It’s faint praise to say JCVD (Peace Arch) features what’s easily Jean-Claude Van Damme’s greatest performance, but his fearlessly self-effacing turn as a sadder, more pathetic version of himself is revelatory and heartbreaking, especially during a justifiably acclaimed one-take opening sequence and a powerful later monologue. It’s just too bad the film eventually devolves into a disappointingly perfunctory hostage thriller…
Hooray for truth in advertising: Those who rent Hotel For Dogs (Paramount) have no right to say they didn’t get the movie they expected. (Take that, House Of Mirth!) Pooch-loving kids will no doubt enjoy the cute dogs, the brisk pace, and the mild poop gags. Parents will no doubt enjoy doing something else with their time…
Anne Hathaway took a huge leap forward as an actor with Rachel Getting Married, and an equally massive step back with the rancid wedding comedy Bride Wars (Fox). This ugly, shrill, misanthropic romp concerns the psychotic competition that develops between passive schoolteacher Hathaway and former best friend Kate Hudson when they book the same exclusive hotel on the same night for their dream weddings…
Writer-director Rod Lurie sinks his teeth into a good story with Nothing But The Truth (Sony), a political thriller that thinly references Valerie Plame, the CIA officer whose cover was blown by a malicious leak from the Bush administration. Lurie champions a journalist (Kate Beckinsale) who goes to jail rather than reveal her sources, but in the real case, that journalist was Judy Miller, whose motives were considerably less noble than they seemed. Nevertheless, the film is compelling, particularly for Vera Farmiga’s explosive performance as the Plame surrogate…
Want to save a rental fee? Don’t bother with any horror movies rated PG-13. Having largely “cleansed” themselves of extreme horror, the studios are making a habit of turning out slick, bloodless affairs that substitute dumb shock tactics for visceral R-rated scares. What makes the generic ghost story The Uninvited (Paramount) especially disappointing is that it’s a remake of the South Korean film A Tale Of Two Sisters, which could never be accused of pulling punches.