Jack Ryan (Owen Wilson) and Nancy Hayes (Sara Foster) cookin’ up trouble.
BY LOIS WADSWORTH
Temptation
The perfect score?
THE BIG BOUNCE:
Directed by George
Armitage. Written by Sebastian Gutierrez, from a novel
by Elmore Leonard. Produced by Steve Bing, Jorge
Saralegui. Executive producers, Zane Weiner, Brent
Armitage. Cinematography, Jeffrey L. Kimball.
Production design, Stephen Altman. Editors, Brian
Berdan, Barry Malkin. Music, George S. Clinton. Starring
Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman, with Gary Sinise,
Sara Foster and Charlie Sheen. Also, Willie Nelson,
Vinnie Jones, Bebe Neuwith, Harry Dean Stanton.
Warner Bros. Pictures, 2004. PG-13. 107 minutes.
OPENING OR RETURNING:
Barbershop 2 Back in Business: Ice Cube,
Cedric the Entertainer and the barbers are
back at Calvin’s Barbershop, with hair stylist
Queen Latifah next door. PG-13. Cinemark.
Beatles, The: Celebrate the 40th anniver-
sary of the Beatles on “Ed Sullivan Show.”
Includes other performance footage, some
never seen before. Weekend LateNite and
Sat. matinee, Bijou.
Brubaker (1980): Reform-minded prison
warden (Robert Redford) on state prison
farm. Great cast includes Morgan Freeman,
Yaphet Kotto, M. Emmet Walsh. R. At 7 pm
on 2/5 in 180 PLC. Free.
Catch That Kid: Bart Freundlich directs this
caper film about three smark kids on a mis-
sion without permission. Stars Kristen
Stewart, Corbin Bleu, Max Thieriot, Jennifer
Beals, Sam Robards, John Carroll Lynch and
James LeGros. PG. Cinema World. Cinemark.
Cuckoo (Russia, 2002): Directed by
Alexander Ragozhin. Two wounded soldiers,
a Russian and a Finn, are cared for by a Lap
war widow on her farm. At 8:15 pm on 2/9 in
115 Pacific Hall, UO. In Russian with English
subtitles. Free..
Girl With the Pearl Earring: Scarlett
Johansson and Colin Firth give consummate
performances in this underrated, lovely film
about Vermeer and the model for his
famous, mysterious painting. Based on Tracy
Chevalier’s best-selling novel. Very highest
recommendations. PG-13. Cinema World. See
review this issue.
Gothika: Halle Berry plays a criminal psy-
chologist who blacks out and comes to
accused of murdering her husband (Charles
Dutton). Now she’s a patient in his hospital.
Directorial debut of Mathieu Kassovitz. Also
Penélope Cruz, Robert Downey Jr., Bernard
Hill. R. Movies 12.
Graduate, The (1967): Dustin Hoffman and
Anne Bancroft give stellar performances as
bed fellows in Mike Nichols’ robust sex com-
edy. One of American Film Institute’s Top
100 Films. Nichols won Academy Award for
his excellent direction. PG. At 7 pm on 2/11 in
214 McKenzie Hall, UO campus. Free.
Miracle: The: 1980 US Ice Hockey team
beat the greatest team in the world (the
Russians) at the Olympics. Stars Kurt Russell
as the coach of this inspiring tale of a
sports-world miracle. PG. Cinemark. Cinema
World.
Films open the Friday following EW publi-
cation date unless otherwise noted. See
archived reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
FRANK CONNOR. UNIVERSAL PICTURES, 2004
T
his feel-good, surfin’ movie attract-
ed me for two reasons: The Big
Bounce is based on a novel by
Elmore Leonard, one, and Willie Nelson
and Harry Dean Stanton make rare movie
appearances here, that’s two.
Like many other readers, I find
Leonard’s taut dialogue and the generous
affection he holds toward small-time crimi-
nals endearing. And although many of his
works have been made into movies, only a
few of the movies are memorable: Get
Shorty, Jackie Brown or Out of Sight. I’m
sorry to report that writer Sebastian
Gutierrez (Gothika) and director George
Armitage (Grosse Point Blank) have made
a botch of things here with the second
Hollywood movie based on The Big
Bounce, Leonard’s first crime novel that’s
not also a Western. Bounce’s dialogue
includes a few funny bits, but none occur to
me now. The bush-league crooks are rela-
tively harmless but not indelible characters.
The emphasis is decidedly on girls in biki-
nis, guys on surfboards, big waves and
vacation houses — a cynical but smart mar-
keting decision. The downside: Everyone at
the party in Hawaii has more fun than any-
one in the audience.
