Capsule reviews of 'Valkyrie' and other films

[December 23, 2008]  (AP)  Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

"Bedtime Stories" -- Adam Sandler returns to the familiar man-child of yore with this desperate family-friendly comedy about wild nighttime fantasies that magically come true. Sandler seemed to have moved beyond the goofy persona he forged for himself with movies like "Billy Madison" and "Little Nicky" with surprising vulnerability and nuance in "Punch-Drunk Love" and "Spanglish." Although "Bedtime Stories" represents a first for Sandler -- a comedy that's appropriate for all ages -- it still feels like a giant leap backward. Forced to look after his young niece (Laura Ann Kesling) and nephew (Jonathan Morgan Heit) for a week while his sister (Courteney Cox) is out of town, Sandler's hotel handyman Skeeter Bronson finds the only way to connect with the kids, and get them to sleep, is by telling them bedtime stories. Soon, the kids are chiming in with ideas about what the tales should include -- gum balls falling from the sky, violent midgets -- and in no time, those details start creeping into Skeeter's life. It's a whimsical and not-too-shabby idea, but the result is too often flat, crass and disjointed. British comic Russell Brand gets the few funny lines in the script, but the always lovely Keri Russell goes to waste in the straight-woman role as Skeeter's would-be love interest. PG for some mild rude humor and mild language. 95 min. One and a half stars out of four.

--Christy Lemire, AP movie critic

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"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" -- It's the damnedest thing. You look into the elderly man's blue eyes behind a pair of old-fashioned spectacles, look at the sweet smile ringed by wrinkles, and you know that's Brad Pitt under there. But the special effects are so dazzling, and Pitt's performance is so gracefully convincing, that you can't help but be repeatedly wowed. Director David Fincher has always proven himself a virtuoso visual stylist -- to the point of seeming like a shameless showoff at times -- with films like "Fight Club," "Panic Room" and "Zodiac." But here, he's truly outdone himself: He's made a grand, old-fashioned epic that takes mind-boggling advantage of the most modern moviemaking technology. Fincher's film, based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald short story about a man who ages in reverse, is rambling and gorgeous -- perhaps a bit overlong and gooey in the midsection -- but still, one that leaves you with a lingering wistfulness. Pitt, as the title character, travels the world and lives a life that's adventurous and full, but he can never truly be with the woman he loves, Daisy (Cate Blanchett), whom he met when she was just a little girl and he was a boy trapped in an old man's body. Eric Roth's script may seem naggingly similar to that of "Forrest Gump" -- which he also happened to write -- but it seems more concerned with the transformational power of true love than the gimmickry of an unusual existence. PG-13 for brief war violence, sexual content, language and smoking. 167 min. Three and a half stars out of four.

--Christy Lemire, AP movie critic

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"Last Chance Harvey" -- It's nice to see filmmakers occasionally spin a story of fresh romance for the aging set. Yet it's hugely disappointing when actors with the craft and chemistry of Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson are cast into a love story as sappy and shallow as any other in Hollywood. Reuniting "Stranger Than Fiction" co-stars Hoffman and Thompson, writer-director Joel Hopkins provides his stars plenty of room to say and do endearing things. But the drama and emotion hang so heavily on cliche, blind chance and mawkish sentiment that the movie comes off as a halfhearted exercise for two great actors aiming to charm the pants off each other and the audience. Hoffman stars in the title role, a failed musician who meets up with London lonelyheart Thompson while attending his daughter's wedding. If the bond that quickly forms between them works at all, it's because of Hoffman and Thompson's warmth and tenderness, which compensate for some of the unlikely turns and artificial behavior Hopkins' script forces on them. PG-13 for brief strong language. 92 min. Two stars out of four.

--David Germain, AP movie writer

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"Marley & Me" -- Aww, look at that cute, fluffy puppy in those "Marley & Me" ads. It almost makes you think you're in for a feel-good comedy about a rambunctious yellow Lab and the family who loves him no matter what chaos he causes. Well, "Marley & Me" is all that, but if you've read the best-selling memoir by John Grogan that inspired the movie, you also know that it has more than its share of hanky moments. Watching all those heart-tugging stories play out on a giant screen, though, we're not talking about just a tear or two welling up -- we're talking grown men and women snuffling and sobbing uncontrollably. So yes, it's effective in its ability to evoke emotion -- having said that, it's not a particularly good movie. Director David Frankel ("The Devil Wears Prada") leaps back and forth in blandly episodic fashion between the incorrigible Marley doing wacky, destructive things and his owners, journalists John (Owen Wilson) and Jenny (Jennifer Aniston), furthering their lives as a married couple and, ultimately, as parents. There's no great momentum, just a long, flat arc toward the inevitable. PG for thematic material, some suggestive content and language. 123 min. Two stars out of four.

--Christy Lemire, AP movie critic

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"Valkyrie" -- Much ado has been made about this film, starring Tom Cruise as would-be Hitler assassin Col. Claus von Stauffenberg. There is the release date, which has been moved around several times until finally being set for Christmas, the perfect time for a feel-good movie about killing Nazis. There's the marketing of the film: Is it a historical thriller featuring Cruise in an eye patch, or is it a straight-up action picture full of explosions? And then, of course, there is the Cruise factor itself -- the fact that his very presence adds a layer of tabloid-friendly fascination. Turns out Cruise is both the central figure in "Valkyrie" and its weakest link. He's distractingly bad, the iconography of his celebrity so strongly overshadowing his performance. With his hard, flat American accent, he stands out in every single scene. (Then again, if he had affected a German accent -- or a British one to blend in among his co-stars -- he would have invited derision for that, too. Maybe the guy just can't win.) It's too bad, too, because "Valkyrie" looks great. With its impeccable production design and German locations, it feels substantial and moves fluidly. No one ever doubted the ability of Bryan Singer, director of the first two "X-Men" movies, to make a solid, energetic actioner. But Cruise is outclassed and outmatched by every member of the strong supporting cast, any of whom would have been more believable as Stauffenberg: Kenneth Branagh, Tom Wilkinson, Terence Stamp, and Eddie Izzard. PG-13 for violence and brief strong language. 120 min. One and a half stars out of four.

--Christy Lemire, AP movie critic

[Associated Press]

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