Joe Blake (Bruce Willis) and Terry Collins (Billy Bob Thornton) are bank robbers
on the run, aiming to accumulate ample supply wealth so they can retire in Mexico.
They acquire notoriety as “the sleep-closed bandits” through their
unconventional methods of holding the bank superintendent and his ancestors hostage the
round-the-clock before a pillage and visiting the bank before profession hours the following
day without the distress to break in. But complications arise when they (literally)
run into Kate Wheeler (Cate Blanchett), a neglected housewife on the edge, and
both fall in fiance with her.

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I never have understood why they call it “high concept.” Believed to be first coined by Michael Eisner over at Paramount, “high concept,” the scourge of modern-day moviemaking, is a descriptive term used to sum up a potential movie or television package, preferably in one sentence. An example might be, “Slacker friend Owen Wilson comes to stay at upwardly mobile newlyweds Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson’s home, causing chaos.” There’s nothing “high” about such projects; “middling” to “low” might more accurately describe the lack of thought, true character development, or even the basics of a well-written script that go into a typical “high concept” project. You, Me and Dupree, a good-natured, but criminally underdeveloped comedy from Universal, is painfully short of the one thing that might have saved it from its ignoble “high concept” origins: laughs.

Carl and Molly Peterson (Matt Dillon and Kate Hudson) appear to be the perfect couple. He’s an architect working for Molly’s father, Mr. Thompson (Michael Douglas), a voracious land developer who’s not too keen on his prospective new son-in-law. And she’s a sweet-natured school teacher with a beautiful Craftsman-style home in an upscale neighborhood. All in all, things are looking up for the Petersons. The mirror-opposite prospects are apparent for Carl’s boyhood friend, Randy Dupree (Owen Wilson). After attending the couple’s week-long wedding in Hawaii (for which he didn’t obtain permission from his boss), Dupree has been fired from his job selling copiers. He’s also lost the company car he drove, as well as his apartment. His current residence is a cot in the back of the bar he frequents with Carl and Neil (Seth Rogan), another childhood friend who now cowers at the very sound of his controlling wife. Not wanting his buddy to have to live like this anymore (”We’re adults now, Dupree.”), Carl invites Dupree to stay with him and Molly for a couple of days until Dupree is back on his feet.

Of course, Dupree isn’t going to get back on his feet, at least not right away. Complications ensue, including Dupree’s habit of sleeping naked on their coach, flopping down on his bean bag chair to watch HBO (which he ordered without Carl’s or Molly’s permission), clogging their toilets, playing baseball with the neighborhood kids out in the street (and causing them to fight), changing Carl’s and Molly’s answering machine message, inviting hookers over when he convinces Carl to have a little “Carl time,” with the final transgression against the Peterson’s good will being a naked romp (on their couch) with Molly’s co-worker (a Mormon librarian) on their first date - while setting fire to their house.

Kicked out by Carl, Dupree is spotted days later by the Petersons, sitting outside at a bus stop, in the pouring rain, with only his ten-speed bike, and his duffel bag. Carl wants to keep driving, hoping Dupree hasn’t seen them, but it’s Molly this time who feels sorry for Dupree; she insists that he come back to stay in their garage. This vote of confidence changes Dupree, who now, even though he still can’t get a job, starts to help Molly out around the house, becoming her confidant and pal. This unsettles Carl, who is getting worse and worse vibes from his father-in-law at work (Mr. Thompson suggested that Carl hyphenate his name - to Peterson-Thompson, and also gave him pamphlets on vasectomies). Carl, becoming increasingly paranoid, begins to suspect that Dupree is trying to edge Carl out of his own home, and away from his wife. Rapidly, Carl’s own life becomes more and more like Dupree’s, resulting in his leaving the house and Molly. Can Dupree save this troubled couple, before Carl kills him?

I wanted to like You, Me and Dupree. It’s one of those movies where there’s initial anticipation on the viewer’s part; you’ve seen the trailer, which looked pretty funny (in a dumb way), so you sit down, and you’re ready for a good time. And you keep waiting, and waiting, and hoping. You find yourself rooting for the movie to pick itself up, and get started. The grin that you’ve plastered on your face starts to get stiff, and eventually fades away. And after about twenty minutes, the sure signs of dread creep in, and you know it’s just not going to happen. I kept waiting for comedic lift-off, but to no avail. The lead actors are all fine, and although the premise is as old as the hills, that’s because it usually works; it’s hard to flub such an easy set-up.

