Movies in Brief
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS
PG-13, 101 minutes
Nebbishy New Yorkers have Woody Allen, the rapturously forlorn have Wong Kar-wai, but for the voice of the frat-boy experience, look no further than Todd Phillips. His résumé is impeccable: not only the arrested development triumph of “Old School,” but even an actual undercover documentary about hazing (simply titled, to make even Frederick Wiseman proud, “Frat House”).
His latest comedy, “School for Scoundrels,” may belong to a lineage of movies and plays about guys learning how to score that stretches way back, and may technically be a remake of the 1960 British pratfest of the same name. But it’s all frat at heart: Young Roger (Jon Heder) and a bunch of other born losers (Horatio Sanz of “Saturday Night Live” among them) endure relentless denigration at the hands of Mr. P. (Billy Bob Thornton) before they can rise and become ladies’ men themselves.
Mr. P. preaches a ruthlessly unsentimental education, including tenets like “Lie, lie, lie some more” and “Be dangerous; it’s cool” (as well as the slightly ominous “Always get the girl alone”).
It’s overkill for Roger, a meter cop who just needs the courage to ask out his neighbor, Amanda (Jacinda Barrett), a sunny graduate student. But even ineptly executed, the technique works, until his teacher takes an interest in Amanda and in showing Roger up.
Mr. Heder (and the movie) are, indeed, more attractive when a little bit dangerous. The sparring between teacher and student, first on the tennis court and later involving a spray-painted dog, is nice and mean. But Mr. Phillips reins in his comics too early and launches a tedious third act that bands together Roger and his fellow graduates. Mr. Thornton is urbanely controlled to the point of uninterest, which just leaves Mr. Heder, sweet but not so compelling when not animated by the fires of aggressive weirdness.
— Nicolas Rapold
The Sun Recommends
THE ILLUSIONIST
PG-13, 110 minutes
From the moment he arrives in Vienna in 1900, brooding, sly Eisenheim the Illusionist (Edward Norton) establishes himself as a crowd-dazzler. In the words of a fictional critic, his work “transcends mere illusion and approaches the realm of art,” but others, sensing the dark side of his craft, wonder if he has sold his soul. His true rivals — like the ambitious, seemingly unscrupulous Inspector Uhl (Paul Giammati) and the brutish Crown Prince Leopold (Rufus Sewell) — refuse to believe that his stagecraft is anything more than the usual sleight-of-hand.
Tightly written, convincingly acted, and superbly structured, “The Illusionist” is at once an attractive period piece, a probing meditation on truth and illusion, and, by its conclusion, a reminder that the contemporary equivalent to Eisenheim’s astonishments is found in the cinema.
— David Grosz
THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED
NC-17, 95 minutes
With humor and fearless gusto, “This Film Is Not Yet Rated,” the new documentary by Kirby Dick, takes square aim at the surprisingly secretive organization that minds our PGs and Rs. The Motion Picture Association of America may be best known as moderator of the moviegoing public’s intake of sex and violence, but Mr. Dick uncovers an organization rather less savory than its family image.
The film initially concerns itself more with the organization’s questionable practices as ratings arbiter than with its business role, but it ultimately shows how the two are inextricable. It also sets about identifying the mysterious faces of the members on the appeals board of the MPAA.
— Nicolas Rapold
HALF NELSON
R, 106 minutes
The indie drama “Half Nelson” packs a wallop with the year’s best performance so far. Ryan Gosling again showcases his talent for inhabiting characters with his incarnation of Dan, a 20-something Brooklyn schoolteacher, idealist, and drug addict. Instead of a clichéd portrait of torment, we see a young guy buoyed by dreams but slowly, slowly sinking.
The film, which grew out of Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden’s equally impressive 19-minute short, “Gowanus,” is set in the short’s eponymous Brooklyn neighborhood. The fulcrum is the fraught rapport between Dan and one of his middle-school students, Drey (Shareeka Epps). But the movie isn’t some quixotic inner-city schoolhouse schlock, or even chiefly about the pair’s fragile bond. The real lived-in drama occurs outside the classroom and inside Dan.
