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Cast Away

Not many actors could pull off a virtual one-man show, spending most of a movie stranded on an island with no human companions. Tom Hanks isn't just any actor, though, and he proves again why he's amassing an Oscar collection. If only the rest of this tedious, poorly structured film lived up to its star's talents. "Cast Away" is riddled with plot holes and drags on and on (and on), until finally lurching to a deeply unsatisfying conclusion. Poor Robert Zemeckis (who also directed Hanks in "Forrest Gump") wants to be profound and inspiring, but he just doesn't have it in him. (PG-13) -- LL

** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Chocolat

The latest flick from director Lasse Hallstrom is as light and charming as his "The Cider House Rules" was somber. A stiff, fussy French community is turned upside down when a single mother (Juliette Binoche, "The English Patient") opens up a chocolate shop in the middle of Lent. Her treats have an oddly medicinal quality that makes some locals addicts and the mayor (Alfred Molina) an enemy. While the supporting cast is splendid, Binoche's delightfully low-key performance anchors the flick. The endearing characters and the director's storybook tone make for some tasty (if fattening) cinema. (PG-13) -- DL

*** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

In the hands of director Ang Lee ("Ride with the Devil"), the fight between two warriors (Chow Yun-Fat and Michelle Yeoh) and two bandits (Chen Pei-Pei and Zhang Ziyi) for ownership of a 400-year-old sword becomes as urgent as a Biblical prophecy come true. While Lee is known for more introspective fare such as "The Ice Storm" and "Sense and Sensibility," "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" is loaded with eye-popping hand-to-hand battle scenes. It also contains many of the low-key dramatic touches that marked Lee's earlier films. For example, the actors make statements that are at odds with what their faces are telling the camera. Because of the care and detail devoted to each frame, "Crouching Tiger" is one of those rare films where the spectacle never comes at the expense of the story. As with the fabled sword itself, the elements combine into a lethally potent alloy. (PG-13) -- LL

**** Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.



Down to Earth

The words "Chris Rock" and "bland" aren't normally used in the same sentence -- Rock's comedy has always been famously provocative. So how did he end up in this toothless fantasy? Rock plays a stand-up comic who dies before his time and is sent back to Earth in the body of a millionaire. If this plot sounds familiar, that's because it's a remake of the 1978 film "Heaven Can Wait," which was itself a remake of the 1941 film "Here Comes Mr. Jordan." The lack of originality doesn't end with the storyline, either. Rock's material here is often funny, but it's also recycled from his other work, only without the edge. The result is inoffensive and rather dull, two things Chris Rock should never be. (PG-13) -- LL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Finding Forrester

"Finding Forrester" incorporates large portions of "Scent of a Woman and "Good Will Hunting." Fortunately, director Gus Van Sant, who helmed the latter imbues the new film with just enough stylish touches to keep it from feeling stale or rote. Rob Brown, in a solid debut, plays a bright teenager from the Bronx who gets lessons on writing and living from a J.D. Salinger-like novelist (Sean Connery). The two leads play off each other beautifully, and Van Sant's low-key approach keeps the familiar story from feeling mundane. (PG-13) -- DL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Hannibal

Hannibal the Cannibal is back in business, this time with Ridley Scott taking over directing duties from "The Silence of the Lambs" helmer Jonathan Demme, and Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster as FBI Agent Clarice Starling. In fact, the only person returning from the original is Anthony Hopkins, who inhabits Dr. Lecter with the same sophisticated cruelty as before. "Hannibal" never really feels like a continuation of its predecessor -- Scott's style is completely different, and the 10-year gap between stories leaves too many holes in the characters' motivations. On its own terms, however, this is a dark, often gruesomely funny film with its own distinct sensibilities. (R) -- LL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Monkeybone

Filmmaker Henry Selick needs to attach himself to Tim Burton permanently. When the two team up, they create movies like "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant Peach," which combine Selick's imaginative stop-motion animation with Burton's out-there humor. On his own, though, Selick can only come up with "Monkeybone," a painfully stupid ordeal in which Brendan Fraser plays a comatose cartoonist whose creation takes over his body, leaving him stuck in the Land of Nightmares. Everyone in the film is talented, but they either look bored or are forced to humiliate themselves in ways that would end the careers of lesser performers. "Monkeybone" may have great visuals, but it has no brain, which leaves the audience in a nightmare world of its own. (PG-13) -- LL

* 1/2 Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

O Brother, Where Art Thou?

