Review: The Ghost Writer

Review: The Ghost Writer

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 82%

If you've seen all the Oscar nominated movies, then there usually isn't much worth seeing by the end of March. Unfortunately, that's the time when studios release "problem" movies -- the ones with big star that have been in editing for the last six months (like Shutter Island). Films which just haven't gelled.

So, it was delightful today to watch a film with major stars that did not disappoint: The Ghost Writer. Ewan McGregor has the burden of carrying the movie; he is, I believe, in every scene. There are also fine performances by Pierce Brosnan, as Adam Lang a morally questionable ex-prime minister of Great Britain; Olivia Williams as his unhappy wife Beth; Kim Cattrall as Amelia (Captain) Bly (possibly Lang's mistress), and Tom Wilkinson as a professor who dabbles in many things. There is even a short, powerful performance by Jim Belushi who proves in this quick turn that he should be acting in dramas as well as comedies.

It's the pacing and tension of the film, however, that make the movie truly worthwhile. Polanski's direction controls moods and revelations deftly. If I were to complain about anything, it would be a plot element which has been done to death: the involvement of the CIA in international politics. But that can be overlooked as we focus on the ghost writer, a man who has no name.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Shutter Island

Review: Shutter Island

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 67%

What Was Wrong With This Movie:

1. Much too long for the story -- the first 30 minutes could have been 5.
2. Pacing too slow throughout.
3. I knew what was going on from the first scene -- Martin, please watch. Sixth Sense again.
4. Leonardo still looks like he could be in Growing Pains, a little boy dressed up in his father's overcoat and fedora -- he's good, but he's no Robert DeNiro.
5. Mark Ruffalo is underused.
6. Too much noise--and the music was embarrassingly overwrought -- "OK, everybody get tense. There's something creepy about to happen."
7. It's a shaggy dog story.

What Was Right With This Movie:

1. Ben Kingsley and Max Von Sydow have classy accents and provide some convincing red herrings
2. Patricia Clarkson, Michelle Williams, and Jackie Earle Haley each deliver strong, if brief, performances

Rent One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Alice in Wonderland

Review: Alice in Wonderland

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$ or $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 52%

"The time has come," the Walrus said,

"To talk of many things:

Of shoes -- and ships -- and sealing-wax,--

Of cabbages -- and kings --

Of why the sea is boiling hot --

And whether pigs have wings."

Having just written a review in which I reported encouraging my grandson not to judge movies by how closely they follow the book they're based on, I will now equivocate. Alice in Wonderland is bracketed by a new story in which an older Alice (19) is expected to marry an English lord who reminds me of Tweedledum or Tweedledee (not sure which). To escape him, Alice goes down the rabbit hole and enters the 3-D world of Wonderland. Later, the movie reveals that Alice, played by Mia Wasikowska, has been to Wonderland before -- although she has conveniently forgotten her adventure.

Charles Dodgson (Lewis Carroll) wrote Alice in Wonderland for Alice Liddell (who was 10 at the time) and her sisters. I can live with a 19-year-old Alice because it doesn't fundamentally change the Wonderland story. My problem, however, is that the bracketing story is silly and vapid, and does nothing to enhance the fascinating movie that slips between.

Tim Burton (the director) creates a lush, phantasmagorical Wonderland. Johnny Depp manages to deliver a truly 3-dimensional Mad Hatter; Helena Bonham Carter portrays a delightfully perverse Red Queen; Anne Hathaway plays the beautiful but daffy White Queen; a subdued Crispin Glover, in a most improbable body, insinuates himself as the nasty Knave of Hearts, Stayne; Stephen Frye scares us as the Chesire Cat; and Alan Rickman and his wonderful voice delight one and all as the hookah-smoking Caterpillar. Even this story, however, although it is beautifully realized visually, lacks two things -- heart and magic. If you must see the film in 3-D, go to a matinee; otherwise, rent it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Last Station

Review: The Last Station

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

A better script would have made this one of the best movies of the year. Helen Mirren as Sofya Tolstoya and Christopher Plummer as Leo Tolstoy are magnificent as these larger-than-life characters who are belittled by a dull, plodding script. The other actors deliver also: Paul Giamatti portrays Tolstoy's late life "handler," Vladimir Chertkov, a vile man if ever there was one. Giamatti's performance, however, is subtle and disturbing. James McEvoy plays Tolstoy's last secretary, Valentin Bulgakov, as a naive ingenue -- the perfect counterpoint for the rest of the world-weary ensemble.