But flub it they do. It’s difficult to ascertain exactly went wrong here. I suspect that a major problem with You, Me and Dupree was some severe post-production fiddling. Scenes arbitrarily cut out right when we’re expecting a payoff. Many scenes look chopped down to almost incomprehensible single frames (when Molly walks in on Dupree with the librarian, for example), which may suggest editing down for a more palatable rating. Clearly, the film was promoted as a follow-up, in spirit at least, to the previous year’s blockbuster, The Wedding Crashers. That raunchy comedy, which, although way overrated, delivered the goods with some solid laughs, was rated R; You, Me and Dupree gets a PG-13, and it shows. I’m not one for wanting more crass sexual humor in movies just for the sake of cheap sensationalism, but if you’re going to do it, then go all out. Do it right. Make me laugh. There’s just nothing laugh-out-loud funny in You, Me and Dupree, and so we’re left with the impression of, “So why am I watching this?”

The directors of You, Me and Dupree (that’s right, plural - it took two directors to come up with this inconsequential fluff), along with star Owen Wilson (who gets a producer credit, so I assume he had a big hand in the film’s conception), seem to think that we, the audience, will immediately find everything that Dupree does as instantly cute and delightfully charming and wacky (Oh look, he carries around a mouse head! He watches Woody Woodpecker!). But you have to work at getting that across to the viewer. You have to give them a solid base from which to launch that kind of character, but we don’t get that in You, Me and Dupree. Owen Wilson, shambling around a house in a T-shirt, ad libbing vaguely annoying New Age solipsisms, isn’t enough to stretch out an almost two hour movie. It’s tough to find any comedy today that can sustain such a running time, but here, it works badly against the concept. It also doesn’t help that the audience is always a good 15 minutes ahead of the plot. Perhaps the problem with You, Me and Dupree wasn’t in post-production; perhaps the real problem lies with screenwriters who try to work in movie shorthand (”We’ll just show Wilson doing crap; people will eat it up) and directors (I still can’t get over the fact that it took two guys to “direct” this thing) who can’t direct. There isn’t one scene in You, Me and Dupree that can be legitimately called “cinematic.” There’s no art here, no attempt to make a “movie,” or at least, the kind of movie that comedy directors like Preston Sturges or Billy Wilder knew. Where’s one decent set-up in You, Me and Dupree? Where’s one nicely composed shot? Where’s one inkling that the directors ever even saw a good film (by the way, guys, as far as the inclusion of the Roman Holiday clips that Dupree watches: never show scenes from your favorite films in your own film - it just illustrates how far you still have to go) You, Me and Dupree isn’t “moviemaking.” This is bad TV, blown up for the shopping malls. The sad thing is, I’m afraid there are less and less people out there who can tell the difference.

The DVD:

The Video:
You, Me and Dupree looks fine in this anamorphic widescreen 1.85:1 presentation. Colors are as bright as they can be (the film does tend towards a darker lighting scheme), and the image is sharp with a good bit rate.

The Audio:
The You, Me and Dupree audio soundtrack is presented in crystal-clear Dolby Digital 5.1. But it’s not exactly the most dynamic sound mix, so don’t expect a lot of separation. There are also French and Spanish language tracks, as well as English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

The Extras:
There are two commentary tracks on You, Me and Dupree. One features the directors of the film; the other includes the screenwriter and the producer. Why anyone would feel the need to listen to two commentary tracks for You, Me and Dupree is beyond me (as well as why anyone would feel the need to comment on it, for that matter). None of the major stars appear on these commentaries — that says a lot right there. There’s an alternate ending included, with or without commentary by the directors. It’s no better than the ending they came up with that’s on the film now (and which smacks a lot of the far superior What About Bob?). There are outtakes and deleted scenes, which add nothing to the film. There’s a feature called Dupree’s Memoirs, a scrapbook that features fictional memorabilia from Dupree’s life (such as a band-aid from his first bike crash). If as much thought that went into this clever scrapbook had been put into the movie, they might have had a genuine comedy on their hands. There’s also an extremely clever spoof trailer, that takes scenes from the movie, and turns the comedy into a horror film. It’s one of the few instances of wit on this disc.

Final Thoughts:
You, Me and Dupree is, unfortunately, entirely too symptomatic of the state of movie comedies today. Superficial, disjointed, without a shred of even the most basic cinematic techniques for movie comedies, You, Me and Dupree scores a zero for originality, art, and most tellingly, laughs. Skip it.

Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

Howard Hawks (”Man’s Favorite Sport?”/”A Song is Born”/”Scarface”)
directs this snappy screwball comedy built around a backstage farce and
makes it move as quickly as a speeding train, which happens to be where
most of it is set. It’s based on Charles Bruce Millholland’s hit play Napoleon
on Broadway. One of the sharpest ever comedy film scripts is turned in
by Charles MacArthur and Ben Hecht. The part of the flamboyant and suicidal
producer is a tailor-made role for John Barrymore to such an extent that
it verges on self-parody, while costar Carole Lombard proves she also has
a gift for hysterical sophisticated comedy and makes a good match for Barrymore.

Tempermental, pompous, possessive, eccentric and egomaniacal theater
impressario Oscar Jaffe (John Barrymore) changes the name of his latest
discovery, former lingerie model Mildred Plotka, to Lily Garland (Carole
Lombard), and after giving the gauche lady acting lessons she becomes an
instant stage star. After five straight hits, Lily can’t handle any more
her Svengali’s manipulative behavior or his fits of jealousy, and she skips
out on him for Hollywood. After a short time, OJ’s career is in decline
while Lily has become a big movie star. Running out on creditors in the
Windy City, OJ and his associates, the rummy press agent Owen O’Malley
(Roscoe Karns) and the always perplexed business manager Oliver Webb (Walter
Connolly), board the Twentieth Century train for NYC. OJ has to don a disguise
to get aboard the flyer, as a detective was stationed there to arrest him.
This prompts OJ to say “I never thought I could sink so low as to become
an actor.” To the scheming trio’s delightful surprise, Lily is aboard and
they spend their travelling time trying to hoodwink her into signing a
Broadway contract with them. Also aboard is a harmless lunatic who escaped
from the bughouse, Mathew J. Clark ( Etienne Girardot), who is plastering
the train with religious stickers that say ‘Repent for the time is at hand’
and with illusions of being a tycoon is writing big checks that are worthless.
OJ receives from Clark a check of $200,000 to back his newest Broadway
play.

Look Who’s Talking – Separate mam Mollie (Kirstie Alley) is forlorn through despite a honest manservant to fill the husband/father role in her flair. Unfortunately for the purpose her, her son Mikey (voiced by Bruce Willis) has differing views on who would pay for a better dad on the side of him and has his eye on brash cab driver and drive instructor James Ubriacco (John Travolta).

Look Who’s Talking Too – James, Mollie and Mikey are in the present climate a family and are adjusting to spirit with the latest addition, a baby Freulein named Julie (voiced by Roseanne Barr).

Look Who’s Talking Minute – The Ubriacco line note themselves the owners of two dogs, the streetwise Rocks (voiced by Danny DeVito) and the soberly-to-do Daphne (voiced by Diane Keaton). But which anyone require they keep?

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Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz

A pushy arthouse film that tries hard to push a hypothetical question
forward as to what would have been if Hitler succeeded as an artist and
thereby abstained from politics. It’s an interesting question, even if
the answer can only be assumed. Dutch-born director Menno Meyjes, a noted
screenwriter of such films as “The Color Purple“, directs the first
film he has written which centers on Adolf Hitler’s post-WWI years as a
30-year-old struggling artist in the Munich of 1918. Corporal Hitler is
back home from the war as a medal winner of the Iron Cross for fighting
in the frontline trenches during the crushing German defeat at the Battle
of Ypres– the turning point of the war. But returns home to find he has
nothing. There’s no girlfriend, family, friends, career, money, or home
(he lived in the army barracks at the time of the Versailles Treaty). He’s
armed only with his conviction that he’s a great artist and that he’s owed
something for his war experience. Hitler is made human, albeit, as a rather
despicable and hateful and humorless miscreant, but still a member of the
human race with personal yearnings. Meyjes explains how the Führer,
an everyman German type, a nobody, used his limited talent in the arts
to propel himself into becoming a first-class rabble-rouser and a propagandist
under the tutelage of a passionately hateful anti-Semitic Captain Mayr
(Ulrich Thomsen). He’s shown not as the Antichrist many would like to believe
is the real him, but as a pathetic nerd and sickly rigid little man who
was influenced by the times and found strength in his hateful self to strike
the right chord with the German people who needed a scapegoat for their
dire economic situation and emotional support for their poor self-concept.
He connected with the German people by blaming the Jews for everthing that’s
wrong in Germany, as he was also propping the German people up with his
Aryan superman philosophy he articulated in emotional street speeches.

