Reel good time at the movies
JAKARTA (JP): And a child shall lead them: Whether in mediating the afterlife and the living, or teaching some immature adults a thing or two about responsibility. Here is the lineup of movies currently playing at local cinemas, with reviews and grades by screenwriter Rayya Makarim (RM) and film reviewer Tam Notosusanto (TN).
Big Daddy. Comedy; starring Adam Sandler, Joey Lauren Adams, Jon Stewart, Cole and Dylan Sprouse and Steve Buscemi. Directed by Dennis Dugan.
Sandler's routine of crassness and imbecility continues: Now he demonstrates how he can pollute a little kid with all his boorish shenanigans. From letting the tyke urinate anywhere he likes to showing him how to injure other people, this film is practically Sandler's very own Misbehaving 101. What's most horrifying, the local censor board has labeled it a movie for all ages. (Graded D by TN).
Lake Placid; Comedy-thriller; starring Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda, Oliver Platt, Brendan Gleeson and Betty White. Directed by Steve Miner.
It may seem like yet another addition to those man versus giant reptiles flicks, but this movie's focus is mostly on the people: Two big-city scientists (Fonda and Platt) and two local authorities (Pullman and Gleeson). They bicker, interact and fight among each other while collaborating to capture the creature. You get your share of grisly images of humans falling prey to the beast, but it's the offbeat comedic style of Emmy- winning writer/producer David E. Kelley (Picket Fences, Ally McBeal) that dominates. (Graded B by TN).
Runaway Bride; Romantic comedy; starring Julia Roberts, Richard Gere, Joan Cusack, Christopher Meloni and Hector Elizondo. Directed by Garry Marshall.
USA Today columnist Ike Graham (Gere) does a last-minute story on Maggie Carpenter (Roberts), a small-town woman who has the habit of dumping men at the altar. Ike gets fired and seeks vindication by getting up-close-and-personal with the "man devourer" herself. It's always great to see beautiful and well- liked people on the screen. A fun film with "quirky, weird and mysterious" characters. (Graded B+ by RM).
The Sixth Sense; Psychological drama; starring Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Haley Joel Osment, Olivia Williams and Donnie Wahlberg. Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
Child shrink Willis must get inside the mind of a troubled young boy who sees dead people walking around him. It's a moving human drama about relationships and the fragility of life, disguised as a mild ghost story.
It doesn't matter that Willis underperforms, because Osment, as the boy, steals all the scenes he is in with his staggering portrayal of a reluctant psychic. Look for the unrecognizable former New Kid on the Block Wahlberg in a chilling brief turn. (Graded A- by TN).
Wild Wild West; Sci-fi adventure; starring Will Smith, Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek and Kenneth Branagh. Directed by Barry Sonnenfeld.
It's Smith's fourth outing as a summer blockbuster hero, this time playing a 19th century government agent in pursuit of an evil genius in this big-screen version of the popular 1960s television series. Kline undertakes the dual roles of United States president Ulysses S. Grant and Smith's sidekick, a gadget wizard who is also a master of disguise, while Branagh vociferates in his faux Southern accent as the legless villain.
The film is a dazzling special-effects exhibition marred only by flat jokes and uninspired one-liners. (Graded B- by TN).