- Walt Disney Pictures and Amblin Entertainment team up to deliver a thrilling story, action-packed adventure, and breathtaking scenery! Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength when they begin a journey across the treacherous African desert! Equipped with only their wits and the expertise of a native bushman who befriends them, they are determ
AFTER BEING CUT FROM THE USA SOFTBALL TEAM AND FEELING A BIT PAST HER PRIME, LISA FINDS HERSELF EVALUATING HER LIFE AND IN THE MIDDLE OF A LOVE TRIANGLE, AS A CORPORATE GUY IN CRISIS COMPETES WITH HER CURRENT, BASEBALL-PLAYING BEAU.Compared to previous James L. Brooks dramedies, like
As Good As It Gets,
How Do You Know feels slight, but it still marks an improvement over the ill-conceived
Spanglish. The setup begins with a newly minted couple and a brand-new single. Lisa (Reese ! Witherspoon), a pro softball player, dates Matty (Owen Wilson), a major-league pitcher, who lives in the same Washington, D.C., high rise as financial exec Charles (Jack Nicholson, looking ill at ease), whose son and employee, George (Paul Rudd), gets the boot from his girlfriend after he loses his job. When George meets Lisa, who didn't make the team, sparks fly, but she's unavailable, so they get on with their lives. Hardly the brightest bulb, Matty raises Lisa's spirits with his goofy antics, so she moves in with him. Then George finds out he faces charges for tax fraud, even though he broke no laws. While his pregnant assistant, Annie (
Crossing Jordan's Kathryn Hahn), supports him through the crisis, he can't stop thinking about the blonde from the elevator, so he tries to get to know Lisa better. Throughout the rest of this glossy entertainment, their friendship verges on romance, but Lisa stays with Matty, until Annie helps her to see George clearly for the fir! st time. As love triangles go, Brooks isn't reinventing the wh! eel, mak ing this underwritten affair one of his less inspired creations, but Witherspoon, Rudd, and Wilson are good company--even if the latter is essentially reprising his vacuous
Zoolander character (just substitute baseball for modeling).
--Kathleen C. FennessyJUST LIKE HEAVEN - DVD MovieBad romantic comedies make you scoff at their absurdity; good ones make you wish your life was that absurd.
Just Like Heaven is just smart and likable enough to trigger that wishing. David (Mark Ruffalo,
Collateral,
You Can Count On Me) finds an amazing apartment in San Francisco--only to discover it's haunted by the spirit of the previous tenant, an overachieving doctor named Elizabeth (Reese Witherspoon,
Legally Blonde,
Election). There's something not quite right about Elizabeth's afterlife; against his better judgement, David agrees to help her investigate her life...but finds himself digging into his own as well. The plot takes a twist that so! me viewers will see coming, but
Just Like Heaven doesn't rely on the surprise alone; the revelation takes the story in a new and just as entertaining direction. Witherspoon and Ruffalo are two of the best romantic leads around, but the surprise is how well their contrasting flavors (perky and moody, respectively) mesh, creating a sparky, engaging chemistry. Also featuring Dina Waters (
Freaky Friday), Donal Logue (
The Tao of Steve), Ben Shenkman (
Angels in America), and Jon Heder (
Napoleon Dynamite). Crisply directed by Mark Waters (
Mean Girls), who carefully keeps the supernatural from getting silly and the romance from getting gooey.
--Bret FetzerThis delightfully entertaining romantic comedy stars Reese Witherspoon (LEGALLY BLONDE) as sophisticated Melanie Carmichael, a rising New York clothing designer who suddenly finds herself engaged to the city's most eligible bachelor. But this is no fairy tale romance for Melanie. Sh! e has skeletons in her fashion-filled closet that include Jake! -- the backwoods husband she married in high school who refuses to divorce her. Determined to end their marriage and sever all ties with her past once and for all, Melanie returns to Alabama. But home starts to tug at her heartstrings, and what she thought she wanted may not be what she wants at all.As formulaic, utterly inoffensive romantic comedies go,
Sweet Home Alabama could be better, and could be worse. It's a variant of Julia Roberts's
Something to Talk About, with all the same strengths and weaknesses, and Reese Witherspoon is definitely its saving grace. As an Alabama country girl turned hot New York fashion designer, Witherspoon finds the genuine emotions hidden under a blandly familiar plot, making her character's romantic indecisiveness seem not only credible but disarmingly appealing. She's just agreed to marry the Camelot-bred son (Patrick Dempsey) of New York's no-nonsense mayor (Candice Bergen), but first she has to officially divorce the husband (Josh! Lucas) she left behind years earlier... only to discover that their love is stronger than ever. The rest, of course, is a foregone conclusion, but with a sharp supporting cast and a few charming moments,
Sweet Home Alabama will satisfy anyone who prefers safe, reassuring entertainment.