Critic after critic has described the story as one in which the great man Tolstoy is much put upon by his "crazy" wife. I disagree. Sofya's behavior and frustration are clearly borne of years of living with a man who has tried her patience, tested her love, and behaved badly. The two of them are engaged in a dance of craziness which sustains their tempestuous relationship. Both are at fault; each is tormented by the other. If only the writing were a bit better.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Review: Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 51%

J.K. Rowling has unwittingly unleashed a new publishing trend: several book series in which a young hero, initially unaware of his "powers" (a variety of special gifts), must take on adult-like responsibilities in a magical world of one sort or another -- and, oh yes, there's usually a Hogwarts-modeled school involved. The Percy Jackson books are one such series: Percy is a demigod, the son of Poseidon, tasked with preventing a war among the gods. My grandson, Max, who has read all the Percy Jackson novels, accompanied me to the movie. He was bothered by the "28 differences from the books." (He really didn't count them; it was just his hyperbolic way of dissing the movie.) I had a little talk with him about the differences between movies and books as art forms and how it's best to refrain from judging a movie based on how much it departs from a book.

Then, I realized I was misguided and he was correct in giving the movie a "thumbs down." You see, Max has also read all the Harry Potter books, but he's never complained about the differences between the books and those movies. He has been completely taken up in the magic and the intricate story of those films. And that's what The Lightning Thief lacks. The story is superficial, concocted for an audience of 8-12y-year-olds hungry for Harry-Potter-quality fantasy. And this film is far off that mark. I have to confess, though, that it was interesting enough that I didn't sit there thinking about how good it would be to see the credits march up the screen. So, if your kids want to see it, go. It won't be as awful as sitting through Shortz.

One note: I was bothered by a couple of things in the film. First, the kids of color are all paired off with kids of similar color. It was like watching American Bandstand in the 1960s. And, Percy's best friend and sidekick, Grover, happens to be a PG-rated satyr. As the only major character who was black, I found this casting problematically stereotypical. Oh, the heartbreak of satyriasis.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Donna Top Ten Films of 2009

The films I would have nominated for BEST PICTURE:

1. Up In The Air
2. District 9
3. A Serious Man
4. Star Trek
5. Inglorious Basterds
6. Precious
7. Fantastic Mr. Fox
8. An Education
9. Up
10. 500 Days of Summer

Donna's Oscar Picks

Having seen all 10 of the nominated Best Picture films (and quite a few more), here are my predictions for tonight's awards:

Best Picture

Will Win: The Hurt Locker

Should Win: Up In The Air

Others high on my list are District 9, A Serious Man, and Inglorious Basterds. I'm still annoyed that Star Trek wasn't nominated.

Actor in a Leading Role

Will Win: Jeff Bridges

Should Win: Jeff Bridges

I wouldn't be upset if George Clooney won either -- a spectacular, subtle performance.

Actress in a Leading Role

Will Win: Sandra Bullock

Should Win: Meryl Streep

It's been 26 years since Meryl won; it's about time.

Actor in a Supporting Role

Will Win: Christoph Waltz

Should Win:

Christoph Waltz

I feel sorry for the other four guys. No one can touch Waltz's performance, the scariest Nazi ever on film -- and that's saying a lot.

Actress in a Supporting Role

Will Win: Mo'Nique

Should Win:

Mo'Nique

I feel sorry for the other four girls. No one can touch Mo'Nique's performance, the scariest mother ever on film -- and that's saying a lot.

Directing

Will Win: Kathryn Bigelow

Should Win: Jason Reitman

Well, even James Cameron says Bigelow should win.

Up is likely to win for Animated Film and Music (Original Score), but Fantastic Mr. Fox was better. Avatar deserves Art Direction, Visual Effects, and Cinematography. Hurt Locker should win Film Editing, Sound Mixing, and Sound Editing. A Prophet will win Foreign Language Film. I'd really like to see Star Trek win Makeup. Costume Design should go to Young Victoria. Crazy Heart should win for Original Song. Up In the Air should win Writing (Adapted Screenplay). And I'd love to see A Serious Man win for Writing (Original Screenplay).