The eccentric Coen brothers combine Greek mythology and the legends of the American South in this somewhat disappointing comedy featuring George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson as a trio of escaped convicts who inadvertently gain fame as a singing group. If the movie's narrative (taken from Homer's "The Odyssey") loses steam at points, the Coen's give Clooney his juiciest role to date (as a hair-obsessed con man). Thanks to some gorgeous imagery, courtesy of cinematographer Roger Deakins and digital tweaking, and a great folk music soundtrack, "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" is a decent question to ask even if the answer disappoints. (PG-13) -- DL

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Quills

The Marquis de Sade is the kind of elusive, controversial figure that seems to fascinate artists, and he clearly has a hold on director Philip Kaufman and screenwriter Doug Wright. Their adaptation of Wright's play, which fictionalizes the last few years of Sade's life, is an often witty, sometimes horrifying look at a man who was either completely insane or a misunderstood genius -- or both. Geoffrey Rush plays Sade with fearless abandon, and his interaction with co-stars Kate Winslet and Joaquin Phoenix is fascinating. "Quills" ends in an abrupt, heavy-handed fashion which is at odds with the rest of the film's more thoughtful approach. Luckily, that isn't enough to ruin it. (R) -- LL

*** Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

Recess: School's Out

Watching this big-screen adaptation of the television cartoon "Disney's Recess" is about like having recess on a rainy day. It sure beats hitting the books, but it's not quite as fun as it could be. "Recess: School's Out" deals with what happens when the school that T.J. Detweiler (voiced by Andrew Lawrence) attends has been taken over by a crazed former principal (a suitably typecast James Woods). Kids who are about the same age as the characters in the flick (roughly around 10) should find the film to be a pleasant diversion. Others might wish that school was back in session. (G) -- DL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Save the Last Dance

Mix "Flashdance" with "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" and throw in a hip-hop soundtrack, and you've got the formula for this sporadically interesting MTV Films production. Julia Stiles is the white suburban ballet dancer who ends up in inner-city Chicago after her mother's death; Sean Patrick Thomas is the black honor student who teaches her some new moves, and falls in love with her in the process. It's got the requisite earnest melodrama and overlong musical interludes. It also has appealing stars, a passable script and a refreshingly matter-of-fact attitude toward interracial romance. Not bad for the company that gave the world "Dead Man On Campus." (PG-13) -- LL

** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Saving Silverman

Director Dennis Dugan ("Big Daddy") pushes the limits of his PG-13 rating, but "Saving Silverman" offers only intermittent pleasures to accompany the continuous guilt. When an amiable fellow (Jason Biggs from "American Pie") becomes engaged to a mean-spirited control freak (Amanda Peet), his childhood, Neil Diamond-obsessed buddies (Steve Zahn and Jack Black) attempt to prevent the match by kidnapping her and hooking him up with his high school crush (Amanda Detmer). The only problem is she's about to become a nun. The gags are consistently crude (R. Lee Ermey from "Full Metal Jacket" finds a unique use for junk mail), but there's a redundancy that mutes the fun. Fortunately, Zahn and Black are a riot together. And even though Diamond's acting hasn't improved since "The Jazz Singer," he's at least in on the joke. (PG-13) -- DL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Snatch

Just like his new bride Madonna, filmmaker Guy Ritchie is a master of style over substance. With "Snatch," Ritchie continues his tour of London's East End underworld with even more technical panache than in his breakthrough debut, "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels." Sure, there are few deep, meaningful themes in these movies, but Ritchie's command of the medium is so skillful, his criminals so memorable and his writing so sharp that it makes up for the difference. With a plot too complicated to encapsulate, "Snatch" features dozens of colorful characters, including Brad Pitt as a bare-knuckle boxing gypsy, Benicio Del Toro as a gambling jewel thief and Vinnie Jones as a verbose gun-for-hire. Though extremely reminiscent of "Lock, Stock," and completely devoid of female personas (thankfully, Madonna is among them), "Snatch" is so visually inventive and relentlessly entertaining that any criticism rings as hollow as the spent bullet shell casings that litter Ritchie's violent landscape. (R) -- JN

