Review: The Tree of Life

Review: The Tree of Life

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 85%

Audience: 65%

There are so many aspects of this film that would tend to make me enjoy it: beautiful photography; images of interstellar space; Brad Pitt; Sean Penn; good acting all around; an accurate depiction of the 1950s, especially 1950s fathers and mothers; complex sibling relationships; and a distinctly Christian subtext. But I was bored by the whole thing and found it annoyingly pretentious--and I loved Terrence Malick's film Days of Heaven. I wanted to say, "Yes, growing up in the 50s sometimes sucked, but, accept it, get over it, and get on with your life." The whole film seemed an intense exercise in navel-gnawing of the worst kind. Nevertheless, plenty of people seem to have liked this film, so perhaps you should make up your mind yourself if you're so inclined. But don't blame me if you don't like it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - Part 2

Review: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows-Part 2

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

Audience: 93%

The long anticipated last installment of the Harry Potter films rolled into theaters yesterday. I feared that my expectations were too high and that I would inevitably be disappointed. I wasn't. The film is deeply satisfying, just as the final book was -- albeit with many of the subplots missing or glossed over. There's just no way to cram a 700+ page novel into two feature-length movies. Daniel Radcliffe (Harry), Hermione Granger (Emma Watson), and Ron Weasley (Rupert Grint) have grown nicely into their roles and remain the embodiment of Rowling's imagined characters until the end.

Hermione and Ron's kiss, however, is far superior that of Harry and Ginny (Bonnie Wright) who should have practiced a bit more. Almost every character reappears in this final film for at least a few seconds. Much has made about the significant representation of scene-chewing English luminaries of stage and screen in these movies. The outstanding performances in this film come from Alan Rickman (Severus Snape), Maggie Smith (Minerva McGonagall), Ralph Fiennes (Voldemort), and Michael Gambon (Albus Dumbledore).

Throughout the audience, I noticed teenagers sitting with their grandparents, the very same situation Max and I were in. I wondered if they, too, had read the books together. We started when Max was seven and ended when he was eleven -- both of us rereading the books by ourselves. It was bittersweet and lovely to watch the story end. Thank you, J.K. Rowling, for creating Harry Potter's world and bringing delight to so many children and adults.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Win Win

Review: Win Win

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Audience: 90%

Paul Giamatti can do no wrong – at least not while he’s acting in movies. In the last few months, I have seen him deliver flawless performances as Mike Flaherty, the fallible “hero” of Win Win; as Barney Panofsky, an irascible man and the subject of Barney’s Version; and as a nuanced Ben Bernanke in HBO’s Too Big To Fail, the story of the 2008 near worldwide economic collapse. Giamatti is a treasure; in Win Win he portrays an ordinary man, a lawyer and wrestling coach, trapped in the recession, making immoral and amoral decisions that help dig his hole a little deeper. Giamatti’s skill in playing this character is that we can watch him do it, disapprove of Flaherty, and still care about him, hoping he’ll dig himself out. As his wife, Amy Ryan is the Rock of Gibraltar with a strong moral compass. Unbeknownst to her, Flaherty is making an extra $1,500 a month by becoming the legal guardian of Leo, a man with dementia played by Paul Young. Out of nowhere, Leo’s grandson Kyle appears (played by Alex Shaffer in his first role), a wrestling phenomenon. There are fine performances all around in this independent film about ordinary people trying to do the right thing.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Of Gods and Men

Review: Des hommes et des dieux (Of Gods and Men)

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Audience: 79%

How often do you see a film about religion that isn't sappy or sentimental or overwrought in some way? Well, this one fits that bill. I can't say enough good things about this movie. In fact--full disclosure--I've already preached a sermon about it. It's wonderful. Difficult to watch, but wonderful.

The film tells the story of nine Trappist monks living in Algeria during the civil war of the mid-90s--a time when all foreigners, and especially Christians, were in danger of being killed by fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. These nine men must decide whether to stay -- and almost certainly die -- or go home to the safety of France. The movie depicts their individual struggles with the decision each must make. As viewers, at first we can't believe anyone would decide to stay. By the end of the film, we understand why these men remain -- in faith, in community, and in solidarity with the Islamic people they love who live near their monastery.

