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By Inlander Staff


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





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





Chicago -- Torn stockings and heavily mascaraed eyes abound in this tale of two music-hall vixens (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ren & eacute;e Zellweger) vying for public attention in the Windy City. Richard Gere shows that he can sing (and tap dance) as the lawyer out to make a buck defending them from murder charges. Otherwise, it's pretty much two-dimensional characters, awkward editing and some decent, if dated, music. But you should still see it on the big screen for the grand cinematography and stylish set design, which are "razzle-dazzling." (Marty Demarest) Rated: PG-13





Cradle 2 the Grave -- Bearing no small resemblance to the 2000 martial arts thriller Romeo Must Die, Cradle 2 the Grave has the same stars (Jet Li and rapper DMX) and the same director (Andrzek Bartkowiak). But it's not a sequel so much as a companion effort, complete with gang leaders, kidnappers, black diamonds, risky jewel heists and Taiwanese government agents. Rated: R





Daredevil -- Marvel and Fox are positioning Daredevil as a dark, second-level comics hero, hoping to evade comparisons to Spider-Man. With the dozens of Marvel titles in development, they can't all be super-terrific, and Daredevil is like flipping through three or four issues of a comic you don't truly love but kind of enjoy. Ben Affleck acts mostly with his teeth; Jon Favreau is a dull sidekick; Jennifer Garner is a superb action heroine who ought to walk out of this movie and into her own; and Colin Farrell is the loosest of loose cannons as Daredevil's arch-nemesis Bullseye. (RP) Rated: PG-13





Dark Blue -- For those who've seen Training Day, Dark Blue may seem too familiar. Drawn from a short story by the astringent poet of dark-dark L.A., James Ellroy, Ron Shelton's film offers juicy bits for Kurt Russell as a do-it-at-all-costs older cop and Scott Speedwell as his pup of a protege. What sets the film apart is its setting against the backdrop of the days leading up to the 1992 riots that followed the acquittal of the four LAPD officers who beat up Rodney King. (RP) Rated: R





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





Gods and Generals -- Nearly four hours long, this sanitized Civil War drama feels like a mini-series transported to the big screen. Factual details abound, but in terms of moviemaking, the film fails. The men are cardboard figures, and the women, while given decent amounts of screen time, have even thinner roles. Even casting good actors like Robert Duvall and Stephen Lang doesn't help. (Marty Demarest) Rated: PG-13





The Guru -- Ramu (Jimi Mistry) is a dance teacher with all sorts of snaky moves and limitless optimism. Thinking America might be a good place to cash in on his talent, Ramu comes to New York, where his dreams are quickly shattered by his eight or so Indian roommates, who tell him the only Indian to make it big in American show business is that "guy from the Simpsons." But before Ramu has to join Apu at the Kwik-E-Mart, he caters a birthday party for a socialite (Marisa Tomei), somehow gets mistaken for a guru and is suddenly on the talk show circuit publicizing his new enlightenment-through-sex philosophies. 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. (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 unpredictability of love. (RP) Rated: PG-13





Jungle Book 2 -- Catching up with the 1967 original right where we left it, Mowgli (Haley Joel Osment) is bored in his new village -- in spite of every bare necessity being taken care of, including a cute girlfriend, Shanti. He ventures off to see how the jungle is doing without him, and finds that the villainous Shere Khan has been eagerly awaiting his return. Rated: G





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 Life Of David Gale -- The title has an authentic ring, but this is a fictional tale of philosophy professor David Gale (Kevin Spacey), a man staunchly against the death penalty who suddenly finds himself arrested, accused of murder and sitting on death row. Spacey nails the part, as does Laura Linney, as his co-crusader. Director Alan Parker, a master of issue films, has put together a solid one, wisely leaving questions without answers for the viewer to haggle over. (ES) Rated R





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





Old School -- A genuinely funny and sometimes sweet gross-out comedy from the director of Road Trip, Old School is the unlikely tale of three overgrown juveniles who establish a frat house in order to make it with coeds; the results are far from sleazy. With a restrained Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn, Luke Wilson, Juliette Lewis and Jeremy Piven as a randy dean. (RP) Rated: R





The Pianist -- Adrien Brody gets his juiciest role to date as the real-life Wladyslaw Szpilman, the Polish concert pianist whose life was shattered, along with the rest of the Jewish population, during the Nazi invasion of his country. But he survived -- by cunning and dumb luck -- although his ordeal reduced him to a starving, wide-eyed animal. Roman Polanski's direction is sure and steady. The film's production design is as stunning as Brody's performance. (ES) Rated R





The Quiet American -- The Graham Greene novel, first filmed in 1958, gets upgraded in every way in this version with Brendan Fraser and Michael Caine. Set in early '50s Vietnam, while France was still involved and America wasn't, it's the story is of a jaded journalist (Caine) and an ambitious American aid worker (Fraser) and the woman they both want. But it's also about the quickly changing political climate. An excellent, riveting film. (ES) Rated: R





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. (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. (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. (ES) 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: 03/06/03