The film felt all of these things: innovative, humorous, smug, limited
in scope, and stuck on its fictional account of the future madman. There
are also a series of art lectures delivered through the course of the film
that were preachy–not blending into the rhythm of the story–even though
they were thought-provoking.

Max is a fictionalized portrait of a pre-political Hitler’s love-hate
relationship with one-armed Jewish art dealer Max Rothman (John Cusack).
In fact, Max is a fictional composite of those Hitler may have met during
this time frame. Max got his wound in the war which prevented him from
pursuing an art career, but he returns to his wealthy bourgeois family
of his medical doctor father (David Horovitch) and his lovable stereotyped
clutching Jewish mother (Janet Suzman), and his lovely wife Nina (Molly
Parker) and two lovely children, and opens a successful art gallery selling
at high prices the newest rage in abstract art– Max Ernst, Monet, and
George Grosz paintings. He also has an attractive German mistress Liselore
Von Peltz (Leelee Sobieski), which makes Hitler furious at how the German
women are made into tramps.

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Max meets the sickly and desperate Hitler (Noah Taylor) at his warehouse
art gallery. Hitler, as a messenger, delivers him paintings. The snippy
and unlikable Hitler brings along his art portfolio for Max to look at
and talks disdainfully of the abstract artists ruining the world with their
debauchery. For Hitler art is a matter of eternal values whereby each generation
improves the last generation and art expresses the nobility in man. The
chain-smoking Max calls for an art that is not limited by subject matter,
but an art that reveals the depth of the artist and offers that magical
connection that raises the viewer’s greater instincts. The story builds
in tension showing the futile relationship between the Jewish art dealer
and the Nazi. It finally dissolves as violence rears its ugly head, with
Hitler finding his art in politics and power–which he calls the new art.

Though everything might be literate and smart, it never took off
and always seemed static. As a lecture on art and a dissertation on a monster
created by society, it was finely researched. But as a kinetic film experience
it lacked passion and drama. In its weakest moments it seems as if John
Cusack is not an actor playing Max but is really the successful and dapper
Hollywood actor John Cusack himself who meets a very good actor, Noah Taylor,
playing the author of Mein Kampf and the creator of the Holocaust. Cusack
comes away disappointed that he couldn’t make an artist out of the hopeless
soul he tried to mentor and befriend, even as he ranted on against the
Jews. “Max” was just loaded with the possibilities of ‘what if’ things
went in a different way. Obviously, they didn’t … so even this interesting
premise couldn’t alone save the film .

The Third Season

In 1998 the creators of 3rd Rock from the Sun introduced That ’70s Show. It’s a very hilarious sitcom that takes place in, believe it or not, the 70s. Located in a fictional suburb of Green Bay, Wisconsin known as Point Place, the series revolves around the comical daily interactions of the Forman family and their friends and neighbors. This third season has twenty-five great episodes and tackles similar issues as the earlier seasons like sex, drugs, dating, friendships, and family values. These issues turn into a few sticky situations that should leave you rolling over with laughter. Like the earlier seasons, the third is filled with some really great comedy, which is mostly due to its great cast and funny episodes.

For season three, there are a lot of fun episodes and stories. The first bunch we’ll talk about have to do with relationships. In the first two seasons Kelso and Jackie have been an item. In season two Jackie found out Kelso cheated on her with Laurie and they broke up. In this season Jackie sets her eyes on Hyde. Despite Hyde’s expressed dislike of Jackie, she continually pursues him and he finally asks her out on date in “Jackie Bags Hyde”. They find out the chemistry isn’t quite there. Meanwhile, Kelso is trying to make things work with Laurie, but also still has feelings for Jackie. As for Fez, this season marks his first girlfriend. Midway into the season, he meets a girl named Caroline. Unfortunately for him, she turns out to be a bit crazy in the head. This eventually turns into the fun episode “Fez Dates Donna”, where Fez pretends to date Donna to get away from his crazy girlfriend.

The other young lovebirds, Donna and Eric, are still together in this season. Many of the episodes are about their cozy little relationship. “Romantic Weekend” is a perfect episode about the couple. In it, Eric takes Donna away for a few days of romance. Unfortunately for Eric, he left the brochure for the bed and breakfast they are staying at on the counter and Red whisks Kitty away to the same place. When Eric and Red find out they’re staying in the same place, they try their best to pretend the other isn’t there, as not to disturb their romantic weekends. Of course nothing goes their way and when things get messed up, you’ll laugh. “Baby Fever” is another solid episode, where Eric and Donna image what their future will be like together. The reflection segments are an absolute riot.