The film won second prize at Cannes in 2010, but, for some reason, was completely overlooked as a nominee for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Source Code

Review: Source Code

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Audience: 82%

A fast-paced thriller with a heart, Source Code manages to deliver a "what if" message that challenges and entertains us at the same time. The movie is tight (93 minutes) and well-paced -- and it doesn't hurt that Chicago looks summertime-good in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal (Captain Colter Stevens) has been tasked with returning over and over again to a critical 8-minute period of time in which he does everything he can to avert a major disaster. It's Groundhog Day meets every "Will-the-bomb-blow-up?" movie you've ever seen. Excellent performances by Gyllenhaal, Michell Monaghan --as the girl he wants to save -- and Vera Farmiga -- as his "control" who knows a lot more than he does. One of the best movies of the year so far.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Water for Elephants

Review: Water for Elephants

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Audience: 78%

A true waste of time. A mess of a movie. And I've never read the book, so I'm not making an unfair comparison. A preposterous plot with holes you could lead an elephant through. Stereotypical characters overdrawn and overwrought. Christopher Waltz, who was so brilliant in The Inglorious Basterds, seems to have taken a course from the Ricardo Montalban School of Overacting. His bombastic posturing and swaggering can only be the result of very poor direction by Francis Lawrence -- which is very much in evidence in every scene in this film. Reese Witherspoon does manage to stay on an even keel and delivers a competent performance, all the while remaining luminously beautiful. But only Rosie the Elephant, played by Tai, gives a performance worthy of any kind of award. Robert Pattinson is the big problem. He generates no heat and even less emotion-- with a resulting complete lack of chemistry between him and Witherspoon. The story is on a road to nowhere. Watch it on cable if you have to, but my advice is to skip it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Bridesmaids

Review: Bridesmaids

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience: 88%

Here's another movie that critics and viewers loved -- about which I am not quite as excited. I will be the first to admit that there were some very funny moments. Also, it's not just another gross-out comedy; it explores women's friendships and how they endure and triumph over some seemingly unforgivable behavior. This movie just crossed the line into tasteless comedy a few too many times for me. Maybe I need to see it a second time. People keep telling me I need to see Hangover again, insisting it will be funnier the second time around. If you liked Hangover, you'll probably enjoy this movie. And, I will say that Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, and, especially, Melissa McCarthy are excellent comedians.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: X-Men: First Class

Review: X-Men: First Class

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

Audience: 88%

Not having written a review since Feb. 2, I think it's about time that I caught up. My excuse is that I've been working three jobs. I did not, however, use that as an excuse to stop attending movies. I have twelve to review.

I'm starting with the most recent -- X-Men. Saw it yesterday after several weeks of disappointing box office offerings. As you can see by the Rotten Tomatoes average, the film has been well-reviewed and audiences have liked it too. I'll give it a thumbs up, but put it in the "good but not great" category. It has a lot going for it. Terrific special effects, a good story with a tie-in to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, some terrific actors, and good dialog.

What's not to like? I just never found myself engaging emotionally with the characters -- certainly not in the way I did in the first X-Men movie (which was not reviewed as well by critics but is a far superior film). It is telling that the only scene which elicited an emotional reaction from the audience in which I sat was a 10 second cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

I didn't really care much what happened to this bunch of mutants despite some excellent performances (especially Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon). James McEvoy is disappointingly miscast. A competent actor, he just doesn't have what it takes to light up a screen. It's impossible to believe he will become the Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) of the first movie. January Jones sleepwalks through her role as Emma Frost, and even Jennifer Lawrence (Raven) and Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) don't generate much interest.

