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Movies & TV

Video & DVD

Rating: NNNNN


New releasesNew releases

the caveman’s valentine (2001, MCA), dir. Kasi Lemmons w/ Samuel L. Jackson, Aunjanue Ellis. A homeless man (Jackson) living in Central Park investigates the murder of a street hustler. The idea of a slightly delusional man becoming a sleuth is interesting but implausible. Lemmons, who made the memorable debut feature Eve’s Bayou, is comfortable with the mystery angle but struggles to lend Jackson’s character credibility. NN

Big-screen rating: An interesting enough failure to warrant a recommendation. NNN (JH)

the family man (2000, Universal), dir. Brett Ratner w/ Nicolas Cage, Téa Leoni. Cage stars as a high-level executive who magically gets to see what his life would have been like if he’d had a wife (Leoni) and kids. This feel-good drama takes a safe and very Hollywood view of marriage — problems are solved easily, with a catchy pop soundtrack playing in the background. Besides, Cage is just too weird to play a normal guy. NN

Big-screen rating: NN (IR)

the gift (2001, Paramount), dir. Sam Raimi w/ Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves. A single mom and psychic (Blanchett) helps the police convict a killer (Reeves), but then her dreams tell her it may have been the wrong man. Aussie actor Blanchett immerses herself in the role of a poor southerner. She’s the best thing in a so-so thriller that plays like white-trash Agatha Christie. Reeves is perfectly cast as the brooding, monosyllabic bad guy, and Giovanni Ribisi almost steals the show as Blanchett’s mentally challenged guardian angel. NN

Big-screen rating: It’s fun to watch the defiantly non-southern cast swan around like characters in a bad Faulkner adaptation. NNN (JH)

saving silverman (2001, Columbia), dir. Dennis Dugan w/ Jason Biggs, Steve Zahn. When Biggs becomes engaged to the girlfriend from hell (Amanda Peet), his loser best friends — Zahn and Jack Black — kidnap her. If Zahn and Black, two of today’s funniest movie goofs, can’t save a low-brow comedy, you’re in deep trouble. Opportunities were missed, and this uninspired buddy comedy should have been so much better. NN

Big-screen rating: All the laughs are in the trailer and the script is criminally uninspired. NN (KL)

Also this weekAlso this week

Double Take

Mimic 2

Sugar & Spice

UpcomingUpcoming

July 24

In The Mood For Love, Pollock, Sweet November, Valentine

July 31

The Brothers, Deeply, Head Over Heels, Possible Worlds

DVD pick of the weekDVD pick of the week

cutter’s way (1981, MGM/UA), dir. Ivan Passer w/ Jeff Bridges, John Heard. One of Hollywood’s last great downbeat dramas, Cutter’s Way capped the era of post-Watergate cynicism. It also brought together two of the best film actors of their generation. Jeff Bridges plays a drifter framed for murder. John Heard is his friend Cutter, an avenging vet who left an eye and arm back in Vietnam. Cutter’s Way starts like a murder mystery but plays like a character piece. Czech New Wave director Passer gives his actors room to fill out their characters. Bridges didn’t get a role this good again until The Fabulous Baker Boys. Extras: thin on goodies, just the original trailer plus optional audio and subtitles in French and Spanish. 105 minutes. NNNN

CAMERON BAILEY

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