The rest of the episodes we’ll look at are just plain silly. “Dine & Dash” is a ridiculous episode, where Kelso treats his friends to an expensive lobster dinner. When the meal is over, he informs everyone they are going to leave without paying. One by one they trickle out of the restaurant, leaving poor Eric alone. “Holy Craps” sees the return of Pastor Dave (Kevin McDonald, Kids in the Hall) and it is a blast. Kitty gets Red, Eric, Kelso, and Hyde to help at a church fundraiser. To Kitty’s dismay, they abuse their posts. The episode also includes a hilarious performance from Cheers‘ John Ratzenberger. Pastor Dave also shows up in “Eric’s Drunken Tattoo”. The episode has some great segments with Kitty, Red, and Dave.

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This season also has two episodes with the word panties in the title and they are unequivocally funny. In “Donna’s Panties”, Eric pulls down Donna’s pants in front of Fez, Hyde, and Kelso. She’s wearing big white cotton briefs and they start poking fun at her by calling her granny panties. It’s a Valentine’s Day Eric will never forget! The other episode “Eric’s Panties” has Eric afraid that Donna might be jealous of him because he is spending a lot of time with his attractive female lab partner. But she laughs at him and won’t believe an attractive girl like her would be interested, until she finds a pair of panties in the Vista Cruiser.

Saving the best for last, “Canadian Road Trip” is the funniest episode this season has to offer. Eric, Fez, Kelso, and Hyde join Leo on a road trip into our northern neighbor, Canada. There the drinking age is lower and the boys can legally purchase beer. Unfortunately, Fez doesn’t have his green card and the Mounties working border patrol are less than willing to let them return to the states. They’re convinced they are smuggling illegal aliens. How this episode builds and the way it concludes is pretty damn funny. It’s a fun episode you’ll want to over and over again.

Overall I was quite happy with season three. If you couldn’t tell from my reviews of season one or season two, I really love this show. The episodes in this season were just as rich, if not more, than what you find in past seasons. If you are looking to laugh over and over again, then season three of That ’70s Show has more than enough fun packed in its episodes. It comes highly recommended.

Episode Guide
1. Reefer Madness
2. Red Sees Red
3. Hyde’s Father
4. Too Old To Trick Or Treat, Too Young To Die
5. Roller Disco
6. Eric’s Panties
7. Baby Fever
8. Jackie Bags Hyde
9. Hyde’s Christmas Rager
10. Ice Shack
11. Who Wants It More
12. Fez Gets The Girl
13. Dine & Dash
14. Radio Daze
15. Donna’s Panties
16. Romantic Weekend
17. Kitty’s Birthday (That’s Today?!)
18. The Trials Of M. Kelso
19. Eric’s Naughty No-No
20. Holy Craps
21. Fez Dates Donna
22. Eric’s Drunken Tattoo
23. Canadian Road Trip
24. Backstage Pass
25. The Promise Ring

Case Number 05737

Saved!

Appellate Judge Dave Ryan never thought he'd enjoy a Macaulay Culkin film. Ever. Oh, how he was wrong…

In today's "values"-laden America, it takes guts to make a film
that satirizes religion.

Saved!

, a bitingly incisive critique of
unfocused religious fervor aimed at teens, was released last spring to rave
critical reviews. It also generated its fair share of controversy, mostly from
fundamentalist and evangelical Christians who thought their belief system was
being openly mocked by the film. In any event, like everything else released in
the spring and early summer it was completely overshadowed by that

other

film. You know—the one that was made by the

Lethal Weapon

guy. But it still did
reasonably well at the box office, and now

Saved!

is available on DVD for
your home viewing pleasure.

But Mary's perfect little Christian world is about to be rocked in a serious
way. Just before the school year starts, Dean admits to Mary that he thinks
(correctly) that he's gay. Mary, confused, attempts to "cure" him by
having sex with him. (She thought Jesus told her to do that. He didn't.)
Naturally, she becomes pregnant. Dean remains gay. Before school starts, Dean is
packed off to a "treatment center" called Mercy House to be de-gayed.
As the school year progresses, Mary has to deal with the consequences of her
pregnancy, her questions about whether her acts were sinful, and her attraction
to Patrick (Patrick Fugit,

Almost
Famous

), the son of the school's pastor, the semi-hip Pastor Skip (Martin
Donovan,

The Opposite of Sex

). As Hilary Faye and her über-Christian
clique recede further from the increasingly rebellious Mary, she forms an odd
bond with the exceedingly rebellious Cassandra (Eva Amurri,

The Banger Sisters

), the only
"Jewish" enrolled in the school, and Hilary Faye's handicapped brother
Roland (Macaulay Culkin,

Home
Alone

).