— Nicolas Rapold
SHERRYBABY
R, 96 minutes
Maggie Gyllenhaal plays the title character, and just like Julia Roberts in “Erin Brockovich,” she sets out on a scantily clad expedition to exceed preconceived notions about herself. But “Sherrybaby” is everything that “Erin Brockovich” was not. Thanks mostly to Ms. Gyllenhaal’s tumultuous performance, it is a much more realistic portrayal of someone struggling against the constraints of low expectation.
An ex-con and former heroin addict, Sherry is determined to straighten out her life. She returns home after three years, expecting to rehabilitate her relationship with her daughter. While it is endearing to watch someone turn her life around for the sake of a child, it is nevertheless difficult to watch someone who, despite a strong desire to do right, just can’t cut it.
— Meghan Keane
JESUS CAMP
PG-13, 86 minutes
Following the work of the children’s preacher Becky Fischer, “Jesus Camp” coolly observes the lives of the combustible kids who attend her “Kids on Fire” Christian camp. Expect discomfort as 10-year-old Tory talks about her unfortunate tendency to dance “from the flesh” rather than from the spirit, and expect to be disturbed as you see children lambasted by adults for being sinners and hypocrites until they burst into tears, fall on the floor, and speak in tongues.
Guaranteed to terrify liberals, “Jesus Camp” shows where the religious right is coming from. They don’t want religion to co-opt political issues; to them, politics is a religious issue. Thank God these evangelists come across as humorless nerds; otherwise all their talk of indoctrinating their children into an army to return America to Christ would be truly scary.
— Grady Hendrix
JACKASS: NUMBER TWO
R, 92 minutes
If your morals and maturity are malleable, or if you’re a fan of Johnny Knoxville and his posse of pain-proof morons, then “Jackass: Number Two” will serve as a blessed distraction from the box office’s more polished, responsible offerings.
The comedic fashion of today is detached irony, smarty-pants sarcasm that comments on society’s folly with aloof reserve. In that light, “Jackass” thunders back onto the scene, a celebration of pain and bodily fluids upending the polite snark wielded by those who try to make us see our world differently. The sheer audacity on display during this movie, which is nothing more than a relentless tidal wave of hand-over-eyes horror, makes one think that if the Academy presented awards for Best Use of Gravity and Best Use of Poisonous Snakes, J2 would sweep.
— John Devore
Also Opening This Weekend
THE GUARDIAN
PG-13, 135 minutes
After losing his crew in a fatal crash, legendary Rescue Swimmer Ben Randall (Kevin Costner) is sent to teach at “A” School, an elite training program for Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. While there, he encounters young, cocky Jake Fischer (Ashton Kutcher), who is driven to be the best. During training, Randall helps mold Jake’s character, combining his raw talent with the heart and dedication required of a Rescue Swimmer. Upon graduation, Jake follows Randall to Kodiak, Alaska, where they face the inherent dangers of the Bering Sea.
OPEN SEASON
PG, 100 minutes
A 900-pound domesticated grizzly bear and a one-horned mule deer end up stranded together in the woods during hunting season and it’s up to the duo to rally all the other forest animals and turn the tables on the hunters.
LOUDQUIETLOUD: A FILM ABOUT THE PIXIES
Unrated, 81 minutes
Quintessential 1990s indie band the Pixies are extensively profiled in this documentary about the difficult, tense, and ultimately triumphant return of one of rock music’s influential bands. The film has caused some controversy due to the band not being entirely happy with the finished results.
BROKEN SKY
Unrated, 140 minutes
Two Mexican men — passionate lovers — find their relationship challenged when each encounters a new man. This mostly silent Mexican movie is an artful look at relationships and sex between men, and is filmed in the breathtaking surroundings of the National Autonomous University in Mexico City.
— Staff Reporter of The Sun