Review: Crazy Heart

Review: Crazy Heart

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

I have found it very difficult to evaluate films in an objective fashion that cut close to my bone. It's that Bowen psychology thing: am I responding or reacting? If I'm going to be honest, I have to say that this film was particularly uncomfortable for me to watch. I suspect that other people, like me, who have lived with alcoholic loved ones don't relish reliving those experiences through any number of great depictions of alcoholics on film. And this is another great one. Jeff Bridges' performance deserves all the praise it is getting. I suspect he will win the Academy Award. He has never won but was nominated for The Contender, Starman, Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, and The Last Picture Show. He was completely overlooked for his arguably best performance in The Big Lebowski, so it's time they honored him. Perhaps my reaction to his performance is, in the end, testament to its power and verisimilitude.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Review: I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 62%

Quite a few critics don't seem to like Tyler Perry's films at all. Even the critics who do recommend his films tend to be apologetic about it, noting that Perry's movies are sentimental, predictable, and contrived, that they unabashedly mix violence, tragedy and comedy.

I think most critics just don't get what Tyler Perry is up to. And I'm not so sure I get it either, but I'm going to take a stab at it.

Perry makes the most Christian films I've ever seen. Not smarmy, saccharine, pious cinema, but stories about ordinary people faced with choices, choices that will lead them toward God or away from God. Diary of a Mad Black Woman, for example, tackles the choice of whether or not to forgive, whether or not to change a heart of stone for a heart of flesh. In this film, Perry asks us to care for those who cannot care for themselves; he challenges us to take responsibility for one another, to put the needs of those less fortunate ahead of our own needs. That's downright revolutionary in this day and age.

Yes, I suppose Perry's films are sentimental and predictable, but he delivers such an inspired mixture of what might be trite with what is definitely uproariously funny. And, in this film, he adds six heart stopping musical numbers by Taraji P. Henson, Mary K. Blige, Gladys Knight, and Marvin Winans that bring down the house.

And then there's Madea (played by 6 ft. 5 in. Tyler), the gun-toting grandma who doesn't spend too much time in church. In one brilliantly funny scene, Jennifer (Hope Olaide Wilson), a motherless, fatherless, grandmotherless sixteen-year-old, asks Madea to teach her to pray. Madea launches into a retelling of the Old and New Testaments that is the comedic high point of the film. Nevertheless, she still manages to preach a fine sermon, admonishing Jennifer that, if she plans to walk on water, she'd better keep her eye on Jesus.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Moon

Review: Moon

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 89%

When I was in the fourth grade, I discovered Isaac Asimov, then Arthur C. Clarke, then Robert Heinlein, and then the rest of the whole magical world of science fiction. When I was a college professor, I was lucky enough to teach a senior-level course in Science Fiction. In addition to six or seven novels, we read a ton of short fiction. Moon reminds me of the best of that fiction: a simple story about a man isolated in space -- here on the dark side of the moon. He's only a few days away from returning home to his wife and child after a three-year work rotation. Then, a younger, healthier version of himself suddenly appears. This fine movie answers the central question of science fiction: "What if?" The answer isn't easy or pretty here; it calls us all to face the inevitable ethical questions of our future. No bug-eyed monsters, no aliens intent on making humans into Chateaubriand in this movie. Just intelligent, challenging, disturbing science fiction at its best.

Sam Rockwell, as the far from unique Sam Bell, carries the movie beautifully, and Kevin Spacey, as GERTY, the voice of a Hal-like computer, provides one of the many nostalgic echoes of 2001: A Space Odyssey in the film.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Book of Eli

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 45%

Start with Mad Max. Add a smattering of A Canticle for Leibowitz and a heavy dose of Fahrenheit 451. You'll get The Book of Eli, a mess of a film. I wanted to see it for two reasons. First, Denzel. And he didn't disappoint, but his fine acting was wasted on this bizarrely derivative combination of post-apocalyptic violence and Christianity. Second, I had heard the film was very popular with fundamentalist Christians. I had to see what the fuss was about.