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And then there's the prom to deal with…

At heart,

Saved!

is a detailed spoof of the '80s-era John Hughes teen
comedies—but there are some who would have you think that it's a gob of
Satan's spittle directed at good-thinking Christians in our country. Where does
the truth lie? To the vast majority of people, including people of devout
Christian faith, the answer should be obvious: it lies within

you

; in
your personal belief system and how comfortable you are with your own faith.

Saved!

does not "mock" religion, it merely points out that

any

firmly-held belief system—be it Christianity, Notre Dame
football, or

Star Wars

—can be exploited, misinterpreted, or somehow
bent out of shape under certain circumstances.

Each character in this morality play has a different approach to their
faith. Everyone in the film is a good and honest Christian person (well, except
for Cassandra, of course), and everyone truly wants to do what they feel is
right. However, each character is also human—and humans have flaws and
foibles galore that often interfere with our noblest intentions.

Take, for example, Hilary Faye, the "villainess" of the film. Is
she an overbearing bitch at times? Of course she is—because a lot of
pretty girls are that way. The beautiful prom-queen busybody isn't unique to a
Christian high school. But on the other hand, Christian high schools aren't
exempt from bitchy prom queens, either, just because they're Christian. People
are people, you know. But what about Hilary Faye's Christianity? She does some
fairly outrageous things in the film, such as repeated attempts to convert
Cassandra. Is that a cause for us to dislike her, or hate her? No! For all her
flaws, Hilary Faye is doing what she thinks is the best for everyone—the
film makes that very clear. Her efforts are misguided not because Christianity
is bad, but because Hilary Faye's faith is too entangled with her own
self-image. Everyone wants to think they're special; Hilary Faye thinks she's
special because of her extreme (and externalized) devotion to Christ. She never
stops to reflect on whether her actions with respect to that devotion actually
conform to Christ's teachings, because that would be tantamount to
questioning—and therefore, potentially criticizing—herself.

There's a very basic, very Christian message in this film that, ironically,
is probably invisible to those who need to hear it the most. All of the
"bad" characters in the film (and I use the term "bad"
hesitantly; no one is really bad in the film—just misguided) share a
similar flaw: they think that faith, and Christianity, is all about themselves.
When Mary's pregnancy is discovered, Pastor Skip blames himself—he views
it as "punishment from God" for the relationship he and Lillian had
begun to explore. No, Skip—it's not about you. It's about Mary, and Mary's
choices. Similarly, in the oft-played scene where Hilary Faye throws her Bible
at Mary and says "I am

filled

with Christ's love!" (it was
included in every commercial for the film), the irony flies right past her head.
To Hilary Faye, Mary's spiritual doubt is tantamount to a direct attack, because
Hilary Faye's self-image is so closely tied to her very specific, personal
Christianity. It's funny that the Hilary Fayes in the real world are almost
certainly the ones rejecting this film as blasphemy, for that very same reason.
Irony…irony.

But leaving aside the theology for a moment, there's a more important
question at work here—is the film funny? Thankfully, the answer is
"yes"—but like the John Hughes films it parrots, the humor is
more melancholy and subdued than "ha-ha" funny. Writer/director Brian
Dannelly pulls out every teen movie cliché in the book (e.g. the awkward
social-climber trying to break into the in-crowd, the fish-out-of-water rebel,
the beautiful girl with an ugly past, and all your

Breakfast Club

favorites), but deploys them in a way that doesn't seem like a tired retread of
stuff we've seen before. Maybe it's just the Christian school setting that
breathes new life into these old jokes, but whatever it is, it works.

Also working for the film is the spot-on casting. With one exception, every
major character in the film was the first and only choice of the production team
for the role. Jena Malone has the right blend of innocence and intelligence to
make Mary a highly sympathetic character. Patrick Fugit's talent continues to
astound me. The Patrick character is almost a throwaway role—the kind of
just-show-up-and-look-good role Andrew McCarthy would have played back in the
day. But Fugit somehow manages to imbue Patrick with a lot of character, and
make him a memorable

person

in the film, all in the few scenes he has.
This kid may well be the best actor of his generation, and we get to see him as
a teenager. Heady stuff.