I do, however, recommend the film for a matinée viewing -- for the special effects and the fun of seeing the early parts of the X-Men story.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Rabbit Hole

Review: Rabbit Hole

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

Audience: 75%

Rabbit Hole is about families dealing with the devastating grief of losing a child. You might argue that, no, it focuses on a couple, Becca (Nicole Kidman) and Howie Corbett (Aaron Eckhart) who deal with the death of their child and their grief and guilt. But this film subtly illustrates a truth that is bigger than that narrow focus: individuals, parents, relatives, friends, and acquaintances all deal with the death of a child in very different ways and on very different schedules. We see this truth in the Corbett's immediate family. Becca's mother Nat (Diane Wiest) has also lost a child and, now, a grandchild. Her sister Izzy (Tammy Blanchard), newly pregnant, copes with grief and joy simultaneously. And then there are friends who over-respond and those who don't respond at all. And in Becca and Howie's grief support group, every person responds differently to his or her loss -- and sometimes differently on different days.

The film does all this without being manipulative, depressing, maudlin, or horribly melodramatic. Knowing the subject of the film, I was a bit wary and came armed with a ton of Kleenex. Only had to use it once -- the scene involved a dog, always guaranteed to make me weep.

The performances are excellent. Wiest never disappoints, and Kidman and Eckhart are believably married as they each confront their grief. In fact, I would definitely argue that Kidman's Oscar-nominated performance is better than that of Natalie Portman's in Black Swan. (In truth, so are the performances of Annette Benning, Michelle Williams, and Jennifer Lawrence.)

This film deals realistically with grief. There are no promises that the pain will go away -- only that it will be different from time to time, that it will come back with surprising fury when least expected -- and that life will go on. There is sadness in this film, but there is hope also.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Company Men

Review: The Company Men

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 71%

Audience: 59%

I was just thinking it might be appropriate for me to recuse myself from reviewing this movie. I identify so closely with many of the characters' experiences, I'm not sure I can maintain a suitable level of objectivity.

Well, here goes.

The Company Men focuses on the lives of three corporate executives who work for a Boston conglomerate originally a shipbuilding company. Ben Affleck (Bobby) is a young up-and-comer who loves the perks of his life: golfing, his Porsche, his beautiful home (undoubtedly bought with too little down and a huge mortgage). Tommy Lee Jones (Gene) is the best friend of the CEO, living the good life with plenty of stock options, antiques in his ocean-front home, a bored wife, and a lover (Maria Bello) who, as head of HR at the firm, is responsible for designing and executing massive layoffs. Chris Cooper (Phil), also near the end of his career, worked his way up the corporate ladder from riveter to head of a manufacturing operation. All three of these men are laid off; all three, who have so closely identified their worth with their jobs, take steps to cope with their new realities, some more successfully than others.

Rosemarie DeWitt as Maggie, Bobby's wife, gives a strong performance. Kevin Costner rounds out the ensemble as Bobby's level-headed blue-collar brother-in-law. All the actors deliver fine performances. Affleck is convincingly unlikable at the beginning of the film and manages to convincingly redeem himself by the end.

The portrayal of the atmosphere of outplacement firms was very accurate, although the chanting of the slogan was a bit much -- though not impossible. The "real" offices reserved for big shots reminded me of the locked gold doors at my outplacement firm -- to which only CEOs, CFOs, COOs and other acronym-burdened jobless people had keys.

Some have criticized this movie, saying that it's difficult to feel sympathy for affluent white-collar workers who suddenly realize they can't keep the Porsche or send their kids to the Ivy League. But the movie goes beyond this viewpoint in that the experience of being laid off makes most of the characters reassess their attitude toward the acquisition of expensive things and begin to value their lives, their families, and their relationships in new ways.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Blue Valentine

Review: Blue Valentine

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

Audience: 83%

I just reviewed I Love You Phillip Morris, a movie so unlike ordinary life it strains credibility -- even when we know it's based on fact. And then I watched Blue Valentine, a movie so universal, so much like real life, it is downright painful to watch.