Maybe you think, well, the actors were
good, right? Wrong. Owen Wilson plays the
Owen Wilson character he’s made a career
out of — a laid-back, fast-talking, criminal-
leaning dude. No substance. What happened
to the actor who played the Owen Wilson
character in The Royal Tennenbaums or
Zoolander? He showed promise. Now
Wilson promises more of the same. If
you’re a big Wilson fan, his likeability may
be enough for you, but if you entertain high-
er expectations, you’re out of luck.
Morgan Freeman shows the same whim-
sical sparkle as an island judge he’s shown
CONTINUING:
Along Came Polly: Ben Stiller plays
Reuben, a hapless husband whose bride
dumps him. Then he meets up with a child-
hood friend, Polly (Jennifer Aniston). Also
stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hank Azaria,
Bryan Brown and Alec Baldwin. John
Hamburg directs. PG-13. Cinema World.
Cinemark.
Big Bounce: Owen Wilson, Morgan Freeman,
Gary Sinise, Willie Nelson, Vinnie Jones,
Bebe Neuwirth and Charlie Sheen star in
this comedy based on an Elmore Leonard
novel. Directed by George Armitage. PG-13.
Cinema World. Cinemark. See review this
issue.
Big Fish: Tim Burton’s film about a son
(Billy Crudup) who tries to figure out his
father’s (Albert Finney) life through the wild
stories he’s told. Also stars Ewan McGregor,
Helena Bonham Carter, Danny DeVito,
Jessica Lange, Alison Lohman and Steve
Buscemi. Truly wonderful film; highest rec-
ommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Online
archives.
Brother Bear: Disney tale of young man
who is transformed into a bear and his
adventures in the great Northwest. He picks
up a bear cub and runs into a pair of mis-
guided moose, or is that meese? Six new
songs from Phil Collins, including one with
Tina Turner. G. Movies 12.
Butterfly Effect: The trailer is about a
young man (Ashton Kutcher) who time trav-
els back to the past to fix the broken lives of
a childhood girlfriend (Amy Smart) and his
friends, Lenny (Eldoen Henson) and Tommy
(William Lee Scott). R. Cinemark.
Calendar Girls: Spunky members of a
woman’s club in Yorkshire, England poses
naked to raise money for medical research
after one’s husband gets leukemia. Stars
Helen Mirren, Julie Walters and John
Alderton. Based on a true story. Nigel Cole
directs. PG-13 Cinemark. Online archives.
Cat in the Hat, The: Mike Meyers stars as
the outrageous feline who visits a couple of
kids and wreaks havoc in the house while
mom’s away. With Alec Baldwin, Kelly
Preston. Reviewers don’t recommend. PG-13.
Movies 12.
Cheaper by the Dozen: Steve Martin and
Bonnie Hunt play the parents of 12 children,
including Piper Perabo, Hilary Duff and Tom
Welling. Directed by Shawn Levy. PG.
Cinemark.
Cold Mountain: Anthony Minghella’s adap-
tation of Charles Frazier’s Civil War best-sell-
er stars Jude Law as a wounded Southern
soldier walking home across the mountains,
Nicole Kidman as his pre-war sweetheart,
and Renee Zellweger as a young drifter who
teaches her to farm and survive. Elegaic.
Excellent performances, beautiful film. Very
highest recommendations. R. Cinema World.
Cinemark. Online archives.
Cooler, The: William H. Macy, Maria Bello
and Alec Baldwin star in this Vegas-set
romance thriller directed by Wane Kramer.
Sex and violence, a few sweet moments. R.
Bijou. Online archives.
Elf: Jon Favreau directs and Will Farrell
stars as an elf who doesn’t look like the
other kids, er, elves. The big elf searches for
his biological father (James Caan) in New
York. PG. Movies 12.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986): John
Hughes directs this high-school classic star-
ring Matthew Broderick, Jennifer Grey,
Charlie Sheen, and many others. PG-13.
LateNite Bijou.
In America: Jim Sheridan’s memoir of liv-
ing in New York in 1981 with his wife and
two daughters is a heartfelt film that stars
Samantha Morton, Paddy Considine, Sarah
Bolger and Emma Bolger. Very highest rec-
ommendations. PG-13. Bijou. Online
archives.
Last Samurai: Edward Zwick directs. In
Japan, US Civil War hero Nathan Algren
(Tom Cruise) trains the Emperor’s troops in
the way of the gun as they take on the last
samurais. Algren is captured by Katsumoto
(Ken Watanabe) and falls under samurai tra-
ditions and codes of honor. R. Cinemark.
Online archives..
Looney Tunes: Mixed animation/ live action
directed by Joe Dante, stars Bugs Bunny,
Daffy Duck, Brendan Fraser, Jenna Elfman,
Steve Martin, Timothy Dalton, Joan Cusack,
Heather Locklear. PG. Movies 12.
