By Timnes staff writer
Published September 11, 2003
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
DIRECTOR: George Clooney
CAST: Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Rutger Hauer, Maggie Gyllenhaal
SYNOPSIS: The strange and possibly true story of Chuck Barris, who claims he was a CIA assassin while creating TV's The Gong Show, The Newlywed Game and The Dating Game.
WHAT WE SAID: Times film critic Steve Persall gave Confessions a C+: "Whether Barris' secret sideline was true isn't relevant when we leave the theater. But for those two hours in the dark, we need to be convinced either that he's genuine or a lunatic. . . . One gets the feeling the filmmakers don't believe Barris but are too scared to contradict his version, in case it's true."
MPAA RATING: R; profanity, violence, sexual situations
RUNNING TIME: 113 min.
Bulletproof Monk
DIRECTOR: Paul Hunter
CAST: Chow Yun-Fat, Seann William Scott, Jamie King, Victoria Smurfit, Karel Roden
SYNOPSIS: Chow Yun-Fat plays a Tibetan Buddhist monk who in 1943 takes an assignment to guard a sacred scroll. Seeking a successor in 2003 takes him to North America, where he meets a brash pickpocket and theater projectionist (Seann William Scott), who somehow seems just right for the job. Along the way, there's a whole lot of brawling with Nazi offspring, subway punks and other unsavory characters.
WHAT WE SAID: Persall gave Bulletproof Monk a D. "An occasional wire stunt or one-liner works . . . but most of the movie is stuff we've seen and heard before, and no amount of editing, camera-speed adjustments or volume can change that. . . . This movie is a slouching tiger, with excitement draggin'."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; violence, profanity, sexual situations
RUNNING TIME: 104 min.
The Guys
DIRECTOR: Jim Simpson
CAST: Sigourney Weaver, Anthony LaPaglia
SYNOPSIS: Based on journalist Anne Nelson's play about helping a New York Fire Department captain deliver eulogies for the eight men in his 12-person company who died in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Sigourney Weaver, who appeared in the initial stage production of The Guys, also is the wife of director Jim Simpson. The play was recently performed in Tampa and will be produced in St. Petersburg.
WHAT WE SAID: The Times didn't review this film
MPAA RATING: PG; adult situations, language
RUNNING TIME: 98 min.
Malibu's Most Wanted
DIRECTOR: John Whitesell
CAST: Jamie Kennedy, Taye Diggs, Anthony Anderson, Blair Underwood, Regina Hall, Damien Dante Wayans, Ryan O'Neal
SYNOPSIS: Acting students Sean (Diggs) and P.J. (Anderson), don gangsta garb, get fake guns and a book on hip-hop slang to fulfill an unusual acting assignment. Their mission? To "scare the black" out of a Jewish rich kid (Jamie Kennedy) whose rap aspirations are embarrassing his father (Ryan O'Neal), who is running for California governor.
WHAT WE SAID: Times correspondent Philip Booth gave it a C: "Malibu's Most Wanted is neither politically incorrect nor clever enough to leave any lasting impressions. For a smarter alternative, revisit Bulworth."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; language, sexual themes
RUNNING TIME: 87 min.
The Core
DIRECTOR: Jon Amiel
CAST: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Stanley Tucci, Delroy Lindo, Bruce Greenwood, Alfre Woodard.
SYNOPSIS: When weird things happen, like pacemakers failing in Chicago and pigeons going berserk in London, the U.S. military investigates. A physicist discovers the Earth's liquid core has stopped spinning, wreaking havoc with the planet's magnetic field. So the scientists build a ship that can bore its way to the Earth's core, where they will detonate nuclear bombs, setting everything to rights.
WHAT WE SAID: Times correspondent Marty Clear gave The Core a D. "If you overlook the ludicrous premise, the massive logical lapses, the laughable special effects and the predictable plot, The Core might be an okay sci-fi adventure," he wrote. "Except it would still be boring."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; violence, content, language
RUNNING TIME: 125 min.
DysFunKtional Family
DIRECTOR: George Gallo
CAST: Eddie Griffin, Matthew Brent, Joe Howard
SYNOPSIS: Standup comedian Eddie Griffin tells of a family that features characters such as the lecherous uncle who videotapes his sexual encounters and shows them off. Most of the movie is a documentary on Griffin's stage act, a profane assault of n-words, homophobia, Muslim slurs and imagining Bill Cosby as a pimp and Sammy Davis Jr. working at McDonald's.