The story is simple. A young couple played by Ryan Gosling (Dean) and Michelle Williams (Cindy) have been married about five years. Dean works as a painter and is an alcoholic. Cindy works in a doctor's office and has long engaged in the codependent dance so characteristic of the desperate wives of alcoholics. When we first see the couple, their marriage is dissolving; Dean desperately tries to rekindle their old romance, but his alcoholism transmogrifies every well-intentioned move he makes.

In a series of flashbacks, we see the sweet story of how they met, how they fell in love, and how they shared their hopes and dreams. In those grainy memories, however, we see that the seeds of destruction were sown right from the beginning of their relationship. Like so many people, they married for the wrong reasons and didn't really understand or articulate what they needed from one another.

Blue Valentine is the story of so many marriages, especially those doomed from the start by addiction. But this isn't Days of Wine and Roses. It's more subtle than that film. What makes this movie so poignant is the love (however flawed) that Dean and Cindy have for each either. Remnants remain, even at their most debased moments. Gosling and William's performances are subtle, painful, and passionately honest. I'm glad I saw this film, but it was tough to watch.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: I Love You Phillip Morris

Review: I Love You Phillip Morris

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

Audience: 56%

If the storyline of this movie were the plot of a novel, no one would publish it. It's preposterous, unbelievable, and bizarre. But it's true -- or at least most of it is true. One critic compared the film to Ed Wood, the story of another stranger-than-fiction character. I also saw similarities to Catch Me If You Can. You just can't make this stuff up.

On top of all that, you have Jim Carrey in full Cable Guy mode, playing another over-the-top character -- an energized, bubbling train wreck about to happen. I must confess, Cable Guy is one of my all-time favorite movies. No one embodies a functional, deeply neurotic individual quite like Mr. Carrey.

In this movie, the love of his life, Phillip Morris, the man for whom he'll do just about anything, is played fetchingly by Ewan McGregor. Here he reprises a character-type he just about owns -- the sweetest guy in the world. Think of Moulin Rouge!, Big Fish, Little Voice, and, well why not? Obi-Wan Kenobi. And he does it all with the most charmin' Southern accent ever.

This is definitely a film for adults. Carrey and McGregor, after all, play lovers, and there's real chemistry between them. Did I mention that the movie is also wonderfully funny? In fact, it's the best romantic comedy I've seen this year--hands down.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The King's Speech

Review: The King's Speech

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 96%

Audience: 95%

After the driest movie months ever: August, September, October, and most of November, I began to read the superlative reviews of The King's Speech. I worried. More hype? More critics in the pay of the movie moguls? (Call me cynical.) I finally saw the film yesterday and was very pleased. More applause after a movie than I've heard since Toy Story 3 -- and that was from spontaneous, unselfconscious children.

The King's Speech is that good. Colin Firth as stuttering King George VI ("Bertie"), Geoffrey Rush as his "speech therapist," Lionel Logue, and Helena Bonham-Carter as the future Queen Mum are all magnificent and deserve to be nominated for just about any award.

From everything I've read (and now seen), George VI was a man so blighted by his privileged childhood and tyrannical father, that he was almost incapable of happiness. He had greatness thrust upon him and wanted none of it. He was the right man for the job, but, oh my, he was born into "interesting times." His story is compelling and heartbreaking at the same time.

The film has an "R" rating, unfortunately, because His Royal Highness drops the F-bomb 17 times in the course of his therapy. Now, really! What is this frackin' world coming to?

I didn't give the film four stars for one reason: much of the gravitas and importance of this movie is derived from its subject alone -- not the abilities of the cinematographer, the actors, the director, or the writers. We finally care because it's about Queen Elizabeth's dad.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: True Grit

Review: True Grit

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Audience: 91%

When John Wayne made True Grit in 1969, I didn't rush to see it. I've watched it since then, but I have not been impressed. Wayne received the Best Actor Oscar for the movie--essentially for playing himself. He'd been overlooked in previous years for much better performances, such as those in Red River, The Searchers and The Quiet Man. So, when I heard that someone was remaking True Grit, I asked myself, "Why bother?" Then, I heard the Coen brothers were writing and directing -- and I began to eagerly anticipate the movie.