The biggest shock for me, by far, was seeing an adult Macaulay Culkin acting
his

Home Alone

butt off. He's
legitimately great in the film. Eva Amurri—Susan Sarandon's 19-year-old
daughter by director Franco Amurri (

Flashback

)—plays off of him well; they
make a quirky couple.

It's hard to be an adult in a teen movie, but Donovan and the
always-charming Parker almost steal the show. Their awkward and fumbling, but
highly endearing, relationship almost deserves its own film. Pastor Skip's
hip-hop preaching is hysterically uncool, but the kids eat it up, because he's
so obviously genuine. Lillian is one of the more realistic single mothers I've
seen on film, but is still quirky and entertaining. Their Valentine's Day dinner
(awkward and fumbling, of course) is uplifting and heartwrenching at the same
time. It's hard not to like either of these characters, and it's a shame that we
didn't get to see more of them.

There was, as mentioned above, one exception to the producer's dream-casting
run. Anne Hathaway (

The Princess Diaries

) was originally slated to play
the Hilary Faye role, but ultimately pulled out of the project in favor of

Ella Enchanted

. Hathaway is a gifted
actress who would probably have been terrific in the role—but the
producers lucked out here. Just a couple of weeks before shooting began, the
role was cast with teen singer Mandy Moore, who didn't really have a huge track
record as an actress. As it turned out, she was unquestionably the perfect
choice for the part. Moore's performance is a stand-out role in a stand-out
cast. Not only does she look perfect for the role (although they did mullet out
her hair a bit), but she makes Hilary Faye into a multifaceted character, rather
than a one-dimensional foil for Mary. She's clearly the "bad guy" in
the tale, but we never really reach the point of thinking that she's
irredeemable. It's a fine line to walk, and Moore walks it exceedingly well. I
think I'm going to have to reconsider my blanket condemnation of
female-pop-singers-turned-actresses now…

Picture and sound are pretty good on the whole. The widescreen transfer is
nice and crisp, and the Dolby 5.1 surround track is clear. There's a lot of
quality music in the film, and the surround track keeps the music sufficiently
loud and clear without drowning out dialogue or sound effects—that's
always a plus.

A decent assortment of extras rounds out the package. You get your usual
assortment of deleted scenes, which are all pretty solid. Most of these were
deleted to keep the film's MPAA rating down to a PG-13, so that the film's
target audience could actually see it. Along the same lines, there's a
"revelations" featurette that contains additional bits that were
edited out for ratings purposes. There's a fairly funny blooper reel, too, and a
run-of-the-mill behind-the-scenes featurette.

Two commentaries are provided: one by writer/director Dannelly, his writing
partner Michael Urban, and producer Sandy Stern; one with Jena Malone and Mandy
Moore. Surprisingly, the Malone/Moore commentary is far superior. They give us
more insight into the film, their characters, and the production than the
director, writers, and producers. (What were the odds of

that

?) Sure, at
times they're a couple of young women chattering on like young women often do,
but they're both pretty darned smart, and both have a lot of interesting things
to say. The Dannelly/Urban/Stern commentary suffers from having been recorded a
week before the film's premiere—the overwhelming message of the track is
"we're glad it's over and done with" and "we hope the film does
well." Sandy Stern is pretty annoying as well; he constantly interrupts
interesting stories by Dannelly and Urban to talk about how great someone was,
or other such unnecessary fluff.

"

Saved!

is a sad, bigoted, anti-Christian movie that mocks the
Christian faith. [It] is a hateful, politically correct movie. It is being
heavily marketed to the community it mocks to lead Christian youth astray and
make them resent their own faith.

"The one character who tries to preach the Gospel in the movie is
actually the villain. The heroine Mary, played by Jena Malone, has a vision that
Jesus tells her to fornicate with the school hunk in order to save him from
homosexuality. At the end, Mary learns that her only true friends are Cassandra,
a irreverent Jewish girl who claims to have been a stripper, and the villain's
brother, who denies being a Christian and lusts after the stripper.

"Cassandra is the real heroine who turns Mary away from the uptight
Christian students who believe in faith, values, and the power of prayer.
Imagine if this movie were set in an Orthodox Jewish school with faithful Jewish
children cast as the villains and a Christian girl shows how legalistic the
Jewish girls are. Or, what if it were set in an Islamic school with faithful
Muslims cast as the villains and a Christian or Jewish Girl exposes how
legalistic the Muslims are? The outcry in the press would be tremendous! Not to
mention the righteous outcry from Jews or Muslims! Looking at it from the point
of view of other faiths highlights how bigoted the movie

Saved!

is and
reveals how MGM is marketing it to Christian children to try to divorce them
from their faith!