*** 1/2 Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

Sweet November

Love. Laughter. Beautiful people suffering. Sobs and sniffles from the audience. Yes, folks, it's another "chick movie." This one has Keanu Reeves and Charlize Theron making a truly bizarre arrangement -- he'll move in with her for one month, during which time she'll transform him from a selfish workaholic into a sensitive guy who appreciates life. Of course, they fall for each other in the process, and there's tragedy looming on the horizon. Could this have been a decent movie? Possibly, if it had been played for laughs, or if the filmmakers had bothered to write interesting characters. It wasn't, and they didn't, so it just ends up being shallow and manipulative. (PG-13) -- LL

* 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Thirteen Days

The Cold War threatened to go supernova during the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, and the taut docudrama "Thirteen Days" examines this event from an insider's view. Kenny O'Donnell (Kevin Costner) serves as a presidential assistant in the Kennedy White House. While his character is important because it lets the audience in on the maneuverings behind the scenes, Costner's Mahs-ah-chu-zetts accent is hilariously distracting, sounding more like Mayor Quimby from "The Simpsons." Luckily, Bruce Greenwood ("Double Jeopardy") radiates a stunning confidence as JFK. The filmmakers handle this 40-year-old situation through a seamless method of restaging real events and manufacturing assumed clashes, which slickly disguise the fact that the movie is just a succession of conversations between middle-aged white men. But when every conversation holds the fate of the world in the balance, it's hard not to pay attention. (PG-13) -- JN

*** Plaza Six, 2339 Iowa.

3000 Miles to Graceland

Why huge computer-generated scorpions battle each other during the opening credits is only one of many questions an audience is left asking after enduring this unpleasant tale of the multiple betrayals that hound a group of ex-cons (led by Kurt Russell and Kevin Costner) after they rob a Vegas casino dressed as Elvis impersonators. Former music video director Demian Lichtenstein force feeds "3000 Miles to Graceland" with time-lapse photography, jittery edits and a blaring soundtrack. It all reeks of "Natural Born Killers," and is just as headache-inducing and insufferably long. But the film's real sin is the lack of discretion in its portrayal of violence and the consequences that should result from such actions. This movie features two irresponsibly gratuitous scenes that belong more in a sequel to Schwarzenegger's "Commando" than in a supposedly sassy heist flick. And after about 30 cops and bystanders are gunned down during the intro bloodbath, only two marshals are given the job of pursuing the murderers. Huh? (R) -- JN

* Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Traffic

This seems to be the year of great movies about drugs. On the heels of the harrowing "Requiem for a Dream" comes this very different -- but equally compelling -- look at the issues surrounding the drug war. Director/cinematographer Steven Soderbergh ("Erin Brockovich") takes a clear-eyed approach to the subject, weaving together four complicated stories while giving each a distinctive look and feel. The cast, which includes Michael Douglas, Benicio Del Toro and Catherine Zeta-Jones, is typically eclectic and served well by Soderbergh's confident direction and Stephen Gaghan's heavily-researched script. This is that rare film that will inspire deep conversations on the way home from the theater. (R) -- LL

*** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

The Wedding Planner

Jennifer Lopez stars as Mary, a career-minded wedding planner who is thrown into the arms of a charismatic pediatrician (Matthew McConaughey) after a traffic mishap -- until she discovers he is the groom-to-be of a client whose upcoming wedding is her most profitable account. Video choreographer Adam Shankman makes his directing debut with "The Wedding Planner" and shows a real eye for staging, especially during an opening scene orchestrated in one elaborate, unbroken shot. The director is also skilled at handling his leads, allowing McConaughey's Texas charm to flow comfortably and Lopez to slip into the central role with the same ease that a pre-"Brockovich" Julia Roberts might have. Unfortunately, the film's peripheral characters are less interesting, and in the case of a surprise Italian suitor (Justin Chambers), downright incomprehensible. But for the most part this frivolous comedy succeeds because of a tone as light as wedding cake frosting and lead performances as poised as the bride and groom at the top of the cake. (PG-13) -- JN

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

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