem.
From the trailer I was looking for clues, but there are no clues. You aren’t shown enough to figure anything out. Several times there are videos of what has happened and a key scene, but the character only sees it, not you. You have to wait on them to show you when they want you to see it.
Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) is on the secret service team protecting the President (William Hurt) when he is shot while making a speech. There are hints of a plot and as we see the different “vantage points,” as the events are portrayed from different perspectives that we come to understand.
Forest Whitaker and Sigourney Weaver also star.
The audience audibly groaned when the tape reversed time and again for different views. While the car chase was exciting, I didn’t find it believable. The plot had lots of turns, but I found them predictable.
In fairness, my wife enjoyed it, so don’t necessarily go by my opinion.
It’s rated (PG-13) for violence and language. – Barry Merrill
There Will Be Blood (R) Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day Lewis) is introduced immediately as a miner, I'm talking old school pick and chisel. He is portrayed as a man willing to work for his livelihood. We see the trials and tribulations that an oil minor would have to deal with at the turn of the century. Through the movie there is an interesting little subplot: Plainview, sort of, adopts a little boy, and we see how that turns out close to the end. It sucks, but makes for a good movie. Plainview has many confrontations with the people he's purchased land from, which are quite intriguing. A missing brother, or is it, shows up. There's just so much more, too much more to tell. The ending is incredible and the change from the beginning is amazing. For the first time in my life, I agree with the Oscars. This movie was awesome. Daniel Day Lewis is the bomb. Rated R for violence. – Matt Wright
Definitely, Maybe (PG-13) is about a man named Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) who is a going through a divorce. On the day that he goes to pick up his eleven year old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin), his daughter's class had a sex education lesson. When Maya starts to ask questions about how Will and her mother met, he decides to tell her the true story of his three most serious relationships over the five years before she was born, but he changes the names and lets her guess which one is her mother. He then tells about his coming to New York in 1992 to work on Clinton's presidential campaign, and his relationships with his college girlfriend "Emily" (Elizabeth Banks), a journalist named "Summer" (Rachel Weisz), and a copy girl, "April," (Isla Fisher) who he meets while working on the campaign. In the course of the story, his daughter gets an education in how confusing and complicated love can be. In the end, she does figure out who her mom is, but there are several surprising twists along the way and at the end.
It is a good romance movie, I enjoyed it and my fiancee even got a little teary eyed in several places. There really is not much in the way of bad language or sex, although there are several funny scenes with having to explain several sex-related terms to Maya. I would suggest it as a good date movie. – John Joyner
Definitely Maybe (PG-13) is the story of William Hayes's (Ryan Reynolds) love life in the big city of New York, as told to his eleven year old daughter Maya (Abigail Breslin). After an early introduction to sex ed, Maya wants to know the story of her parents' courtship, so Will tells her about the three women in his life, disguised so she can guess which is her mother. When Will left Wisconsin to work on the Clinton campaign in 1992, he left behind his college sweetheart "Emily" (Elizabeth Banks), and met vivacious journalist "Summer" (Rachel Weisz) and free-spirited copygirl "April" (Isla Fisher). Each of the women has her own charm and personality, and Will struggles to find balance in his professional life as well as in his relationships. By the end of Will's story, Maya knows who her mother is, and she also knows that one of them is the only one who can make her father happy again.
From the tone of the commercials, I was expecting a lighthearted romantic comedy, but this isn't really what I found. Ryan Reynolds, who I absolutely loved in Just Friends, is known for his facial expressions and physical comedy, and in this movie he toned it down so much that he seemed almost normal, like the earnest guy next door who just wants to make a difference and find the right woman to settle down with. It's a good movie, for dates or girls night out, and appropriate for ages 13 and up, with alcohol use and smoking and a bit of bad language but not a whole lot of overtly sexual content. – Ashley Merrill
The Spiderwick Chronicles (PG) stars talented young actor Freddie Highmore as twin brothers, Jared and Simon Grace, who, along with their older sister Mallory (portrayed by Sarah Bolger from In America), must fight goblins and other fantastical creatures in order to save their home and their family.