I have not been not disappointed. The Coen's adaptation of the book is nothing short of brilliant. Their use of formal Victorian English is the perfect counterpoint to the raw, violent, unpredictable post-Civil War west. Jeff Bridges inhabits his role as Rooster Cogburn. He's so good you can almost smell the booze and the body odor. There's nothing cuddly or sentimental about this Rooster. He's a nasty man with true grit who'll get the job done. Just don't ask questions.

Hailee Steinfeld's Mattie Ross soars above Kim Darby's 1969 portrayal. There's no coyness or flirting here. Hailee is all business, a tightfisted bible-quoting Christian bent on revenge and retribution. Matt Damon, in the supporting role of LaBoeuf (he says "LeBeef"), delivers a fine performance as an overconfident, too-big-for-his-britches, but ultimately useful, Texas Ranger.

I expect there will be plenty of Oscar nominations for this film -- another tour de force from the Coen brothers who wisely chose to follow Charles Portis's book in spirit, tone, and language.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Review: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 49%

Audience: 72%

First, a confession. A tough one for an Episcopalian. I am not a huge fan of C.S. Lewis or the Narnia series as a whole. I read the books as an adult -- which may explain my general lack of awe and wonder. The allegory was a bit too transparent for me. When I talk to children who've read the books, like my grandson Max, I find they are not at all aware of the Christological significance of Aslan and company. They just like the stories. Ah, to be young.

But I digress. The Dawn Treader is somewhere between Lion, Witch, and the Wardrobe (which was delightful) and Prince Caspian (which was dreadful). One problem is that "Evil" is played in this one by a green, smoky fog. It was all a bit too much like a bad episode from the original Star Trek series. Happily, a really gruesome sea serpent makes an appearance near the end. I wish he'd had a bigger part.

Georgie Henley, who plays Lucy, was her charming post-pubescent self -- still cute as a bug. Lucy's cousin-from-Hell, Eustace Scrubb, played by Will Poulter, was obnoxiously fascinating and proved that you could be an English child actor and really, really nasty.

My grandson Max thought the movie was just "OK." You may be looking for a film to take the kiddies to in this holiday season devoid of worthwhile children's movies, and this one won't bore you to tears. It is a bit intense for younger children, however.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Unstoppable

Review: Unstoppable

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 86%

Audience: 78%

Loved it. Not one of the greatest movies ever, but a very, very good one. It proves that you don't need 3D in order to feel the raw power of a runaway train hurtling at you. Superb cinematography and frightening sound combine to produce the tension needed for terrific escapist entertainment.

The film is what it is. Some critics have complained that there is little character development for either Denzel Washington's seasoned veteran, Frank, or Chris Pine's conflicted rookie, Will. But who cares? The train is the star.

And it doesn't matter that we can guess the ending. We're along for the roller coaster ride and Tony Scott, the director, has us from "Hello."

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Black Swan

Review: Black Swan

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience: 91%

I find myself in the odd position of defending my negative opinion about a film that almost everyone else seems to like. Most critics recognize that Black Swan is a melodrama, a film that overplays plot and character in order to manipulate our emotions. What they don't seem to recognize in this movie is that there is a fine line between melodrama that soars in films like Now, Voyager, Sunset Boulevard, and Slumdog Millionaire-- and melodrama that is overwrought, trite, and predictable in films like All That Heaven Allows, The Other Side of Midnight, and, well, Black Swan.

It does seem as if the director, Aronofsky, wants us continually to question what is real and what is imaginary in this "psychological thriller." I found no such ambiguity. **Spoiler** It was very clear that Natalie Portman's character was Looney Toons right from the beginning. Seriously, if your mother's paintings become animated when you look at them, you're in need of some major meds.

