Summary
SHOOT 'EM UP. Oh, the plot about babe and politics hardly matters, or even makes sînse. It boils down to this: A crack shot and myst?i y man. "Mr. Smith" (Clive Owen, cool and sardonic), is pursued by hitman Mr. Hertz (Paul Giamatti) and his hundreds of gun-happy assistants. Everybody shoots and gets shot; all except one or two die. Writer-director Michael Davis' comic actioner has its tongue firmly in cheek - this is a hyper-violent, quip-laden cartoon that embraces the genre's conventions as gamely as it rushes to shoot 'em full of holes. So while the exposition feels trite, a mid-air gun battle draws big laughs; the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold (Monica Bellucci) subplot has been done to death, but Davis gets some traction with Mr. Smith's unconventional baby-minding. And that title's no false advertising: This film (oves blasting away, though there's gunless violence as well: two gruesome deaths-by-carrot. (AH) ***
ROCKET SCIENCE. Socially awkward high schooler Hal (Reece Daniel Thompson) is recruited for the debate team by its aggressive star, Ginny (Anna Kendrlck). One big problem: Hal's got a dreadful stutter. Enamored with Glnny, he presses painfully on. Jeffrey Blitz's indie dramedy presents the usual panoply of horrible adolescence - bad parents, bland suburbs, painful romance, nerdy friends, awful siblings - but his bittersweet take feels fresh thanks In part to Thompson's endearing performance as the tormented Hal and the story's slightly absurd vibe. Blitz, whose earlier work was Spellbound, a documentary about nerd-student-performance, fills Rocket Science with great moments that feel both real and off-kilter - a dreadful school counselor, a drunken bike ride and an unattainable slice of pizza. You'll root for Hal - he's a sweet kid undone by naive earnestness - but refreshingly, Blitz doesn't go for any easy inspirational grabs, instead wrapping up with just the tiniest of triumphs. Squirrel Hill (AH) ***PARIS, JE T'AIME. How's this for a French fete: 18 short films by 20 international filmmakers, all set in the City of Lights (and Love, of course), and all together lasting just two hours. That's less than seven minutes per rendezvous - ample time for myriad little epiphanies and amusements. Think of Paris, Je t'aime as a few days in the life of a city that forever pricks the imagination, assembled by some artists who are mostly smart enough not to overreach. Themes emerge - loneliness, cultural misunderstanding, immigrant dreams, the real and the imagined, amour fou - and some recur, like echoes. The best pieces in Paris, ie t'aime ("Paris, I love you") feel particular to both the filmmaker and the city, rather than just to the former. It's all more charming than anything else, and of course, Paris explodes around it. In English and various languages, with subtitles. Through Thu., Sept. 13. Harris (HK) ***See the full content of this document
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New This Week
NEW THIS WEEK
THE BRAVE OHE. (See review.) Starts Frl., Sept. 14.THE BROTHERS SOLOMOH. Two thirtysomething brothers must provide their comatose dad with a grandchild. Since the pair has zero social skills - they were home-schooled in the Arctic, then took jobs In Antarctica, rendering them perpetually dateless - they contract with a surrogate mother. On this flimsy hook director Bob Odenklrk (Let's Go to Prison) hangs enough silly, repetitive and unfunny Jokes to make 90 minutes feel like three hours. We all bumble through dating, diapering and dialysis, while ChI McBride pops in occasionally to deliver the film's requisite f-words for the coveted R-for-raunchy rating. (It's all pretty tame, however.) Will Forte (SAfL) and Will...See the full content of this document
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