SYNOPSIS: High society and the working class mingle romantically as Nazi forces approach Paris, where a matinee idol (Adjani) is busy sorting out her many men.
WHAT WE SAID: Times reviewer Philip Booth, who gave the film a B+, wrote, "Rappeneau boldly gives a cleverly executed comic spin to a dark, distinctly unfunny period in his country's history: the summer of 1940. . . . Rappeneau deftly allows the various plot lines to unfold at an ever-quickening pace, with maximum grace, style and wit."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; language, some violence and sexual content
RUNNING TIME: 105 min.
Connie & Carla
DIRECTOR: Michael Lembeck
CAST: Nia Vardalos, Toni Collette, David Duchovny, Stephen Spinella, Alec Mapa, Chris Logan, Debbie Reynolds
SYNOPSIS: Vardalos and Collette, dressed as female impersonators, play women on the lam from the mob. Vardalos also wrote the script as she did for her surprise hit My Big Fat Greek Wedding.
WHAT WE SAID: Reviewer Rick Gershman gave the film a B+. "After a shaky (but concise) opening to set up its premise, Vardalos' (film) is abundantly entertaining, blending big laughs and musical numbers with credible romantic and dramatic touches," he wrote. "Connie and Carla is just the ticket for audiences in the mood for pure fun."
MPAA RATING: PG-13; sexual situations, mild profanity and violence
RUNNING TIME: 97 min.
Godsend
DIRECTOR: Nick Hamm
CAST: Greg Kinnear, Rebecca Romijn-Stamos, Robert De Niro, Cameron Bright
SYNOPSIS: Romijn-Stamos and Kinnear play grieving parents who meet a scientist (De Niro) who brings their dead son back to life, only he's not quite as he was before.
WHAT WE SAID: Gershman gave this one a D. He wrote, "We can't recall (De Niro) ever being just plain bad the way he is here. Romijn-Stamos is playing way out of her league as a grieving mother. Realizing this, Hamm gets her made up like she has a bad case of the flu, and she squints a lot. Only Kinnear seems to be giving it the old college try."
CAST: Ashley Olsen, Mary-Kate Olsen, Eugene Levy, Andy Richter, Drew Pinsky, Darrell Hammond, Jared Padalecki, Riley Smith, Andrea Martin
SYNOPSIS: Ashley and Mary-Kate Olsen play - what else? - twin sisters, these pursuing a music pirating ring.
WHAT WE SAID: Gershman gave the film a D+. "No offense to the man," he wrote, "but when ex-Full House patriarch Bob Saget gets the biggest laugh in the movie, you know you're in trouble."
SYNOPSIS: An FBI profiler (Jolie) tracks a murderer who adopts the identities of his victims.
WHAT WE SAID: Gershman reviewed this one, too, giving it a C-. "For its first hour, Taking Lives is exciting, suspenseful and sexy, and it delivers a few scares so shocking they could make you drop your Goobers. And then it falls apart," he wrote. "Halfway through the movie, you'll know who the killer is. The guy next to you will know. The couple watching Starsky & Hutch in the adjacent theater will know."
