Roberts' movie shines at local cinemas

Roberts' movie shines at local cinemas

JAKARTA (JP): A young innocent tries to experience life
outside the walls of his orphanage, while an unlikely legal
crusader storms through legal bureaucracies and snobbish lawyers.
The following reviews and grades are by Oren Murphy (OM) and Tam
Notosusanto (TN).

The Bachelor. Romantic comedy, 101 minutes; starring Chris
O'Donnell, Renee Zellweger, James Cromwell, Artie Lange, and
Brooke Shields. Directed by Gary Sinyor.

Jimmie Shannon (O'Donnell) has 24 hours to get married or lose
his US$100 million inheritance. He botched the job with the woman
he loves (Zellweger) and so desperately searches for an
alternative. The film heaps cliche upon stereotype about what men
are like (mustangs ever looking for a new "succulent patch of
grass") and what women are like (looking for romance and
marriage). Flat acting, dumb script and an utterly predictable
ending are just a few reasons not to see this film. Graded C-
(OM)

The Cider House Rules. Drama, 125 minutes; starring Tobey
Maguire, Charlize Theron, Delroy Lindo, Paul Rudd, Jane Alexander
and Michael Caine. Directed by Lasse Hallstrom.

Young Homer Wells (Maguire) wants to leave the New England
orphanage where he has been living all his life to get a little
taste of the world. His mentor and father figure, Dr. Larch
(Caine), tries to keep him from going. This coming-of-age drama
from best-selling novelist John Irving moves too slowly to get to
its point. And the only performances that leave an impression are
from the children who play the bit parts as the orphans. Graded
B- (TN)

The End of the Affair. Drama, 109 minutes; starring Ralph
Fiennes, Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea and Ian Hart. Written and
directed by Neil Jordan.

Fiennes plays an author in wartime England who romances the
wife (Moore) of his good friend (Rea). Jordan adapted Graham
Greene's autobiographical book into this exquisite motion
picture, filled with passion, humor and a little bit of mystery
that drives the plot through. Moore is outstanding as the
tortured lady, in a performance that received an Oscar nomination
for Best Actress. Graded B+ (TN)

Erin Brockovich. Legal drama, 130 minutes; starring Julia
Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart, Marg Helgenberger and
Peter Coyote. Directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Erin (Roberts) is a divorced mother of three with a bad temper
and a bad taste in clothing. But at a small law firm where she
works as a filing clerk, she discovers evidence of a giant
electric and gas company polluting the water of a small
neighboring town and covering it up. With the obstinate
persistence that amazes his employer (Finney) and other seasoned
attorneys, Erin manages to motivate the town's people to file a
huge lawsuit against the company. This factual story comes alive
in the hands of indie filmmaker Soderbergh, who proves to be
equally able tackling mainstream. And never before has Roberts
shown a performance this dynamic and captivating. Graded A- (TN)

Romeo Must Die. Action, 115 minutes; starring Jet Li, Aaliyah,
Isaiah Washington, Russell Wong and Delroy Lindo. Directed by
Andrzej Bartkowiak.

No, this is not the latest adaptation of the Shakespeare
tragedy, although the story has two warring families and two
youngsters from each clan who seem to be smitten by each other.
That's as far as they would go, because this movie is mainly a
showcase for Li's martial arts talent in his first English-
speaking starring role, not for him as a romantic leading man.

Nonetheless, the movie has great, elaborately choreographed
fight scenes. And the suspenseful, at times humorous script makes
it the more enjoyable. Graded B (TN)

The Story of Us. Drama, 94 minutes; starring Bruce Willis,
Michelle Pfeiffer, Tim Matheson, Rita Wilson and Rob Reiner.
Directed by Rob Reiner.

Ten years after When Harry Met Sally ..., Reiner gives us this
bleaker glimpse of a relationship, which shows a marriage
breaking off at the seams. Apparently inspired by Ingmar
Bergman's Scenes of a Marriage, the movie is never even half as
intelligent or insightful. Rather, it teaches us that an
inappropriate happy ending could really ruin an already
problematic film. And with his real-life break-up with Demi,
you'd think Bruce could get some real juice into his acting here.
What high hopes we have. Graded C (TN)

The Whole Nine Yards. Comedy, 98 minutes; starring Bruce
Willis, Matthew Perry, Natasha Henstridge, Michael Clarke Duncan
and Rosanna Arquette. Directed by Jonathan Lynn.

Analyze This begets a copycat with this story of a Canadian
dentist (Perry) who gets all jittery when he realizes his new
next-door neighbor (Willis) is a mob contract killer hiding from
his former employers. The strange script, wooden acting and
Perry's overblown shtick makes this movie a sore. But Arquette
shows off a hilarious Quebecois accent as Perry's gold-digging
wife. Graded C (TN)