"This is abhorrent and people of faith and faith must be
forewarned."

– Dr. Ted Baehr, founder of the Christian Film & Television
Commission

(quoted in Assist News Service press release, 5/11/2004)

After much trumpeting and fanfare, the 2008 animated chapter in George Lucas’s ongoing “Star Wars” story reached theaters, and it did so to a dissatisfying box employment. Did Lucas’s audience regard some of the luster taken off the series by the above-named three live-activity installments, plus a prior animated TV show on the national? Did audiences find the idea of an animated theatrical release of their favorite sci-fi movie series somehow demeaning? Or did they decent get “The Clone Wars” boring?

Perhaps a mean of each.

Ironically, any number of folks, myself included, contemplation that Lucas’s prequels already seemed cartoonish ample supply and that his two lead actors for Anakin Skywalker and Padme Amidala were as passionless as any impassioned characters. I’ve also heard people mean that Lucas seems to select working with CGI creations to working with sincere actors. It may be “The Clone Wars” was a natural ell of the man’s filmmaking preferences.

In the turn out that in the event of of “The Clone Wars,” however, Lucas was the executive in, not the reporter or director. Dave Filoni directed the movie; Henry Gilroy, Steve Melching, and Scot Murphy wrote it; and Catherine Winder produced it. These people obtain worked for the most part in TV, and for most of them “The Clone Wars” was their essential big-sieve experience. I also understand the movie was an introduction to the 2008 animated “Star Wars” small screen series, so I suppose it all works unacceptable.

The legend takes place somewhere in the middle of the “Star Wars” prequels, and what little show the movie has revolves around General Anakin Skywalker and General Obi-Sallow Kenobi attempting to rescue the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt. Jabba asks the Jedis for help in getting his son back, and the Jedis necessity Jabba’s help against the rebellious Count Dooku and his droid army. So it’s a tit-for-tat situation. And there is very little more to it than that. Everything else involves operation, shooting, chasing, flying, and fighting. The action never lets up. So far it’s such tautological and unnecessary influence, much of it there only for the very sake of action itself, that it post-haste becomes wearisome. What’s more, Anakin is a real-hearted hero, the quintessential good gyrate. There is no indication anywhere in the story that he will shortly turn to the Dark Side and become a given of the most crooked people in the galaxy.

The characters, the spaceships, the buildings, the costumes are so palsy-walsy aware that it looks similar to we’ve seen it all earlier; and, of course, we have seen it all done before in live effectiveness and in the older 2003-2005 animated TV show. Still, the filmmakers go out of their way to present the CGI animation appear as different as possible from anything we might have expected. The look of the characters, for example, is blocky and chiseled instead of particularized. There are no human being strands of hair’s breadth on heads or in beards but a solid mass that a sculptor might have in the offing carved from stone. The result is that the animation comes rotten looking strangely square and a lot cheaper than, divulge, a DreamWorks or Pixar vitality would look. Peradventure that’s the point. This movie introduces us to the television series, on which, understandably, the filmmakers must cut costs. In any event, this is a dominating wave fancy, and I should think audiences paying big bucks championing tickets be worthy of more safely a improved.

Moreover, the spokesperson characterizations fail to individualize the participants very much. Matt Lanter as Anakin, James Arnold Taylor as Obi-Wan, Tom Kane as Yoda, Ian Abercrombie as Chancellor Palpatine, Catherine Taber as Padme, Kevin Michael Richardson as Jabba all sound interchangeable. The filmmakers did manage to get a few disused names back–Samuel L. Jackson as Mace Windu, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, and Christopher Lee as Dooku–but they show up at best to go to a few minutes.

So, is there anything new here? Well, yes. We get Ashley Eckstein voicing a young maidservant, Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi in training assigned to Skywalker. She is his padawan, by which I assume she is his student. I assume, too, that the filmmakers intended her solely to attract a younger audience because she’s constantly wisecracking and breaking rules, the understanding of apostate that filmmakers as read kids profit from. She calls Anakin “Sky Take off,” and he calls her “Snips.” Cute. There is also a trendy villain, Asajj Ventress, voiced by Nika Futterman, who has little to do but look and sense that dangerous. Wide the only contemporary raise with any individuality is that of Jabba’s uncle, Ziro the Hutt, voiced by Corey Burton in a Truman Capote-cast drawl. At least it’s different.