Now Playing

The following are capsule reviews of films currently playing in local theaters.

NEW RELEASES

Speed Racer ( 1/2): An overwritten, frantically stylized adaptation of the 1960s anime series, "Speed Racer" may add a few colors to the rainbow, but it adds nothing to the movies. And revolutionary filmmaking is what we've come to expect from directors Andy and Larry Wachowski ("The Matrix"). The racing scenes are less interesting as action sequences than as wild experiments in color. Everything blurs together in "Speed Racer," so that you rarely get a pure red, blue or white but instead a melted combination of the three - sort of like those Bomb Pops after they've been out in the sun. After more than two hours of this, "Speed Racer" left me feeling as if I'd also been out in the sun too long. Rated PG (violence, language); 127 minutes. - JL

What Happens in Vegas ( 1/2): While watching insipid romantic comedies, I often cling to the comic supporting characters as my life preserver. Rob Corddry and Lake Bell are hardly the stars of "What Happens in Vegas" - they play the respective best friends of the leads, Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz - but they are far and away the most entertaining element of the movie. They rescued me, though I can't really say they rescued the film, which plays the usual narrative game of Twister to make Kutcher and Diaz fall for each other, hate each other and fall for each other again. Rated PG-13 (language, crude sexual humor); 95 minutes. - JL

ACTION

The Forbidden Kingdom ( ): After seeing Jackie Chan and Jet Li face off for the first time in "The Forbidden Kingdom," I still can't tell you which one is the better fighter. I can tell you that their movie stinks. A juvenile piece of cultural appropriation, "The Forbidden Kingdom" doesn't even have the good manners to focus on the two martial-arts masters. Instead the picture stars Michael Angarano ("Sky High") as a contemporary kung-fu geek who gets magically transported to the title kingdom. That's where Chan and Li have a duel that is inventive and acrobatic, if a few steps slower than it might have been had they faced each other in their prime. Rated PG-13 (violence); 97 minutes. - JL

Iron Man ( 1/2): Now this is my "Transformers" - an action extravaganza with all the visual goods, plenty of wit and even something of a conscience. An invaluable Robert Downey Jr. plays Tony Stark, a hedonistic weapons designer who reaps the benefits of a warring world. After nearly losing his life to his own inventions in Afghanistan, though, Stark decides to use his latest stroke of genius, a robotic suit, to defend those caught in the world's crossfire. Downey and director Jon Favreau offer Stark as a compelling stand-in for the current, cracked American psyche. He has our willful naiveté, our ensuing guilt and our irrepressible need to still think of ourselves as the world's savior. Rated PG-13 (violence, brief sexuality); 120 minutes. - JL

BOLLYWOOD

Tashan ( ): When a mobster hires call-center operator Jimmy Cliff (Saif Ali Khan) as an English tutor, Jimmy gets into trouble and winds up on a wacky road-trip with a beautiful thief and a sneering thug. Akshay Kumar is hilarious as the thug who resents Jimmy, a man frequently praised for speaking "just like George Bush." The jokes, many of which are in English, are funny and make up for the clumsy action sequences. Not rated; (violence, language); 148 minutes. - KG

COMEDY

Baby Mama ( ): This isn't nearly as funny as it should have been, but it has enough fizzy moments. As Kate Holbrook, Fey offers an extension of her "30 Rock" persona - the successful career woman who is nonetheless tempted by "traditional" womanhood - and she shows real, big-screen charisma. Also ably handling the largest part of her career is "Saturday Night Live" player Amy Poehler, who actually underplays the crass, cash-strapped woman who agrees to be the surrogate for Kate's baby. Poehler and Fey play off of each other hilariously - what a relief to see two women allowed to riff with the same screen time usually given to the "Superbad" boys. Rated PG-13 (language, crude and sexual humor); 97 minutes. - JL

The Band's Visit (not reviewed): A traveling police orchestra from Egypt gets lost while on tour in Israel and winds up spending the night in a small town. Rated PG-13.

