Winking, blinking and nodding off.
Joy Ride***
The Deep End****
(rated R, 99 mins.)
From the moment the film opens, Margaret’s (Tilda Swinton) devotion to her family becomes clear as she sharply warns a local thug to stay away from her gay son, Beau (Jonathan Tucker). When Margaret finds the stranger—who has indeed been having a fling with Beau—dead in a ditch, she suspects her son of foul play and tries to dispose of the body in an effort to protect her child. Just when it seems she will manage to hide the evidence, Margaret is confronted by a blackmailer (Goran Visnjic of TVs ER). Though the thriller is frustrating to watch—you may wonder, for example, why Margaret continues to dig an even deeper hole instead of simply asking Beau if he had been involved—it is easy to get past the movie’s implausible threads. With powerful performances by Visnjic and Swinton, rich detail, a moody atmosphere and a deep and passionate portrayal of the power of maternal love, The Deep End floats to the top.
Zoolander***
(rated PG-13, 90 mins.)
World-renowned designer Mugatu (Will Ferrill) is planning to put on a huge fashion show. What does he need? A dimwitted model who can be manipulated into jello. Of course, “Fabio is too smart.” Enter Derek Zoolander (Ben Stiller), known for his “lemon pucker” expression. The big question: Can our protagonist, a character as goofy as Austin Powers, keep the audience laughing with two hours of “mojo-style” gags? Oh yeah! Zoolander’s hip soundtrack and unexpected cameos, including stars ranging from Winona Ryder to David Bowie, will keep you entertained while Stiller gesticulates and mists the catwalk with Evian. Add to these delights the chuckle-worthy performances of David Duchovny(The X-Files, Playing God), who plays a washed-up hand model, Jon Voight as his coalminer father and Stiller’s real-lifebride Christine (could-she look-any-more-like-Marcia Brady?) Taylor as a reporter. Though his real-life dad, Jerry Stiller, who plays agent Maury Ballstein, steals the scenes whenever he’s on screen, it is the junior Stiller who takes the credit for acting in, and directing, this late autumn laugh-a-thon.
What’s the Worst
that Could Happen?*
(rated PG-13, xx mins.)
When Kevin (Martin Lawrence), a professional con artist/thief, falls in love with Amber (Carmen Ejogo), she offers him a token of her love: her deceased father’s onyx and diamond ring. Soon thereafter, while on his next heist in a large Marblehead oceanfront mansion, the tables turn when Kevin robs Max Fairbanks (Danny DeVito) who, in turn, steals the thief’s prized jewel. Who knew a tiny ring could cause such a commotion? The two try to outdo each other in a story that features more unexplained nonsense than humor. Why would Amber, a lovely soft-spoken anthropologist want to be with a thief? What does DeVito’s wife, a Brahmin type from Beacon Hill, see in him? DeVito delivers a quality, Ruthless People-like performance and Lawrence is full of comic energy. But, aside from a handful of fun sidekick characters, including local Bostonian Lenny Clarke and a campy, gay detective William Fichtner, What’s the Worst that Can Happen? answers its own question: this movie.
