Also this issue: Pros Poem Old hands Johnny Hallyday and Jean Rochefort make beautiful music together. -Sam Adams Family Natters A nebbish-out-of-water classic gets hit with the useless remake stick. -Ryan Godfrey Screen Picks -Sam Adams Continuing Shorts Repertory Film Showtimes

May 22-28, 2003

movie shorts

New Shorts

BLUE CAR

Karen Moncrieff’s writing-directing debut uses familiarity as a lure, baiting the audience with what seems to be a simple, even trite story about a young girl (Agnes Bruckner) discovering her gift for poetry before sliding into a more complicated, and more difficult to execute, tale. Though Blue Car is hardly a thriller, Moncrieff develops her story gradually enough that giving too much away feels like a spoiler, but suffice it to say that the film turns traditional cinematic teacher-student relations upside-down, and its lessons are hard-earned and not those you expect. David Strathairn, elevated beyond his usual second-banana status, creates a man whose absent conscience renders him dangerous without being precisely evil. Moncrieff’s too-pat ending almost undoes what’s come before, but the complexity of Strathairn’s peformance keeps tidiness at bay.--Sam Adams (Ritz at the Bourse; Ritz 16)

BRUCE ALMIGHTY

Jim Carrey needs a vacation from himself. In this latest movie with director Tom Shadyac (Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Liar Liar), he’s Bruce, a self-centered Buffalo TV reporter with a perfect girlfriend (Jennifer Aniston), a knack for "human interest" stories and a slumping career. Ignoring the girl, he blames his professional misery on God’s oversight, feeling particularly tired of having to be the funny guy on the broadcast. The last time Carrey grappled with this problem, he made the treacly The Majestic. This time, he combines rubberman antics, schmaltzy revelations, and lots of self-love in a plot that’s one idea stretched past breaking: God (Morgan Freeman) grants Bruce godly powers, leading to a pile-on of cute tunes ("The Power," "If I Ruled the World," "God Gave Me Everything"), bad behavior and a silly moral lesson in the end. Steve Carell makes the most of his indignities as Bruce’s rival at work, but as his boss, Philip Baker Hall just looks adrift. Aniston looks like she’s in another movie entirely, which may be a cagey survival strategy. It’s hard to tell.--Cindy Fuchs (AMC Orleans; Bridge; Ritz 16; UA 69th St.; UA Cheltenham; UA Grant; UA Main St.; UA Riverview.)

THE IN-LAWS

See Ryan Godfrey’s review (AMC Orleans; UA Grant; UA Riverview; Roxy)

THE MAN ON THE TRAIN

See Sam Adams’ review (Ritz Five; Ritz 16)

MANIC

Joseph Gordon-Levitt adds to the innumerable cinematic tally of those who have flown over the cuckoo’s nest in Jordan Melamed’s debut film. As Lyle, Gordon-Levitt’s got a not-at-all-Sandleresque anger management problem, having nearly killed a fellow high school student with a baseball bat, and he’s been sent to the juvie wing of a mental hospital to sort out his rage. Melamed shoots the tedium and outbursts of Manic Dogme-style, in jittery, high-contrast DV, a technique which feels dated (the film debuted at Sundance two years ago), but which manages to convey an empathy with the illness, along with a certain amount of seasickness. Actors love to surf the emotional crests and troughs of Crazy Beach, and the cast, including the always-great Zooey Deschanel as a troubled teen and Don Cheadle as the patients’ supervising counselor, is strong. The taut, measured Lyle is a surprising turn for Gordon-Levitt, who’s best known as the kid from TV’s Third Rock from the Sun. You don’t expect serious acting chops from French Stewart’s erstwhile sidekick, but he’s got them. The film makes the sobering and worthwhile point that there are no quick fixes to lives destabilized by abuse, but still, we’ve been down this padded hallway a few too many times. --Ryan Godfrey (Ritz Five)