About Schmidt -- Jack Nicholson delivers a different-than-usual tour-de-force in this seriocomic road movie about a just-retired and just-widowed fellow who tries to make his aloof daughter see that she's marrying the wrong guy -- and getting the wrong in-laws to boot. (ES) Rated: R
Adaptation -- The newest creation from director Spike Jonze and writer Charlie Kaufman isn't as surreal as their Being John Malkovich, but it's just as insane. "Based" on the book The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean, it's about her tribulations writing it, while at the same time it's about the book's subject, the loopy John Laroche, and about Kaufman himself, struggling to adapt a screenplay from the book. (ES) Rated: R
Biker Boyz -- Laurence Fishburne plays real-life California motorcycle club president and racer Manuel Galloway in this action-packed, gasoline-soaked and machismo-scented homage to black biker clubs. Best of all, it's been described as a "modern-day Western on motorcycles." Rated: PG-13
Catch Me If You Can -- Spielberg lightens up from recent films in this comedy (with a serious undertone) inspired by the real-life adventures of teenage con man extraordinaire Frank Abagnale (Leonardo DiCaprio). Chased for years by a no-nonsense FBI man (Tom Hanks), his life probably wasn't as carefree as the film presents it. But this is one good romp. (ES) Rated PG-13
Charly -- Not to be confused with the 1968 Cliff Robertson film, this is about a young Mormon whose world is turned upside down when a free spirit from big, bad Manhattan moves to Salt Lake City and into his life. Rated: PG
Chicago -- Everyone's calling it this year's Moulin Rouge, except instead of one femme fatale/dance hall girl, there are two. Catherine Zeta-Jones plays Velma Kelley, who gains instant notoreity (and jail time) for shooting her philandering husband. Renee Zellweger is an up-and-coming starlet who, secretly hoping for similar fame, tries a similar tactic on her abusive boyfriend. Richard Gere is the celebrity-chasing lawyer who tries to represent them both. Rated: PG-13
Confessions Of A Dangerous Mind -- Anyone who watched The Gong Show (or The Dating Game) needs to see this bio-pic on the life and odd times of their creator, Chuck Barris. As wonderfully played by Sam Rockwell, he's nervous, shy, full of himself, brilliant in a strange way and maybe even dangerous. The film, based on his book, suggests that Barris did game shows as his day gig, and killed for the CIA during his down time. (ES) Rated: R
Darkness Falls -- The premise lies somewhere between The Blair Witch Project and The Ring: a regional folk legend about a dead woman wreaks havoc with those living in the here and now. Rated: PG-13
Deliver Us From Eva -- Writer-director Gary Hardwick's follow-up to The Brothers is an intermittently charming romantic comedy starring "playa" LL Cool J and angry-young-thing Gabrielle Union as two randy mismatched buppies. A nice variation on Taming of the Shrew. (RP) Rated: R
El Crimen del Padre Amaro -- An enormous hit in Mexico for its subject matter about power, corruption and the Catholic church, The Crime of Father Amaro, for all its genuinely thoughtful qualities, seems to have become a breakout U.S. hit for starring Gael Garcia Bernal, the liquid-eyed handsome young star of Y Tu Mama Tambien. It doesn't hurt that the soul-searching onscreen involves a certain amount of forbidden groping. At The Met Feb. 13 at 5:30 pm & amp; 8 pm; Feb. 14 at 3 pm. (RP) Rated: R
Far From Heaven -- Director Todd Haynes supervises a cast of real-life dolls in this 1950s-style film. Julianne Moore plays a housewife who befriends her black gardener when her gay husband (Dennis Quaid, in an intelligently pained performance) begins to come out of the closet. The colors vibrate and the dialogue is perfectly clich & eacute;d as Haynes lovingly rings every melodramatic bell without ever striking a false note. A brilliant and sincere meditation on tolerance and the American upper-middle class. (Marty Demarest)
Final Destination 2 -- Logging trucks wreaking fiery havoc all over the freeway... idiots who spill their coffee and try to clean it up while driving... garbage disposals itchy for human flesh... This movie's got it all! Plus teenage hotties and, well, death. Rated: R
