CAST: Adam Sandler, Drew Barrymore, Rob Schneider, Sean Astin, Blake Clark, Dan Aykroyd
SYNOPSIS: Sandler plays a guy whose pastime is bedding tourists and then dumping them until he meets a local resident (Barrymore) at breakfast and immediately falls for her. He gets a dose of his own medicine when he discovers that because of an auto accident, she has no short-term memory. So he must meet her again and again for, in essence, the first time, hence the movie's title.
WHAT WE SAID: "For the most part, 50 First Dates is just another Sandler payday, rehashing the same shtick that made him rich," Times film critic Steve Persall wrote, giving it a C-plus. "He sings a silly song as usual, makes snide remarks to people he considers less cool than himself as usual and relies solely on the expression of a kid caught robbing the cookie jar for character development as usual."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; crude humor, sexual material, drug abuse, profanity
RUNNING TIME: 96 min.
Spartan
DIRECTOR: David Mamet
CAST: Val Kilmer, Derek Luke, Tia Texada, Ed O'Neill, William H. Macy, Kristen Bell, Said Taghmaoui SYNOPSIS: A Secret Service agent (Kilmer) is assigned to locate the kidnapped daughter of a U.S. president in a story that sounds typical but is full of twists that demand the viewer's constant attention.
WHAT WE SAID: "Spartan, in theory, is every other race-against-the-clock drama we've seen blowing up on screens," Persall wrote, giving it an A-. "In practice, it's entirely something else. Mamet may have overestimated what mainstream audiences will accept, but he also rebuts the popular notion that movies must tell the same stories the same old ways."
MPAA RATING: R; violence, profanity
RUNNING TIME: 106 min.
The Station Agent
DIRECTOR: Thomas McCarthy
CAST: Peter Dinklage, Bobby Cannivale, Patricia Clarkson
SYNOPSIS: Fin McBride (Dinklage) runs a shop for model train collectors until his aging partner drops dead, bequeathing the small depot to Fin. He moves in, drawing the attention of Joe Oramas (Cannivale), a hot dog vendor whose wagon is parked a few yards away. Meanwhile, a divorced alcoholic (Clarkson) also is seeking Fin's friendship.
WHAT WE SAID: "Since its warm reception at the Sundance Film Festival, a lot of buzz has circled Thomas McCarthy's low-budget, lower-key drama. Much of it involves the casting of Peter Dinklage, a 4-foot-6 dwarf, in the title role as a loner . . . However, The Station Agent is a movie of nice moments and easy, impromptu crises rather than a complete drama," wrote Persall, giving it a B-
MPAA RATING: R; profanity, brief drug content
RUNNING TIME: 88 min.
Teacher's Pet
DIRECTOR: Timothy Bjorklund
CAST: Voices of Nathan Lane, Megan Mullally, Paul Reubens, Kelsey Grammer, Jerry Stiller and David Ogden Stiers
SYNOPSIS: Disney's final gasps as a hand-drawn animation giant are marked by this, a frenetic cartoon about a talking dog disguised as a boy so he can attend school with his owner. Based on a defunct weekly cartoon on ABC-TV (also owned by Disney).
WHAT WE SAID: The Times did not review this movie.
MPAA RATING: PG; crude humor
RUNNING TIME: 68 min.
Touching the Void
DIRECTOR: Kevin Macdonald CAST: Joe Simpson, Simon Yates
SYNOPSIS: Documentary/re-enactment on how Simpson and Yates survived a horrific 1985 mountain climbing accident on Siula Grande in the Peruvian Andes.
WHAT WE SAID: "That Simpson and Yates are alive to tell their tale doesn't diminish the tension Macdonald creates," wrote Persall. "Taking cameras to places where rational folks don't go, Touching the Void becomes as immediate and suspenseful as their struggle must have seemed two decades ago."
MPAA RATING: Not rated, probably R for harsh profanity
RUNNING TIME: 106 min.
Tupac: Resurrection
DIRECTOR: Lauren Lazin
CAST: Tupac Shakur
SYNOPSIS: Documentary on the tough life and violent death of hip-hop star Tupac Shakur, a charismatic performer who died at age 25 when he was shot in Las Vegas eight years ago, after a violent melee at the MGM Grand following the Mike Tyson-Bruce Seldon fight.
WHAT WE SAID: Times correspondent Philip Booth gave the film a B, calling it "a moving account" that "inspires a gut reaction: His death was one terrible waste of talent."
MPAA RATING: R; profanity, drug use, sexual situations, violence