The movie begins with the family pulling up to a creepy old house, which is to be their new home. The children’s mother (Mary-Louise Parker of Weeds) has separated from her husband and they are now looking to start a new life. Jared is unhappy about all of this and the audience learns that he has been taking his anger out in destructive ways. When mysterious things start happening around the house, everyone blames Jared. After one of the incidents, Jared goes up to the attic and finds a book there, a “field guide” to magical creatures. The book is dangerous and Mulgarath, an evil goblin, wants the book so he can find out how to destroy everyone and everything.
I quite enjoyed the movie and thought it was a great adventure. I knew a bit of the story going in, having listened to the first two audiobooks of the series without paying much attention and missing half the story. This is why you should always buy the real book, kids. I’ve heard that quite a bit was changed from the books and die-hard fans might not enjoy it for that reason, but I still thought it was a fantastic film. If young Highmore can avoid the Hollywood child curse, he has a brilliant future ahead of him. The movie is rated PG for some scary action but none of the young children in the theater seemed too frightened. Your whole family will enjoy it. – Susannah Driver
Jumper (PG-13) describes David Rice (Hayden Christensen, with Max Thieriot as the younger David)'s ability to teleport, to transport himself somewhere else in the blink of an eye, even if he's never been there. David uses his ability to rob a bank when he's fifteen and is tracked for the next eight years by Roland (Samuel L. Jackson), who believes "jumpers" should be killed because their unnatural power will eventually corrupt them. Jackson has a teleporter-taser to keep jumpers in their place, but David finds help from another more experienced jumper, played by Jamie Bell. When Roland and his team get too close to David, he goes back home and looks up his childhood sweetheart Millie (Rachel Bilson, younger AnnaSophia Robb), who is sometimes willing, sometimes not, to go along with him. David is a sad guy with abandonment issues, since his mother (Diane Lane) left him when he was five, but he has no trouble smashing into unsuspecting people or things, or driving his enemies through walls and into other parts of the world. Honestly this movie is all over the map; it has no solid foundation in anything, so it's distracting instead of entertaining. Rating is for some language, action and intense sequences, and some sensuality. – Marilyn Merrill
Fool’s Gold (PG-13) If you liked National Treasure you should like Fool’s Gold. This film opens with treasure hunter Finn (Matthew McConaughey) and his partner Alfonz (Ewen Bremner) discovering the missing piece of a treasure puzzle, which, we find out, has been plaguing Finn for many years. Of course, we don't understand the significance of the puzzle piece, not yet, but that's part of what works when it comes to this movie. It's a mystery and it takes almost the whole two hours of the film to completely unravel.
Finn is in the middle of a divorce from Tess (Kate Hudson), whom he still loves and, as the movie progresses, she still loves him. Tess is an oceanic historian who stopped working on her doctorate when she met and married the irrepressible Finn. They both have the treasure hunter bug, and they play the parts beautifully.
Tess is now working for multi-millionaire Nigel Honeycutt (Donald Sutherland), who has a debutante of a daughter named Gemma (Alexis Dziena). They play an important part in this underwater treasure hunt.
Finn ends up on board Honeycutt's yacht, and convinces Honeycutt to fund the treasure hunt. See how everything is falling nicely into place? Furthermore, the island where the treasure is allegedly buried is owned by a gangster rapper named Bigg Bunny(Kevin Hart) to whom Finn owes money and who therefore wants Finn dead.
The adventure is really on the island and in the waters surrounding it. Be ready for a little gore, and some action for Bigg Bunny’s guards. You will also see some of the comedy during the island adventure.
This movie will appeal to just about everyone. It’s not a chick flick, it has too much action and adventure. It’s not really a total guy film either, too much romance. So I call it a nice couples/date film and it is a nice way to spend a few hours. Fool’s Gold is rated PG-13 for a bit of nudity, a bit of gore, some violence and some language. - Lucy Brower
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (PG-13), even with a loaded class of stars, was for me a celebration of the physical humor of Martin Lawrence. I liked it.