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King:
Peter Jackson completes Tolkien’s trilogy on
film, and the result is stunning. Stars Elijah
Wood, Viggo Mortensen, Sean Astin, Ian
McKellen, Billy Boyd, Orlando Bloom, Liv
Tyler, Cate Blanchett. In parallel stories
Frodo and Sam make it to Mount Doom as
the warriors of Middle Earth under the lead-
ership of Aragorn (Viggo Mortensen) fight
the final battle against the forces of the evil
Sauron. Very highest recommendations.
Brilliant! Cinema World. Cinemark. Online
archives.
Lost in Translation: Directed by Sofia
Coppola (The Virgin Suicides), this highly
acclaimed film was shot entirely on location
in Japan. It stars Bill Murray and Scarlett
Johansson as lonely Americans in a Tokyo
hotel who become friends. With Giovanni
Ribisi. Very highest recommendations. R.
Cinema World. Online archives.
in other bad movies but little of the thought-
ful awareness that marked better perform-
ances (Driving Miss Daisy, Shawshank
Redemption, Amistad). Sara Foster plays the
girl in the bikini. Gary Sinise, as the shady
developer of a beachfront hotel, is barely
present as a character at all. Bebe Neuwirth
landed one of the better supporting roles as
Sinise’s bitch-wife, with murder in her
heart. She flounces around with a silly para-
sol and is rude to everyone.
Charlie Sheen is miscast as the develop-
er’s strong man. He looks ineffective, with
facial hair that fails to instill confidence.
Sheen is suitably oily, however. Willie
Nelson and Harry Dean Stanton play them-
Love Actually: Written and directed by
Richard Curtis (Bridget Jones’s Diary), this
romantic comedy stars Hugh Grant, Liam
Neeson, Colin Firth, Laura Linney, Alan
Rickman, Emma Thompson, Keira Knightley,
Martine McCuthcheon, Bill Nighy. Good fun.
Highly recommended. R. Movies 12. Online
archives.
Master and Commander The Far side of
the World: Peter Weir brings the late
Patrick O’Brian’s best-selling nautical adven-
tures to the screen with Russell Crowe as
Captain Jack Aubrey and Paul Bettany as Dr.
Stephen Maturin, ship surgeon and natural-
ist. Set during the Napoleonic Wars. Highest
recommendations. PG-13. Cinemark. Online
archives.
Matrix Revolutions: Keanu Reeves,
Laurence Fishburne and Carrie-Anne Moss
are back for the third (and final?) Matrix
episode. Written and directed by the
Wachowski Brothers. Produced by Joel
Silver. R. Movies 12.
Missing, The: Ron Howard directs Cate
Blanchett and Tommy Lee Jones as an
estranged daughter and father in this
Western set in 1885 New Mexico. Blanchett,
seeking to avenge her daughter’s (Evan
Rachel Wood) kidnapping, reluctantly joins
forces with her despised old man. R. Movies
12.
Mystic River: Directed by Clint Eastwood;
written by Brian Helgeland, based on the
novel by Dennis Lehane, this dramatic
tragedy stars Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Kevin
Bacon, Laurence Fishburne, Marcia Gay
Harden, Laura Linney and Emmy Rossum.
Very highest recommendations. R.
Cinemark. Online archives.
Perfect Score, The: Cast includes Erika
Christensen and Scarlett Johansson in this
tale of six high-school students who band
together to heist the SAT. PG-13. Cinemark.
Peter Pan: Directed by P.J. Hogan, movie
stars Jason Isaacs, Jeremy Sumpter, Richard
Briers, Olivia Williams, Lyn Redgrave,
Ludivine Sagnier and Rachel Hurd-Wood. PG.
Movies 12.
Radio: High school football coach (Ed
Harris) shocks a Southern town by taking on
a mentally challenged youth (Cuba Gooding
Jr.) and developing a decades-long friend-
ship with him. Also stars Alfre Woddard and
Debra Winger; directed by Mike Tollin. PG.
Movies 12.
School of Rock: Faking it as a substitute
teacher, wild guitarist Jack Black turns ele-
mentary musical prodigies into a high-volt-
age rock band. Directed by Richard Linklater,
it also stars Joan Cusack, Mike White and
Sarah Silverman. PG-13. Movies 12.
selves at a poker table. Offscreen pals, they
must have flown in for a pleasant weekend
to make the movie.
The only way this picture is going to get
good press is if the studio flies the critics to
Oahu for a long weekend to rest up for the
rigors of writing about the scenery. The
North Shore does look tempting.
