Munich in English - selected by independent Locals for Cosmopolitans, Newcomers and Residents - since 1989

Register and login

March 2002

Fair Fare

Okay, if you've got nothing better to do

The Majestic**
(rated PG-13, 150 mins.)
It’s 1950 and a young, ambitious screenwriter, Peter Appleton (Jim Carrey), has it all until he gets into a car accident, resulting in amnesia. The memory loss is rather good timing, as the author was about to be blacklisted as a writer for Communist material. Suddenly he finds himself in small-town USA, where his “father” (Martin Landau) tells him that he’s his presumed dead son Luke from World War II. Suddenly “Luke” is the bell of the ball and the town hero. Ultimately Appleton testifies at a Senate committee, during which it is decided whether the amnesia sufferer should lead a life as a nobody that’s well loved or as a somebody in big trouble. Either way you won’t really care. Why? Because the storyline is simply too farfetched. It’s unbelievable that the townspeople would not notice that Appleton looks nothing like Luke after only nine years. Carrey, however, does pull off some slick acting (think The Truman Show) in this slow-moving nicey-nice Capra-type story directed by Frank The Shawshank Redemption Darabont.

Rollerball*
(rated PG-13, 96 mins.)
Jonathan Cross (Chris Klein) is an all-American hotshot who plays the fastest and most extreme sport of all time: Rollerball. Along with teammate Ridley (LL Cool J) and girlfriend Aurora (Rebecca Romijn Stamos), Jonathan lives a life of danger and speed at all times. When a bunch of Asian money-hungry TV show producers (who get their kicks from higher ratings) make things more dangerous by cutting a helmet chinstrap, all hell breaks loose. Whether Cross is on the rink or on the road with his hotrod Corvette, thrills, constant breakneck speed and head-slamming action is what his life is all about. And that’s all this film is about. It is a dizzy, upsetting mess of a movie that sells violence in sports with no rules and no penalties. And, every time you think the movie can’t get any worse, it does. In fact, at some point midway through the film you’ll wonder whether you’re in the right movie. The original version of this thriller, starring James Caan, was smart and dark. This one is dark and disturbing. One wonders if director John McTiernan (The Hunt for Red October, Die Hard) allowed his own kids to see it?

Crossroads**
(rated PG-13, 90 mins.)
After eight years apart, three childhood friends, Lucy (Britney Spears), Kit (Zoe Saldana) and Mimi (Taryn Manning) rediscover their friendship on a cross-country trip. With barely a plan, almost no money but plenty of dreams, the girls catch a lift with Mimi’s mysterious and scruffy-faced musician friend Ben (Anson Mount) in his 1973 Buick convertible. Lucy tries to escape an over-protective father (Dan Ackroyd) and find her mother (Kim Cattral) who deserted her at the age of three. This unoffensive flick is sort of a Thelma and Louise for young girls. And while Spear’s skillful, mechanical performance is similar to her entertainment persona on stage, it really doesn’t matter if we like her or not. This movie is for our daughters. And, they’ll adore it. Besides, if pop singer Mandy Moore can do it, why can’t Britney?

Spy Game**
(rated R, 125 mins.)
There was a time when CIA officer Nathan Muir (Robert Redford) and his protégé Tom Bishop (Brad Pitt) were inseparable, traveling the world and tasting everything it had to offer. Now, on the brink of his retirement from the agency, Muir learns that Bishop has gone rogue. This forces him to decide what he should do next in the ultimate spy game. Told in flashback form, Bishop is held hostage in China for espionage as the film follows the two men’s conflict-ridden relationship, from Berlin to Beirut. Though Spy Game is no masterpiece, Redford’s performance is strong, believable and, at times, compelling. No slouch himself, Pitt proves he is not all good looks.