FILM
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Broken Flowers
REVIEWS
Bill Murray kxiks more like a corpse than
ever in this Cannes Film Festival prize win
ner about a depressed businessman who
revisits old girlfriends, hoping to meet a
long-lost son who may or may not exist.
Writer/director Jim Jarmusch advances the
plot at a glacial pace, but the sad and
funny second half captures just how futile
it is to tinker with the past. The supporting
casts packs ixxlles of female firepower, with
spot-on performances from Frances Con
roy, Jessica Lange, Tilda Swinton and
Sharon Stone. B+
—Stephen Blair
Charlie and the
Chocolate Factory
rugby—and more. The
most compelling figure is
hothead coach Joe Soares,
who joins Team Canada
after getting kicked off the
U.S. team, suffers a heart
attack and reluctantly
comes to accept his 12-year-
old son’s preference for
violins over violence. A
—JR
Ex-Wonder Woman Lynda Carter, 54. comes to the rescue in The Dukes
of Hazzard (left) and Sky High.
As sweet as can be, Tim Burton’s remake of
the 1971 classic Willy Wonka deftly adapts the
children’s book, showcasing both gorgeous
visuals and a stellar cast. And while Johnny
Depp is uncomfortably Michael Jackson-like
creepy at times, more often he’s endearing and
tart. A delicious movie experience! A
—Andy Mangels
The Chumscrubber
Jamie Bell (Billy Elliot) plays a depressed
teen-ager in this suburban indie that strikes an
uncomfortable balance between quirky and
heavy subject matter. Add to that a desperate
sci-fi twist toward the end, and this Donnie
Darko wannabe starts to seem more like
Donnie Liteo. C+
—Jim Radosta
The Dukes off Hazzard
Take away the car chases and you’d have
about 25 minutes of film in this surprisingly
boring TV-to-film remake that had patrons
walking out of a free screening. Why cast two
hunks in the lead and never show any gratu
itous male skin like Jessica Simpson does?
Willie Nelson and Lynda Carter make the most
of minor roles, while a few race-related jokes,
a gay reference stolen from Serial Mom and the
end-credit bkx>pers are about the only other
things worth staying awake for. D+
—AM
Murderball
This triumphant documentary tells us
everything we wanted to know about the
wheelchair-smashing sport known as quad
Must Like Dogs
Directed and produced
by three-time Emmy Award
winner Gary David Goldberg (Famdy Ties, Spin
City), this clean-cut romantic comedy tells the
story of a divorced preschool teacher (Diane
Lane) who finds herself back in the dating
game. With her family getting involved in
finding the best potential suitor, Sarah braves
mismatches and first dates on her way to find
the perfect man. Every part is superbly cast
(Stixzkard Channing, John Cusack, Elizabeth
Perkins, Christopher Plummer and Dermot
Mulroney), and it is a pleasure to see these
great actors making the audience laugh—and
some of the singles cry, because real life isn’t
just like in the movies. B
—Yvonne P. Behrens
Saraband
Legendary director Ingmar Bergman returns
from semiretirement to revisit the long-
divorced couple (Liv Ullmann and Erland
Josephson) from his 1974 film Scenes from a
Marriage, using their bittersweet reunion to
frame the story of a young cellist’s (Julia Dufve-
nius) struggle to escape her smothering, posses
sive father (Borje Ahlstedt). Bergman’s exact
ing formality and tormented intimacy are com
pletely intact; Saraband is nearly perfect. A
—Christopher McQuain
Sky High
The story of the powerless son of two super
heroes going to a super-school, Sky High is a
teen movie, a high school flick and a superhero
film rolled into one, with the familiar elements
of each cleverly tweaked. Though the special
effects are dixlgy, the cast is fun, and there’s
both preteen humor and humor aimed at nos
talgic adults. Lynda Carter, in particular, steals
her scenes. Expect fun and lightness, and leave
pretensions of humorless heroes at the door. B
—AM
Undead
This Australian zombie movie has lots of
action and cheap special effects, a fkxxl of gore,
bad acting and a plot that even Einstein couldn’t
figure out. It’s really two movies—a zombie
flick with ordinary folk inexplicably turning
into flesh-gnawing freaks, and a sci-fi opus
about an alien attack on said folks. Undead
might have been helped by some extended
scenes of anal probing in the alien spaceship,
but no such luck. At least bear-watchers will
enjoy the hunky lead, who shows his big butt
in one scene. C+
—Gary Morris jFl
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