Judith reviews - Something's Gotta Give, Calendar Girls, Peter Pan, Paycheck and House of Sand and Fog

with Diane Keaton as playwright Erica Barry and Jack Nicholson as Harry Sanborn, the eternal playboy. Supporting roles with Amanda Peet as daughter Marin, Keanu Reeves as Dr. Julian and Frances McDormand as the savvy professor women’s studies sister to Erica. All work well together—Erica is divorced and sans a man; Marin has a boyfriend—Harry; Dr. Julian wants a woman in his life; and sis aims to make it happen. All come together when Marin brings Harry to Mom’s writing pad at the beach for a weekend for duo—unfortunately, Mom Erica decides she needs a weekend solo. As Marin and Harry snuggle in their room, Harry has a heart attack . . . enter Dr. Julian.

With that, the comedy is in full gear. Daughter dumps Harry; Dr. Julian covets Mom; Mom and Harry discover each other and then fizzle. . . or do they?

Who Should See It?—Teens and up, Gramma will have a good time—this is a good flick and Keaton’s stage. 4 Golden Eggs.

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Calendar Girls

with Helen Mirren is simply a wonderful comedy. Inspired by the true story of a group of English women who can’t stand one more stupid meeting of learning about broccoli, cauliflower, and flower pressing, the ladies have something up their sleeves when it comes to their annual fund raiser. Mirren’s character is the ring-leader—with her best pal who has been recently widowed, they decide that they will shuck their clothes and create a calendar for the mature—oh they use the flowers, jams and teas that are expected of them—just with more flavor.

Who Should See It?—Just about everyone—not the little kids—but definitely, Gramma will love you for taking her. 4 Golden Eggs

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Peter Pan

is back—this time Universal’s cast includes Jason Isaacs (as Hook), Jeremy Sumpter (as Peter), Olivia Williams, Rachel Hurd-Wood, Ludivine Sagnier, Lynn Redgrave, and Richard Briers—not many household names. Based on the classic, it’s nice to see Peter as a real boy for the first time on screen—one of the challenges during filming is that Jeremy Sumpter grew eight inches—camera guy gets credit for fooling the audience of the growth spurt. Capt. Hook is great, many of the visuals outstanding (loved Hook’s ship sailing back to London) and the crocodile is huge. A good film for the family.

Who Should See It?—OK for the whole family, kids loved it at my screening, Gramma will surely compare to the ones she has seen. 4 Golden Eggs.

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Paycheck

with Ben Affleck as Jennings, an engineering hi-tech software genius who contracts himself out to product competitors—his challenge is to dissect the product and create a bigger, better (or in some cases, smaller and better) product . . . then zap, his memory of the exercise is erased—his ability to recall anything to do with the project is permanently blocked. His award is a paycheck—a big one. He decides to take on one more assignment that will take at least two years to his memory/time. Enters Uma Thurman as bio scientist Rachel Porter and love interest, of course. When he gets his memory erased, so goes Rachel.

Jennings is supposed to get a BIG paycheck . . . so he can change the way he makes a living. When the gig is up, he’s given a brown envelop with stuff—20 items that he is clueless about—but then, if one’s memory is erased, why would you know what the hints are? He learns that he has forfeited the big payday—millions and millions—for the junk . . . or is it? Ah now, we have a chase scene—if fact, lots of them—and Jennings starts the chain that will begin to use the goodies in that handy envelop.

This movie is pure fantasy—I wanted it to work and it does in some spots. But, let’s face it, Ben Affleck makes lots of money acting, I just wish he could act. Visual effects are good.

Who Should See It?—teens and up, most Grammas will think it’s stupid. Wait until it’s in video. 2 Golden Eggs.

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House of Sand and Fog

has been billed as a thriller and a drama—it’s not, think tragedy. Excellent performances are delivered by Sir Ben Kingsley as Col. Massourd Amir Behrani and Jennifer Connolly as Kathy Lazaro. Both will most likely get Oscar nominations. Based on the bestseller by Andre Dubus III (it was an Oprah Book Club pick—which should have told me that it was depressing), Kinglsey’s character has brought his family to America—now citizens in the US, they were in the inner circle of power when living in Iran. His dream is to rebuild his family and their former life. He finds a home for sale for taxes—Kathy’s. His goal is to do a little fix-up and then resell it immediately. Connolly’s character is depressed; her husband has left her, is attempting to avoid the bottle, won’t open her mail, and is pissed when the sheriff evicts her for non-payment of taxes. Opening the mail would have helped.

Through a series of events, she ropes in the deputy as her ally—nothing like a little lust in the afternoon—he leaves his family for her (Daddy, Daddy, please don’t leave) and takes up her cause. Deputy Burdon is played by Ron Eldard—he takes the “law” into his own hands and really screws the equation up. He encourages Kathy to go to Legal Aid—she does and gets angry at the lawyer who tries to help. Summing up—Kathy is not too bright, a brat, irresponsible and unaccountable—I was hoping she would jump off the pier in the scene where she walks out on it by the end of the movie (surrounded by sand and fog of course). The deputy’s family is history and his career is in the toilet. Behrani and family try to help the delusional Kathy with some type of honor and end up losing everything, including themselves.

Who Should See It?—If you want to see good performances, this has them, Kinglsey is excellent—probably Oscar nominations. But, and it is a big but, do you want to be bummed out? I found it incredibly depressing—this movie is one tragedy after another. I came home and watched a Bill Cosby tape to counterbalance the previous two hours. 2 1/2s Golden Eggs

The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King

Wrapping up the series, the third installment starts off when #2 stopped? This time Gollum’s character rises to the top of the heap for the tragic figure? We learn that he is/was a regular hobbit by the name of Smeagol. All that ended when the Ring found its way to his finger on a fishing trip with one of his pals. The curse of the Ring is the weaver throughout the all three movies, with this being the grand finale.

Will Frodo make it to Mordor? Will Sam be his faithful and trusty encourager/protector? Will Aragorn get crowned as King? What happens to Gollum? Does Gandalf cast his magic on Sauron? And what about all those nasty orcs? Will our heroes survive? Questions, questions, questions.

Will, it’s quite a story?definitely long andd probably 30 minutes could have been chopped?but there’s alll those lose ends that have to be tidied up. Director Peter Jackson is today’s George Lucas—the visuals are spectacular, spectacular, the storytelling devine, and those seven story high elephants . . . oh my! The bad guys, things, are really bad. The good guys come in all kinds of shapes and sizes.

Who Should See It?? Anyone who started the series, if you haven’t? Stop and start from the beginning. Mature kids and up. 4 ½ Golden Eggs.

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