Roscoe (Lawrence) has made it in TV in L.A. as a cross between Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer, carrying the TV name RJ Stevens, and even has a Survivor winner as a fiancé (Joy Bryant). While he made it in the big time, he never made it in the eyes of those back home, and there are some questions of how good a dad he has been to his young son.
When that son asks to go home to see his grandparents (James Earl Jones and Margaret Avery) on their 50th anniversary, Roscoe reluctantly agrees after his fiancé suggests it would make great TV for his show, to film the reunion.
The dysfunctional family back in Georgia includes a brother who is sheriff (Michael Clark Duncan), a con-man brother (Mike Epps), and a sister (Mo’Nique) who apparently is providing for the spiritual and sexual needs of the men in the local jail. Joining the celebration is cousin Clyde (Cedric the Entertainer) who owns several Cadillac dealerships, who is bringing Lucinda (Nicole Ari Parker), the girl he stole from Roscoe back in school, along with all of the glory in the family.
While filled with sexual and gross humor, it’s ultimately a story of gaining a father’s love and acceptance. But mostly it’s funny. And don’t leave when the credits start. It’s rated PG-13 and not appropriate for youngsters. – Barry Merrill
In The Eye (PG-13), Jessica Alba plays Sydney Wells, a young woman who lost her sight in a childhood accident. At the age of twenty, once she has become an accomplished violinist despite her blindness, Sydney has a cornea transplant to get her sight back. When the doctor takes the bandages off, the world is blurry to her for a few days, but Sydney begins to see things that aren't there. She keeps having weird dreams about a Hispanic girl and a fire, which she doesn't understand. Then she sees Death take dead people's souls and escort them wherever, which makes her freak out. Sydney has to track down the donor's family in Mexico to figure out the truth behind her visions.
I was very disappointed in this movie. I thought there would be more of a jump factor, and it left a lot of unanswered questions for me. So I give it two thumbs down. Rating is for violence/terror and disturbing content. – Ginger Wright
Over Her Dead Body (PG-13) stars Paul Rudd and Eva Longoria-Parker as Henry and Kate, a couple about to get married when, on their wedding day, the bride dies in a tragic accident. A year later, Henry is still depressed and his sister tries to get him to move on, encouraging him to see a psychic (played by Lake Bell), hoping she can somehow get Kate to tell Henry to be happy. At first Ashley is unable to channel anything but when the ghost of Kate realizes that Henry and Ashley might be falling for each other, she begins to haunt Ashley in order to get her to stay away from him.
I thought the concept of this movie was pretty original and I did laugh quite a bit while watching it but it wasn’t the best romantic comedy I’ve ever seen. It’s predictable and formulaic but still a cute little date movie or one for a girls night out. Over Her Dead Body is rated PG-13 for some sexual situations and very slight nudity. – Susannah Driver
Atonement (R), which has been recently named a Best Picture Oscar nominee, is a love story based on the book of the same name by Ian McEwan. Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley), daughter of an upper-class 1930s British family, has grown up with their housekeeper's son Robbie (James MacAvoy) and, upon going to university, shunned him for her new lifestyle, until the two of them come together again during the lazy summer break. In that same afternoon, Cecilia's younger sister Briony (Saoirse Ronan), the real main character, experiences her own artistic awakening when she misunderstands the new relationship between her sister and Robbie. When the entire household goes out later that night to find a few runaways, Briony's misunderstanding blooms into a gross injustice that she spends the rest of her life trying to atone for committing.
At surface this is a love torn apart by war story, and the movie boasts an incredible extended-take shot of the evacuation at Dunkirk during that sequence, but it's more about Briony herself, who follows in her sister's footsteps to become a London nurse during wartime. The sets are perfect, the costumes amazing, and the plot itself just different enough to stand out. Rating is for language, a scene of sensuality, wartime violence, and thematic elements. – Ashley Merrill