Hey, movie fans! Gabe here, back once again to roast or toast Hollywood’s latest cinema offerings. The Reflector is under new management, but they’ve still got a home for me, it seems.
I’ve had a few weeks off from reviewing, but you don’t think I’ve stopped seeing movies altogether, do you? So I figure, “Why not use this week to play catch-up?” Instead of one review, I’m gonna give you five. Hang on, folks. It’s gonna be a bumpy ride.
Basic
1/2 Star out of 4
John McTiernan (who showed brief signs of life with his snappy 1999 remake of “The Thomas Crown Affair”) continues his downward spiral into celluloid oblivion which bottomed out with last year’s dreadful “Rollerball.” Where “Rollerball” was merely incoherent, “Basic” is sinfully stupid. Little more than a series of escalating red herrings disguised as a military thriller, “Basic” stands as a fetid example of how not to write a screenplay.
The cast is OK (Travolta is as spry an onscreen presence as ever), but not even Brando or Olivier could make this clunker get off the ground. Also, don’t be fooled by Samuel L. Jackson’s above-the-title billing; he’s in the movie for about 15 minutes tops. Save your money. This is one of the year’s worst so far.
The Core
2 1/2 Stars out of 4
Yet another “let’s-save-the-world-from-natural-disaster” flick where brainy experts and brave soldiers band together to preserve the human race in some silly, scientifically impossible way.
“The Core” follows the conventions of its genre closely, but it adds a level of enjoyment by subtly acknowledging and emulating its B-movie ancestors of the ’50s and ’60s. The movie is
playfully self-aware (there’s great hoopla surrounding a mineral compound called …*drumroll* … Unobtanium!), but that doesn’t always save it from missing the mark.
Overall, though, it’s a fun ride, full of brain-dead visual spectacle and measured overacting from its talented cast. Any movie where the fate of Earth rests in the hands of Delroy Lindo and Stanley Tucci is OK in my book.
Head of State
3 Stars out of 4
In the new comedy “Head of State,” America faces the possibility of electing its first African-American president. More importantly, the film sees Chris Rock find the onscreen easiness which has eluded him for years in everything from “Lethal Weapon 4” to “Down to Earth.” Rock is as sharp as ever, and this wacky tale of an earnest D.C. alderman’s rise to political fame is the perfect showcase for his cutting social satire.
“Head of State” is a kitchen-sink affair if there ever was one, and the jokes come fast and furious with targets as diverse as Jay Z and Larry King. Luckily, the film is blessed with an energetic cast (Bernie Mac has a few great moments as Rock’s older brother), and the script is more hit than miss. Not Oscar material, but good fun.
A Man Apart
1 1/2 Stars out of 4
The camera loves Vin Diesel’s charismatic chrome dome, but the brawny star is left with little to do but scowl and grunt as the lead in “A Man Apart,” the dull-as-dirt new actioner from the usually dependable F. Gary Gray (“Set It Off,” ’98s underseen “The Negotiator”).
Diesel and poor Larenz Tate get stranded in a sea of cop movie cliches as partners trying to bring down a mysterious drug lord known as El Diablo. Diesel gives his usual action performance, though this time, he attempts to get darker, furrowing his brow and growing facial hair as he attempts to exact revenge on the men who murdered his wife.
The movie is not that bad; it is simply uninspired and, worse still, unengaging. Wait for this one to hit TBS in a few years when you no longer have any expectations for it.
Phone Booth
3 Stars out of 4
Preposterous, noisy and brief, “Phone Booth” should not be nearly as enjoyable as it is. Director Joel Schumaker takes a vacation from his usual residence in the ninth circle of hell to deliver a taut little thriller that keeps you guessing until the end.
Colin Farell is smashingly good as the smarmy publicist whose life is turned on its ear when he is trapped in a Manhattan phone booth by a seemingly omniscient gunmen on the other end of the line.
The whole thing feels like a modern-day episode of “The Twilight Zone,” with Kiefer Sutherland having a field day as the malevolent force making Farell re-evaluate his lifestyle and decisions.
Though “Phone Booth” shirks reality near its ending and develops into a somewhat overbaked cautionary tale, it remains an entertaining exercise in the realm of paranoid thrillers. Farell alone is worth the price of admission.