Movie Reviews

America's Sweethearts Director: Joe Roth Rating: PG-13 Cinemas: West Town Mall 9, Farragut Town Square 10, Foothills 12 It's been said that art imitates life. If that's true, then maybe art can imitate life imitating art, as in Joe Roth's new film America's Sweethearts. Casts with as many big names as the one in Sweethearts usually shine too brightly to be watchable. The scriptwriters seem to have a tendency to let up on the writing, hoping to let the talent carry the film instead of the dialogue. This, unfortunately, is also the case in Sweethearts. The film begins with Gwen (Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Eddie (John Cusack) having separated just as their latest movie together is about to be released. Donald O'Connor (Billy Crystal) is summoned by studio head Millard Mitchell (Stanley Tucci) to find a wa y to get the two back together before the movie's opening. He calls on Kiki (Julia Roberts), Gwen's sister and resident gopher, to get Gwen and Eddie to the upcoming press junket while they wait for the movie's director, Hal Weidman (Christopher Walken), to arrive with film in hand. While the film starts out with the flair of a satire, it soon devolves into a sort of romantic drama, nearly devoid of any comedy, suspense or the bite of a spoof. All-in-all, though, it's not hard to watch. Crystal does an excellent job as the know-it-all publicist, and Cusack (High Fidelity) once again plays the lovesick ex-boyfriend of Zeta-Jones quite convincingly. Not so convincing, though, is Gwen's new Spanish boyfriend Hector (Hank Azaria), who talks with a terrible Spanish accent and a lisp. The character is way overdone and unnecessarily overbearing. Also, the implication that Kiki was ugly and inferior when she was overweight and had to lose 60 pounds to change isn't particularly positive. In this one, it's the stars who know how to tone down their brightness that seem to shine. Rating: C+ Sexy Beast Director: Jonathan Glazer Rating: R Cinema: Downtown West Sexy Beast's Don Logan is a villain in every way. The film does its job with the character, making the audience cares about him. However, you care about him in the sense that you want him to die. You don't want him to come out on top, and Sexy Beast is ve ry effective in evoking that reaction from you. Ben Kingsley plays Don, in a mesmerizing acting job from a man who's been doing this for more than 40 years in television and movies. He's played everything from Ghandi to Sherlock's Dr. Watson to a mild-mannered accountant in Schindler's List and has nev er been better. Don wants ex-con Gary "Gal" Dove (Ray Winstone) to come to London for "one last job," but Gary is happy living at home with his wife, Deedee (Amanda Redman), and Spanish house boy and wants no part of Don's request. Gary tells Don he doesn't want to do the job numerous times, but Don stubbornly refuses to take no for an answer. In one scene, as Gary once again tries to refuse the offer, Don furiously spits out the words "Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!" Another scene which shows Don's stubbornness and Kingsley's brilliant ability comes in an airplane, when Don is asked to put out his cigarette by a flight attendant. He refuses to put it out, but ends up finding an impudent way of getting out of trouble w ith the airline. All the characters in Sexy Beast are well-written and well-executed, but Kingsley is no doubt the star of the movie. He milks the character of Don for all it's worth and produces a performance worthy of an Academy Award. While the story is a bit slow at t imes, this film is definitely one worth seeing. Rating: A- - Jeff Haws, entertainment editor