Gangs of New York -- Martin Scorsese and innumerable conspirators have struggled for almost three decades to produce Gangs of New York, and yet it is a terrible movie. Leonardo DiCaprio is a puffy cipher as a young man with vengeance on his mind; Daniel Day-Lewis offers epic hamming as the villain. (RP) Rated: R
The Hours -- The supposedly unfilmable novel by Michael Cunningham becomes a mesmerizing, almost intoxicating movie that tells the stories of one real and two fictional women -- Virginia Woolf (Nicole Kidman), Laura Brown (Julianne Moore) and Clarissa Vaughan (Meryl Streep) -- and how they're tied together over the decades by Woolf's book Mrs. Dalloway. An elegant film, featuring one of Kidman's best performances. (ES) Rated PG-13
How to Lose a Guy... -- Golden-haired twinklers Kate Hudson and Matthew McConaughey square off in supposed urban-sophisticate high-concept Cosmo magazine-style romantic comedy about the rules of dating and the unpredictably of love. A chick flick that wants to be a date flick, but a comedy that wastes the charm of the dynamic duo, as well as Bebe Neuwirth and Adam Goldberg. (RP) Rated: PG-13
Just Married -- Even though there's no discernable chemistry between them (either as characters or actors), the rich cute girl (Brittany Murphy) and the working-class cute guy (Ashton Kutcher) decide to get hitched practically upon meeting one another. Kutcher yells too much and is kind of a jerk; Murphy giggles too much and is too sweet. (ES) Rated: PG-13
Kangaroo Jack -- Kangaroo Jack's brain weighs less than a hard-boiled egg, and yet he's still capable of stealing $100,000 from two hapless New Yorkers. The New Yorkers are a musician (Anthony Anderson) and his best friend (Jerry O'Connell). Rated: PG
The Lion King -- The ultra-smash Disney hit from 1994 now gets the IMAX treatment, making it bigger, but not necessarily better. The lion cub Simba witnesses the terrifying death of his father, then is convinced by an evil uncle to run away from home without taking the throne that's rightfully his. (ES) Rated G
My Big Fat Greek Wedding -- This is the slobbo American version of Four Weddings and a Funeral, getting no marks for subtlety but laughs from those of us who can laugh at the idea of an obnoxious ethnic family getting into the marital spirit. (RP) RATED: PG
National Security -- Steve Zahn (Happy, Texas) plays a down-on-his luck ex-LAPD officer who's reduced to working as a security guard. Even worse, his new partner (Martin Lawrence) is the same guy he was falsely accused of beating years ago during a traffic stop. Rated: PG-13
Rabbit Proof Fence -- A magnificently made, moving story of a trio of Aboriginal girls who escape a government camp in 1930s Australia. Everything clicks, from director Philip Noyce's pacing, to Chris Doyle's blue-and-brown palette of light, to Peter Gabriel's score. (RP) Rated: PG-13
The Recruit -- Al Pacino is the CIA recruiter, Colin Farrell is the man he wants to work for the agency. And that's about the only straightforward part of this twisting and turning thriller. Pacino bangs out another great low-key performance; Farrell edges ever closer to stardom. High-tech visuals are presented terrifically. (ES) Rated: PG-13
Shanghai Knights -- One of the odder movie-buddy pairings returns in this sequel to Shanghai Noon, with Jackie Chan and Owen Wilson again finding themselves together -- this time in jolly old 19th-century England, where Chan's Chon is searching for the killer of his father. The inventive slapstick fight scenes are almost nonstop, except for a couple of vicious segments that prove how bad the bad guys are. Chan plays the voice of reason; Wilson plays the voice that never shuts up. Much goofy fun ensues. (ES) Rated: PG-13
The Two Towers -- This magnificent sequel to last year's magnificent original welcomes back most of the same characters (including a new, improved Gandalf), and features many new ones, with the CGI creation of the hideous and chilling Gollum standing out. This one is darker and more violent than the first, with a more intense and epic approach. (ES) Rated PG-13
Two Weeks Notice -- Hugh Grant plays the sort of charming, shallow cad he's become so adept at, this time as a billionaire who happily lets his lawyer (Sandra Bullock) handle all the troublesome little details, legal or otherwise. Rated: PG-13
& lt;i & Capsule reviews are written by Ed Symkus (ES) and Ray Pride (RP), unless otherwise noted. & lt;/i &
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Publication date: 02/13/03