Unfortunately, the movie perpetuates the unfortunate historical coupling of violence and religion -- here, Christianity. I was hopeful that the ending would reject violence and move a bit closer to the Kingdom of God, but no such luck. Instead, the film continues the unfortunate Protestant convention of replacing the Pope in Rome with a Paper Pope.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Hurt Locker

Review: The Hurt Locker

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 97%

As The Hurt Locker begins, a quotation on screen reads "War is addictive." Viewed superficially, that sentence explains everything that happens in this movie, but the words are deceptively facile. As this intense film unfolds, we notice just how complex, disturbing, and volatile are the motivations and emotions of the men who diffuse bombs for a living in Iraq.

By no stretch of the imagination can I say I liked this film. I admired the taut storytelling, the realistic portrayal of the insanity of war, but I could never watch it again. For the most part, it avoids the trap of making an anti-war film filled with seductive violence. The focus is not on killing; it is on the minute to minute possibility of being killed. When Jeremy Renner enters the film as SFC William James, the bomb defuser on the squad, he seems to be a loose cannon destined to be cannon fodder. Quickly, we learn how adept and smart he is about disarming munitions and about disarming the emotions of the men who support him. The heavily padded protective suit he wears, however, is as illusory as the team's infrequent moments of peace and solitude: James' naked fingers are always, always exposed.

Our involvement in the war in Iraq has saddened me from the time the Bush White House first began to talk about it. This film underscores the waste of it all: as someone once said, "No combat soldier ever comes back unwounded."

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: A Single Man

Review: A Single Man

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

There is something about this movie that I found very unsettling. I think it was the lighting. It has that overexposed look of color photos from the 60s. Washed out Kodachrome. Tom Ford's direction, the costumes, the makeup, the editing, the art direction -- all whisked me back almost 50 years. Whisked me back to the time when two "confirmed bachelors" would live together and everyone would tacitly agree just to ignore the fact.

Colin Firth's performance as George is the reason to see this film. He manages to portray a deeply depressed human being without dragging the film into his personal black hole. There are enough humor, enough pathos, and enough subtlety to draw us into the sad story of this meticulous man born too early.

And, oh yes, the other unsettling thing was the little girl with the long skinny legs who lived next door to George -- an animated Diane Arbus portrait if ever I saw one.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Lovely Bones

Review: The Lovely Bones

Rating: *1/2

Nonna's Rating: $

Rotten Tomatoes: 37%

I had high hopes for this movie. I was moved by the book and thought Peter Jackson would be able to handle its translation to film. I was wrong. What a mess! A child is brutally murdered. A family is ripped apart. The murderer has designs on another child in the family. Yet, these emotion-fraught situations seem to generate little heat in the film. Perhaps, in part because they are interspersed with scenes of the dead child observing her family's struggles from a strangely vapid purgatorial place. (If it is the anteroom to heaven, let's hope heaven is a vast improvement.) The book is an eloquent exploration of grief. In all fairness, probably not that easy to translate to film. As one critic said, "Some books should stay between their covers."

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Young Victoria

Review: The Young Victoria

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

IMDB (International Movie Data Base) lists Queen Victoria as a character in 96 films and television shows. I daresay that, in the vast majority, she is portrayed as an older, frumpier, very Victorian Victoria. Think of The Little Princess, Mrs. Brown, and, lest we forget, Monty Python and Blackadder. Emily Blount, however, is a new Victoria: young, slender, and feisty. The period is recreated in exquisite detail, both visually and historically. The evolving relationship of Victoria and Albert (Rupert Friend) is convincing, intimate, and passionate. Such a portrayal helps us understand why Victoria chose to spend the last 40 years of her life in mourning for Albert. Blount and Friend do an excellent job in their roles, but Jim Broadbent as King William walks away with the movie every time he's on screen. His well-documented antipathy toward Victoria's controlling, grasping mother (Miranda Richardson) shoots bolts of energy into protocol-laden palace scenes that could have been quite dull.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: The Blind Side

Review: The Blind Side

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 72%

Sandra Bullock has been doing "spunky" better than everyone else ever since she became a breakout star in Speed. In The Blind Side, she is at her ultimate spunkiness -- and it works beautifully. I saw this film in the 7th week of its release. The theater was packed and the audience was appreciative. And now Bullock has deservedly won the Golden Globe for her performance. If you're not a fan of formulaic sports movies, don't let the fact that this film is about the high school life of NFL star Michael Oher deter you from watching it. It focuses on so much more, especially Leigh Anne Touhy's (Bullock's character) dogged determination to get her new "son" the special attention he'll need in order to succeed. Make sure you stay for the credits, which are filled with pictures of the real Leigh Anne Touhy, Michael Oher, and their family.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review Avatar