Forgetting Sarah Marshall ( ): Producer Judd Apatow may be pushing his casting luck with the bland Jason Segel, who plays a music composer trying to recover from being dumped by a television star (Kristen Bell). Thankfully Segel, an Apatow regular, also wrote the script, which in between the outrageous sexual high jinks actually owns up to the reality that there is an emotional component to sex - even for men. Rated R (language, graphic sexuality and nudity); 111 minutes. - JL

Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay ( ): Like its predecessor, this second outing laces its copious gross-out gags, pothead humor and female nudity with the smartest social satire this side of "The Daily Show." As the title suggests, "Guantanamo Bay" is even more brazen about its politics. After Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) are mistaken for terrorists on a flight to Amsterdam, they're sent to Guantanamo Bay by a rabidly racist homeland security honcho (Rob Corddry in ultimate ugly American mode). The pair manages to flee before the torture begins, only to run into more emblems of American ignorance, from the Ku Klux Klan to George W. Bush. Rated R (graphic language, nudity and sexuality); 98 minutes. - JL

Leatherheads ( ): Well, one thing's for sure, you can't accuse George Clooney of making the same movie every time. This time he brings us "Leatherheads," a 1920s football screwball comedy. Still, it has more going for it than simply being unique. One of the real stars is the superior script by Duncan Brantley and famous sportswriter Rick Reilly. It's really funny, but also has enough heart that you care about the characters. This is a rare movie comedy that actually has a story to tell and can be seen - and laughed at - by the whole family. Rated PG-13 (brief strong language); 115 minutes. - WFW

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day ( 1/2): A delirious and delightful farce that showcases the considerable skills of Frances McDormand and Amy Adams. McDormand plays a down-on-her-luck nanny who has just been fired from her third job in 1939 London. Desperate for employment, she passes herself off as a "social secretary" to a daffy American actress (Adams) who is juggling multiple men in an attempt to make it big on the London stage. McDormand's anti-Mary Poppins turn is a nice foil for Adams, who proves once again that she's the closest thing we have right now to a classic Hollywood comedienne. Rated PG-13 (brief nudity, innuendo); 92 minutes. - JL

Superhero Movie ( ): This spoof flick relies on so much forced comic violence that you watch the picture wincing. Drake Bell stars as a Spider-Man knockoff named Dragonfly, while other roles are filled by the likes of Leslie Nielsen, Christopher McDonald and Pamela Anderson. As the Invisible Woman, Anderson appears for about 15 seconds - and most of that time you can't see her. That should serve as further evidence of the limited imaginations of the filmmakers. After all, if Pamela Anderson is invisible she's pretty much completely useless. Rated PG-13 (crude and sexual humor, violence); 76 minutes. - JL

DOCUMENTARY

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed ( ): This documentary raises some interesting questions about the fallibility of evolutionary theory, but it does so in such a smug, disingenuous and self-serving manner that it's hard to take it seriously. At its best, "Expelled" doesn't pretend to offer an alternative answer to the origin of life as much as it argues that the scientific community may not actually have the right answer just yet. Unfortunately, host and cowriter Ben Stein reaches for more, muddying the issue by bringing up atheism and - in a particularly galling stretch - equating Darwinism with Nazism. A more focused, less pandering documentary would have come across as far more intelligent. Rated PG (mature themes); 98 minutes. - JL

Shine a Light ( ): I don't think there is anything wrong with having had high expectations for "Shine a Light." The Rolling Stones are arguably one of the five best rock bands ever. But audiences deserved better than this. At least director Martin Scorsese brings some great close-ups of the band during the performance, and the sound editing is fantastic. No matter where the focus of the camera is, each instrument is distinct. But, this is bound to divide audiences. Scorsese fans hoping to see their master redefine the documentary genre are likely to be let down. Stones fans will get a rare close-up of the band that can still bring it, though maybe not as consistently. Rated PG-13 (brief strong language, drug references and smoking), 122 minutes. - MD

DRAMA

21 ( 1/2): It's awfully hard to make Las Vegas look boring, but this based-on-fact story about a group of MIT math students who count cards at blackjack tables does its best. From its glum lead actor (Jim Sturgess) to its crummy digital cinematography (poor Kate Bosworth looks like she's pushing 50), "21" is the anti-"Ocean's Eleven." You'd find more glamour and excitement at the local OTB. Rated PG-13 (violence, brief sexuality); 123 minutes. - JL

The Bucket List ( ): There is only one way "The Bucket List" could possibly have been entertaining: if Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman had switched roles. A male weepie lacking both shame and creativity, "The Bucket List" stars Nicholson as a playboy millionaire suffering from terminal cancer, and Freeman as a stoic car mechanic in the same predicament. The two men share a hospital room, where they bond and talk about the things they want to do before they die (including drive race cars like the Duke boys). Thanks to a medical miracle - or at least a screenwriting contrivance - they get a last window of good health to tackle their list. Rated PG-13 (language); 97 minutes. - JL

The Counterfeiters (not reviewed): Based on the true story of German counterfeiters who were forced to create fake currency for the Nazis, this drama won Best Foreign Language Film at this year's Oscars. Rated R.