The Big Bounce is a Big Flop. I fear it is
an omen of more of the same to come. So
far, 2004 films are dismal. Wintertime is the
right time to stay home and read a good
book. Elmore Leonard has a new one: Mr.
Paradise. According to critics, it’s hot. The
Big Bounce, now playing at Cinema World
and Cinemark, isn’t.
ew
Something’s Gotta Give: Directed by
Nancy Meyers. Harry Sanborn (Jack
Nicholson) is a New York music mogul with a
libido much younger than his years. Also
stars Diane Keaton, Amanda Peet and Keanu
Reeves. PG-13. Cinemark. Online archives.
Stuck on You: The Farrelly Brothers
(Something About Mary) direct this story of
joined twins Bob (Mat Damon) and Walt
(Greg Kinear). Walt convinces Bob to move
to L.A. so he can become an actor. But suc-
cess threatens to drive them apart. Also
stars Cher, Eva Mendes and Seymour Cassel
plus big name cameos. PG-13. Movies 12.
Timeline: Richard Donner directs screen
adaptation of Michael Crichton’s novel about
archaeologists on a dig who time travel back
600 years to rescue their teacher, trapped
in 14th century France. Stars Paul Walker,
Frances O’Connor, Billy Connolly, David
Thewlis. PG-13. Movies 12..
Under the Tuscan Sun: Diane Lane plays
writer Frances Mayes in this screen adapta-
tion of her best selling book about buying a
run-down villa in Italy and creating a new
life. Escape from real life — beautiful people,
gorgeous scenery, everybody’s got money.
PG-13. Movies 12. Online archives.
Win a Date with Tad Hamilton: Kate
Bosworth, Topher Grace and Josh Duhamel
star in this teen romance comedy directed
by Robert Luketic. PG-13. Cinemark.
You Got Served: In competitive street
dancing, crews battle each other for money
and respect. Cast includes Marques Houston,
Omarion, Raz B, J Boog and Lil’ Fizz. PG-13.
Cinemark.
Bijou Art Cinemas (686-2458)
Cinema World 8 (342-6536)
Cinemark 17 (746-5202)c
Movies 12 (741-1231)
New Releases on Video
Releases subject to change. Available the Tuesday following date of EW publication, some-
times sooner. See archived movie reviews at www.eugeneweekly.com
In the Cut: In Jane Campion’s grossly underrated psychological thriller from 2003, Meg
Ryan plays a credible, lonely woman involved with a tough homicide detective investigating
murders in her neighborhood. Ryan’s best performance ever is matched by the always
excellent Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Jason Leigh. Explicit sexuality, sex talk. Graphic evi-
dence of violence. Very highest recommendations. R.
Ingmar Bergman Special Collection includes Bergman’s The Hour of the Wolf 1968, The
Passion of Anna (’69), Persona (’66), The Serpent’s Egg and Shame (‘68) plus bonus disc
on Bergman’s cinematographer, Sven Nykvist: With One Eye He Cries.
Intolerable Cruelty: The Coen brothers comedy about L.A. divorce attorney Miles Massey
(George Clooney), who falls for gold-digger Marylin Rexroth (Catherine Zeta-Jones). Also
stars Geoffrey Rush, Cedric the Entertainer, Billy Bob Thornton, Edward Herrmann and
Richard Jenkins. PG-13. Online archives.
Once Upon a Time in the Midlands: Writer, director Shane Meadows’ film set in
Nottingham stars Robert Carlyle and Rhys Ifans as rivals for Shirley Henderson’s love.
Briefly played Eugene. R.
Returner (Japan, ‘03): The Village Voice calls Takashi Yamazaki’s film “A shamelessly recy-
cled vision of decrepit high tech.” Stars Takeshi Kaneshiro, Ann Suzuki, Goro Kishtani in a
back-to-the-future tale of battles between humans and robots. Ho hum.
Stone Reader: Critically acclaimed 2002 documentary directed by Mark Moskowitz about
his search for Dow Mossman, the author of the novel, “The Stones of Summer.” DVD
includes commentary by director and author as well as interviews, extras.
Wonderland: James Cox directs this 2003 biopic of 1970s porno star, John Holmes, aka
Johnny Wadd, as played by Val Kilmer. Also stars Kate Bosworth, Lisa Kudrow, Dylan
McDermott and Christina Applegate. DVD extras include deleted scenes, LAPD crime
scene video, autopsy report, and more on Holmes. Sensationalistic picture didn’t wow crit-
ics. R.
Next week: Blow Up (1966), City of God, The Damned, Death in Venice, Mambo
Italiano, The Pentagon Papers and Runaway Jury.
FEBRUARY 5, 2004 29