Review: Avatar

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$$ (in 3D)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83%

For the first hour or so of Avatar, James Cameron's long-awaited science fiction film, I was enthralled. The visuals were stunning and the 3D complemented the storytelling (earning my 3 star rating). The movie unfolds as a visual tour de force. Then, about 65 minutes into the film, I came to my senses. The movie wasn't made for me; it was made for 12 year-old-boys. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The little dears will revel in the protracted battle scenes and the noise, and they'll be oblivious to the sad fact that Cameron writes some of the most stilted dialog ever filmed. (We are somewhat saved from groaning because most of lines delivered by the Na 'vi, the natives of Pandora, are in their language -- developed meticulously for the film.)

An even bigger problem, however, is that the storyline is as old as discussions of the "noble savage" -- a terminology wrongly attributed to Rousseau but nevertheless popularized in the 18th century as the concept that unspoiled "native" peoples are inherently more moral than those of "civilized" societies. As one critic pointed out, this film is basically a remake of Dances with Wolves. It's also a rehashing of too many off-world science fiction plots. It is one of the most predictable films I've ever seen.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: It's Complicated

Review: It's Complicated

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 50%

Disclosure: I was predisposed to love this movie. Like Jane, Meryl Streep's character in the movie, I was divorced in 1999. Also, my ex-husband soon married a woman younger than I. And, like Jane, my life has taken off in a completely different direction from where it was going in 1999. I don't, however, live in Santa Barbara and my wasbund and Steve Martin aren't hovering around my front door. But, I was still absolutely delighted with this movie -- as I expect many women of a certain age will be. A strong, charming woman, comfortable with her celibacy, is suddenly pursued by two strong, charming men. It's not Citizen Kane, but it's a well-acted, well-plotted afternoon's entertainment with a strong supporting performance by The Office's John Krasinski.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Sherlock Holmes

Review: Sherlock Holmes

Rating: **

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 69%

I really, really wanted to like this movie. And I was able to discard my preconceptions -- based on reading Arthur Conan Doyle's fiction and viewing dozens of old movies -- of how Sherlock Holmes should be portrayed. But I was terribly disappointed in what I had expected to be great fun.

The acting is fine. Robert Downey Jr. portrays a moody (dare I say manic depressive) Holmes with considerable flair and physical ability (although I wish he had mumbled less through his brooding English accent). Jude Law was a refreshingly intelligent Watson, and the supporting cast did everything they were supposed to do.

The problem was the story: Sherlock Holmes meets Dan Brown. Please, filmmakers, bury the plots about secret, dark societies bent on sacrificing virgins and taking over the world. Ho hum. All the flashy martial arts battles in the world can't make up for trite story lines.

And Guy Ritchie quickly deflected his tease of a Holmes/Watson homoerotic relationship through Watson's engagement to Mary Morstan (Kelly Reilly whom I hope will appear in a much better plotted sequel -- there's a great untold story there) and Holmes seemingly unconsummated passion for Irene Adler, the only woman he pays attention to in any of Doyle's fiction.

In short, my dear Watson, it was something of a mess.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Me and Orson Welles

Review: Me and Orson Welles

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 84%

Add Tim Robbin's vibrant The Cradle Will Rock to Richard Benjamin's delightful My Favorite Year and you will get something that approximates Me and Orson Welles -- only most of what makes those two contributing films so fine is lost in the mix. The film focuses (in a manner of speaking) on the relationship of a high school student (played by Zach Efron) and Orson Welles' assistant (Clare Danes). But Zach must have skipped Chemistry in high school because there's certainly none here. The relationship goes nowhere fast and just doesn't hold our attention. The problem is Efron. He's pretty enough, but seems insubstantial in this movie -- a lightweight compared with everyone else. If there is any reason to see this movie, it is the performance of Christian McKay, who embodies a fully-flavored Orson Welles, warts and all. He's flamboyant, bombastic, brilliant, and a womanizer. He's downright charismatic and infuriating -- and you can't help loving him.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price
$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it