Deal ( 1/2): It's quite possible that I still would have been bored out of my mind during "Deal" even if I cared a lick about poker. This gambling drama is so tied to the card games onscreen, whole segments of it turn into the equivalent of the televised World Series of Poker, complete with announcers. And while that event has its viewers, they don't pay $10 or more to watch it in a movie theater. With Alex Stillman and Burt Reynolds anchoring the clichéd story of a college-age poker prodigy and his mentor. Rated PG-13 (language, sexuality); 86 minutes. - JL

Deception ( ): "Deception" purports to center around a sex club for the corporate elite, in which harried executives - men and women - with no time for relationships organize prearranged, one-night stands. Jonathan McQuarry, a nerdy accountant played by Ewan McGregor, is introduced to the group by alpha lawyer Wyatt Bose (Hugh Jackman), yet not long after that a twist takes this away from the provocative premise and into generic thriller territory. Rated R (language, violence, nudity/sexuality); 101 minutes. - JL

Street Kings ( 1/2): Casting Keanu Reeves as a dangerous, out-of-control cop is just going to make everyone think of "Point Break," and this is not a good thing if you want people to not laugh at your movie. The yuks don't stop there, either, in this ridiculous adaptation of a James Ellroy novel. With Jay Mohr, Hugh Laurie and Forest Whitaker as various law-enforcement tough guys, this is simply miscasting of epic proportions. Rated R (strong violence and pervasive language); 105 minutes. - WFW

Under the Same Moon ( ): Some situations may be too tied to contemporary reality to receive a fairy-tale touch. It's fair to say the illegal immigrant experience is one of them. "Under the Same Moon" follows 9-year-old Carlos (Adrian Alonso) as he journeys from his native Mexico to track down his mother (Kate del Castillo) in Los Angeles, where she has worked for four years hoping to save up enough money to reunite them. The story and mood is pure fantasy, yet the details are often grimly realistic. Screenwriter Ligiah Villalobos and director Patricia Riggen are never able to bridge that gap, especially in a brief sequence in which little Carlos is almost swallowed up by the Mexican-U.S. sex trade. Rated PG-13 (adult themes); 107 minutes. - JL

FAMILY

College Road Trip (1/2 ): This Disney vehicle for Raven-Symone (with Martin Lawrence on board) is the sort of movie that gets described as "fun for the whole family," but it really isn't. It will be no fun at all for members of the family over 10. Or sophisticated ones over 8. The characters scream a lot when they're unhappy and dance a lot when they're pleased. There's more clever comedy being done by birthday party clowns and teenagers in Foghorn Leghorn costumes at Great America. Rated G; 83 minutes. - DJ

Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who! ( ): There is plenty to take in during this gorgeous CGI treatment of the land of Nool and the small world of Whoville. Indeed, the beautiful furry wardrobe of the Whos is so inviting you may be tempted to reach out and touch them. In the land of Nool, the sweet elephant Horton has discovered Whoville as a speck on a "clover." The Sour Kangaroo (Carol Burnett), who sees this whimsy as a threat, leads the charge against Horton. Nice touches, such as a fun anime-style sequence, make this the best of the recent spate of "Seuss" adaptations. With the vocal work of Jim Carrey as Horton and Steve Carell as the mayor of Whoville. Rated G; 88 minutes. - WFW

Nim's Island ( ): A pair of heroines on opposite sides of the world team up in "Nim's Island," an eye-dazzling and heart-warming story. Nim (Abigail Breslin, "Little Miss Sunshine") and her marine biologist father, Jack (Gerard Butler), are the only human residents of a remote but idyllic South Pacific island. Every few months, a supply boat brings another book by her favorite author, Alex Rover. But Alex is really Alexandra (Jodie Foster), a writer terrified of just about everything. After Nim and Alex's paths cross, the woman who was terrified to walk four feet to the mailbox must go halfway around the world to help her new friend. Rated PG (mild adventure action and brief language), 96 minutes. - NM