--Jeff ShannonOscar(r) nominees* Sam Waterston and Tess Harper and veteran actress Gail Strickland (Norma Rae) join three talented newcomers in this deeply moving film (Los Angeles Times) about coming of age and sexual discovery in rural, 1950s Louisiana. Brilliantly directed by Robert Mulligan (To Kill a Mockingbird, The Summer of 42), The Man in the Moon is a poignant and bittersweet tale Roger Ebert calls a wonderful movie...a victory...a meticulously prepared masterpiece. Fourteen-year-old Dani (Reese Witherspoon) and her older sister Maureen (Emily Warfield) have always shared everything. But when Court Foster (Jason London) moves in next door, the sisters become ri! vals as Dani experiences her first feelings of affection and M! aureen f inds the true love she's longed for. But with love comes heartache, and the sisters soon learn a tough life lesson when tragedy strikes and the strength of their bond is the only thing that will keep theirhearts from breaking. *1984: Actor, The Killing Fields; 1986: Supporting Actress, Crimes of the HeartA jewel of a sleeper,
The Man in the Moon comes off as a nearly perfect short story of two sisters' first competition in the field of love. In a 1950's small Louisiana farm town, 14-year-old Dani falls for Court, a 17-year-old engaging neighbor boy. The two become great friends, but Court is more interested in Dani's 17-year-old sister, Maureen, who is blossoming. Dani will look for any justification why she should be with Court, but as human law dictates, there is no cure for a 14-year-old with a crush.
The film is another winning portrayal of small-town adolescence from Robert Mulligan (To Kill A Mockingbird). His eye for casting is impeccable, with Sam! Waterston and Tess Harper as the earnest parents and newcomer Jason London as the dreamy Court. The real find, though, is Reese Witherspoon as Dani. Her timeless work here is magical. The PG-13 rating is a bit heavy-handed--although the film does not shy away from its look at budding sensuality, or a horrific and emotional accident. Mature 10-year-olds may find one of their favorite films here. --Doug ThomasFREEWAY - DVD MovieFreeway is one of those movies that has the power to simultaneously amaze and disgust just about anyone who dares to view it. Like Seven, Kalifornia, and Natural Born Killers, it's a movie that could be called a product of our times, since it caters to our societal fascination with serial killers and outrageous psychopathic behavior. But make no mistake: director Matthew Bright isn't out to feed anyone's sickest impulse. This is a scathing satire in the age of Jerry Springer fistfights and "real" TV shows like Co! ps, in which the "I-5 Killer" (Kiefer Sutherland) meets a ! wayward teenager (Reese Witherspoon) on the freeway that provides his nickname. She confides in the man but soon discovers his gruesome intentions, and ... well, let's just say she effectively defends herself, only to find later that the killer (whose wife is played by Brooke Shields, no less!) has used the media to his advantage. Fine performances make this a provocative thriller, but it's definitely not for the innocent or squeamish. --Jeff ShannonWalt Disney Pictures and Amblin Entertainment team up to deliver a thrilling story, action-packed adventure, and breathtaking scenery! Thrown together under incredible circumstances, two strangers must discover courage and strength when they begin a journey across the treacherous African desert! Equipped with only their wits and the expertise of a native bushman who befriends them, they are determined to triumph over impossible odds and reach their destination. But along the way, the trio face a primitive desert wilderness teeming! with deadly obstacles, including wild animals, ruthless poachers, and severe weather conditions!In this 1993 Disney adventure, Reese Witherspoon and Ethan Embry are two young survivors of an African massacre. She is the daughter of a game warden; he is a sulky teen visiting his dad. When poachers do in the adults, the kids hotfoot it across the Kalahari Desert, aided by Witherspoon's young bushman pal (Sarel Bok). They have to cross about 1,000 miles of forbidding territory, all the while chased by nogoodnik Jack Thompson. The kids face down danger, have a few excessively cute escapades, and learn about their capacity for survival--and goodness. The highlights of the film are the lush cinematography and exotic locales of Zimbabwe and Namibia. Though this is a Disney production, it is too violent and intense for young children. It is based on the books A Story Like the Wind and A Far Off Place, by Laurens Van der Post. --Rochelle O'Gorman
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