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Mark L. Falconer's Film Reviews
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Last Updated: July 30, 2001
CATCHING UP WITH RECENT RELEASES:
PLANET OF THE APES (2001)-Better than expected, considering the
shotgun marriage of Tim Burton to screenwriters William Broyles Jr.
(APOLLO 13, CAST AWAY) and the team of Lawrence Konner and
Mark Rosenthal (who wrote the awful BEVERLY HILLBILLIES, as well
as the MIGHTY JOE YOUNG remake, which I haven't seen). Although
the new APES certainly can't be called a classic, it does have enough
moments of Burtonian idiosyncrasy (and, yes, another offbeat role
for Lisa Marie) blended with big-studio-mandated simplicity (much of
the film falls into the chase-and-escape category) to make it palatable
to contemporary audiences. With a genuinely effective "surprise" ending,
which puts a clever spin on the ending of the 1968 original, as well as
professional-and-inspired-performances from the aforementioned Ms. Marie,
Helena Bonham Carter, David Warner, Charlton Heston, Michael Clarke
Duncan and Glenn Shadix. As for Mark Wahlberg, a young
actor feverish to shed the wet-kid image of THREE KINGS and BOOGIE
NIGHTS, his bland performance here isn't even remotely comparable to
the work of Steve McQueen (a comparison that Wahlberg's recent celebrity
interviews seem eager to make-remember the comparisons of Matthew
McConaughey with Paul Newman around the release of A TIME TO KILL).
Worth seeing, overall.
JURASSIC PARK III-Not the lazy semi-disaster of Steven Spielberg and
David Koepp's THE LOST WORLD, but not the franchise-extender Universal
was hoping for either. Joe Johnston's take on the trapped-on-an-island-of-
theme-park-dinosaurs formula is essentially HONEY, I MADE A DINOSAUR
MOVIE! with a couple of novelties (which won't be given away here) and a
get-the-most-money-out-of-the-first-week 92-minute running time. To be
brutally honest, all the toothpaste has been squeezed out of the tube here-
leaving no reason (besides greed) for a fourth entry in this series (if this
dire event comes to pass, one can only hope that either Joe
Dante or Sam Raimi will be offered a small fortune to perform much-needed
creative alchemy). With Sam Neill (essentially playing Jeff Goldblum's role
in LOST WORLD), Laura Dern (in a small-but-pivotal cameo), the underused
Michael Jeter and John Diehl-and, as the world's most unlikely couple,
Tea Leoni (a little more animated here than in DEEP IMPACT) and the
occasionally amusing William H. Macy. Spielberg buffs may derive some
amusement from noticing the resemblance between the toddler cast as
Dern's son and Cary Guffey (CLOSE ENCOUNTERS). Bargain matinees only.
JUMP TOMORROW-Joel Hopkins wrote and directed this middling-but-pleasant
romantic comedy about three people-a Nigerian-born businessman
(Tunde Adebimpe, who evokes Sidney Poitier), a freespirited young woman
(Natalia Verbeke, a more talented Penelope Cruz) and a just-jilted Frenchman
(Hippolyte Giradot)-all searching for a soulmate. JUMP TOMORROW
(released by the theatrical division of the Independent Film Channel) is
faltering at the specialty-theater boxoffice; apparently, a stylized comedy
with-gasp!-characters actually interacting with each other isn't
high-concept enough for upscale filmgoers this summer. Worth seeing,
though, while it's still in theaters.
LEGALLY BLONDE-Reese Witherspoon reinvents herself as a Movie Star
with this half-a-good-comedy about a not-dumb-just-underestimated young
woman who becomes a triumphant fish-out-of-water at Harvard's Law School.
Witherspoon's skill and timing makes LEGALLY BLONDE worth seeing,
though it's tempting to kvetch about director Robert Luketic's occasional
clumsiness and the script's second-half collapse into stupidity, crassness
and dubious empower-yourself-but-obey-THE RULES notions about male/
female relationships. With the wooden Luke Wilson (who's less irritating
than brother Owen) and the talented Selma Blair (overdue for stardom).
THE SCORE-An "adult" summer caper film which teams Robert De Niro
(who, thankfully, chews less scenery than he did in MEN OF HONOR),
Edward Norton (who, five years into his screen career, offers a Greatest
Hits performance blending his dual identity schtick from PRIMAL FEAR
with his cocky schlub schtick from ROUNDERS), Angela Bassett (appearing
briefly as De Niro's lover/the Voice of Reason) and Marlon Brando
(who chews less scenery than he did in THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
and THE MISSOURI BREAKS-and even gives a performance here). With
overdeliberate pacing and a none-too-surprising twist ending. Capably directed
by Frank Oz, and-by default-one of the better summer 2001 releases.
Worth seeing.
A.I.-I can't help but find A.I.'s mixture
of early-70's-TV-movie (much of the first hour), mid-70's Roger Corman movie
(the Flesh Fair sequence) and liberal borrowing of Kubrickian motifs and staging
(particularly the early scenes with Jude Law's Gigolo Joe) rather compelling
considering the low quality of most of the films I've seen in the summer of
2001. I'll even say that A.I. is a more fitting farewell to Kubrick than
EYES WIDE SHUT-and much more deserving of rediscovery and thoughtful
reappraisal in the years to come. With Haley Joel Osment (much better here
than in PAY IT FORWARD), Frances (KISS OR KILL) O'Connor, the miscast
Sam Robards (one wishes Spielberg had cast Bill Maher instead) as a futuristic
yuppie dad and the voices of Robin Williams, Chris Rock and Meryl Streep.
Worth seeing.
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