The Spiderwick Chronicles ( 1/2): Kids are natural explorers and collectors, and the ingeniousness of this fantasy is the way it emphasizes those childhood qualities. The movie centers on a "field guide to the fantastical world around you," which is discovered by three siblings in the dilapidated old house of a distant relative. Upon reading it, their eyes are opened to the fairies, goblins and trolls that the more literal-minded of us fail to notice. This stretches its rating - aside from the horrible monsters, there is the gruesome climactic siege of the house - but hardy young viewers will be rewarded with a fantasy in sync with their own fertile imaginations. Rated PG (violence, frightening images, mild language); 91 minutes. - JL | ROMANTIC COMEDY |

Made of Honor ( ): It wasn't until Patrick Dempsey's Tom finally gets his girl in this standard romantic comedy that I realized I had been rooting against him all along. Instead of feeling elated for the couple, I felt sorry for her. That's less Dempsey's problem than the screenplay's, which makes his character a callous womanizer with ground rules designed to ward off any sort of lasting relationship ("no back-to-backs"). He nonetheless has Hannah (Michelle Monaghan) as his best friend, and when she gets engaged he gets jealous. Forget being maid of honor; she shouldn't have even invited him to the wedding. Rated PG-13 (sexuality, language); 98 minutes. - JL

THRILLER

88 Minutes ( ): One of those hopelessly convoluted thrillers that the screenwriter probably couldn't even explain. The title refers to a phone threat received by FBI forensic psychiatrist Jack Gramm (Al Pacino), who is told he has less than two hours to live. Within that time, a rash of killings take place in Seattle that mimic a case Gramm worked on years earlier and implicate him. As Gramm races around town, his cell phone rings about every three minutes with information that takes the movie in a new direction. For his part, Pacino never looks very frazzled, even as his lethal deadline approaches. He only gets louder. Rated R (language, brief nudity, graphic violence); 105 minutes. - JL

Prom Night ( ): File "Prom Night" with those thrillers that make you root for the killer rather than the victims, so annoying and vacuous are the picture's stars. A remake of the 1980s slasher flick of the same name, "Prom Night" centers around Donna Keppel (Brittany Snow), a teenager who is recovering from the murder of her family at the hands of an obsessive teacher (Johnathon Schaech). That doesn't stop her from going to her prom, of course, because in the movie's world the prom is as monumental of a life experience as getting married or having a child. So it's a total bummer when the crazed teacher shows up again. Rated PG-13 (gore, violence); 86 minutes. - JL

The Ruins ( ): To accept "The Ruins," you have to be able to accept that there are always going to be stupid young adults who want to have an adventure. If you can live with that, then you could do worse than this adaptation of the novel by Scott Smith, who also wrote "A Simple Plan." Like most decent thrillers, "The Ruins" is not about what the ruins - and the thick vines that surround them - will do to its victims, as much as what the victims will do to each other, in the process of figuring out what is going on. And for my money, those movies are always better. Rated R (strong violence and gruesome images, language, some sexuality and nudity); 91 minutes. - WFW

Shutter ( ): This avenging ghost story gets you on the ghost's side early on, which helps you forgive the schlockiness that often mars the picture. Newlywed Jane (Rachael Taylor) seems OK, but her photographer husband Ben (an oddly macho Joshua Jackson) is a pompous jerk. When Ben gets a photo assignment in Japan, Jane meets Ben's former coworkers from a previous trip, all of whom have a suspicious layer of sleaze. This is supposed to be separate from the primary plot - in which ghostly images start appearing in Ben's photographs - but we know they're insidiously connected. The fun of "Shutter" is discovering how, and then watching the payback that results. Rated PG-13 (violence, gore, language, sexuality); 83 minutes. - JL

Vantage Point ( 1/2): "Vantage Point" is a marketing hook first and a movie ... well, actually, never. As the commercials make clear, the film dramatizes a terrorist attack from eight different points of view. The trouble is, every sequence amounts to yet another red herring - the perspectives don't offer clues as much as they buy time. The movie pretty much admits it's been wasting our time in the final third, which abandons the POV strategy altogether, adopts a traditional omniscient perspective and proceeds to revisit the entire event in conventional narrative form. If "Vantage Point" is a movie, then, it's a 30-minute one. Rated PG-13 (violence, language); 90 minutes. - JL

Reviews written by Michael Drakulich (MD), Darel Jevens (DJ), Kathy Gibson (KG), Josh Larsen (JL), Nell Minow (NM) and Wendy Fox Weber (WFW).