I will give you that the movie is beautifully filmed, that the milieu of dance is fascinating, and that Portman as Nina, Vincent Cassel as Thomas, and Barbara Hershey as Nina's control-freak mother deliver compelling performances. But the story just isn't there. It's all too predictable. It's a throwback to the overwrought melodramas of the 40s and 50s. Instead of rushing to see it, rent The Red Shoes to enjoy the best of all ballet films.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: For Colored Girls

Review: For Colored Girls

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 32%

Audience: 77%

Two-Thirds of Rotten Tomatoes' critics really disliked this movie. In general, I find that most male critics don't find much to like in Tyler Perry's movies. Let's admit it. Mr. Perry understands and empathizes with women in ways most male filmmakers don't. And this film, borne of Ntozake Shange's feminist play from the very angry 1970s, doesn't portray men sympathetically.

In addition, the play, a series of poems spoken by nine characters, is not easy to translate to film. Some of the poetry, however, weaves effectively in and out of the movie, spoken as soliloquies. For the most part, it works, but some of the actresses are stronger than others, especially Kimberly Elise as Crystal, Anika Noni Rose as Yasmine, and Macy Gray as Rose. Less convincing are Janet Jackson as Jo and Whoopi Goldberg as Alice.

When the play made its way to Broadway in 1976, it was astoundingly new and explosive, giving voice to women who had been been denied their right to express their pain. A great deal of time has passed. In all sorts of creative venues, women of all colors have continued to express their anger at all kinds of injustice at the hands of men. We've heard these voices in our homes in television programs like Law and Order and in movies like Precious. Perhaps our heightened awareness makes a film like For Colored Girls seem dated, but the problems highlighted by the movie are still here in all their ugliness.

It is a flawed film, but I applaud the heart and passion that Tyler Perry brings to it. In the end, those two qualities transcend the flaws.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Fighter

Review: The Fighter

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

Audience: 83%

Mark Wahlberg's portrayal of aspiring pugilist Micky Ward is understated, subtle, and in stark contrast to the over-the-top but entirely believable performances of Christian Bale, Melissa Leo, Amy Adams, and the seven women who play the very crazy sisters of prize fighter Micky Ward.

Bale's portrayal of Micky's older, crack-addled brother Dicky is mesmerizing. You can't take your eyes off this train wreck of a man who never misses an opportunity to remind people that he once knocked Sugar Ray Leonard down in a fight (or, perhaps, Leonard slipped). He, not his brother, is the neighborhood star, the Irish charmer. Melissa Leo is Alice, Micky's manager-mom who takes the Irish family of O'Neil to a whole new level of dysfunctional insanity. Amy Adams surprises as Micky's fierce, spunky girlfriend Charlene, convinced she knows exactly what's best for him.

In the end, only Micky knows what's best for all. He understands everyone's gifts, everyone's dark sides, and everyone's blind spots.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Fair Game

Review: Fair Game

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 80%

Audience: 72%

The strength of this movie is the realistic portrayal of a marriage in meltdown (delivered through the exceptional talents of Naomi Watts as Valerie Plame, a covert CIA operative, and Sean Penn as her husband, former Ambassador Joe Wilson.)

Wilson had written an op-ed piece in the NY Times, alleging that intelligence information had been manipulated by the Bush White House in order to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Remember? They had weapons of mass destruction: weapons which were never found. The story goes that Rove, Cheney, and Scooter Libby outed Plame in retaliation for the Times article. We may never know how it all happened and who was truly responsible, but Libby (the only person charged) was found guilty of obstruction of justice, making false statements, and perjury. He was, of course, later pardonned by George W. Bush.

The film focuses on the upheaval in Plame and Wilson's lives. Yes, she was in an occupation fraught with danger. Every time she traveled overseas, her life was at risk. She and her husband had accepted that risk. Knowing this, however, we still empathize with their horror and terror when Plame is exposed. We understand that she has been violated in this inside-out version of identity theft.

The movie does not end with a trumpeted triumphant legal victory. It ends with a whimper -- as it should. The incessantly drumming subtext of the film is that there were no weapons of mass destruction. There was no justification for the war on Iraq. Thousands of Americans died for a lie -- and tens of thousands of Iraqis have died and will continue to die. We sowed the wind and we have reaped the whirlwind.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it