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Mini reviews of movies currently in theaters

Updated: 11/06/2008 11:22:37 AM MST

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Here are selected minireviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.

Some reviews originate at other newspapers that do not award star ratings.

"Appaloosa"

Western Drawl. ***. R. In the late 1880s, the anxious aldermen of Appaloosa, NM, require the gunslinging services of Sheriff Virgil Cole (Ed Harris) and deputy Everett Hitch (Viggo Mortensen) bring brutally law-resistent rancher Randall Bragg (Jeremy Irons) to justice. They'd traveled the territories for 12 years and Hitch intones, "I'd no reason to doubt that we'd be doing just that for the foreseeable future. But life has a way of making the foreseeable that which never happens. " Yup. Throw a filly into the mix and things are bound to get complicated. Though, we're pleased to report, not in the ways you'd necessarily expect. Renée Zellweger purses her lips a little bit much when her character, Allie, sashays into town and turns Cole's head. But Harris directs with a sharp eye for the best in his fellow actors. Still, the surest chemistry and the movie's leisurely pleasures come from the laconic joy Mortensen and Harris take in the deep wells and amusing dry spells of their cowboy conversation. (Kennedy) 107 minutes

"Ashes of Time Redux"

Martial-Arts love story. **. R. "Ashes of Time," a brooding, naturalistic prequel, came out in 1992, a slash-and-spatter martial-arts piece that plays like a Chinese imitation of a Samurai Western. Now he's dusted it off, edited it, cleaned up the colors and given it a new score. But if you're in the mood for a martial-arts action flick, be warned. Even back then, Wong Kar-wai was in the mood for love. And talk. Lots and lots of talk. "Ashes of Time Redux" may be higher-minded than your average martial-arts quickie. It's also a lot less entertaining. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 93 minutes

"Beverly Hills Chihuahua"

Dog-gone dramedy. **. PG. Oy Chihuahua! Silly, sometimes stupid "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" follows prissy Chloe on a journey through Mexico when she goes missing. On her homeward-bound trek, a friend will be made. Enemies two-legged and four-legged will give chase. Filth will be encountered for the first time. And lessons will be learned about her tiny but noble breed and the power of her inner bark. It seemed a dodgy undertaking: tell a reverse-immigration saga about a dog breed often depicted with an iffy Spanish accent. But starring the voices of George Lopez, Drew Barrymore, Andy Garcia, "Beverly Hills Chihuahua" is more cluttered than offensive. Humans are played by Jamie Lee Curtis, Piper Perabo and Manolo Cardona. And as Papi the dog who tracks his beloved Chloe, Rusco — a rescued Chihuahua mix — is sure to bring new families to humane societies everywhere. (Kennedy) 90 minutes

"Body of Lies"

Political thriller. **1/2. R. "Trust No One. Deceive Everyone" provides the tagline for director Ridley Scott's latest. So prepare to plunge into the murk of intelligence work, where relationships are painfully provisional and enemies can serve a vital purpose. Leonardo DiCaprio and Russell Crowe star as a CIA operative working in the Middle East and his arrogant-savvy handler who does his anti-Jihad plotting from his suburban Washington, D.C. home. Scott and screenwriter William Monahan use a lot of firepower (stars and pyrotechnics) to deliver what in the end feels ideas-skimpy. This comes as a vexing news given the movie's source: Washington Post journalist David Ignatius's novel. Film that toy and torment with images of terror and torture should deliver something serious (or authentically cathartic). Terrorism flicks should not become just another genre, like mob movies. (Mark Short as the Jordanian security chief is the one exception to the film's utter familiarity.) Complete with an embarrassing love story involving DiCaprio's character and and Iranian nurse "Body of Lies" is escapism about matters that deserve more presence. (Kennedy) 128 minutes

"Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story""

Political Biopic. ***. Unrated. Based on your political bent, "Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story," a head-on analysis of the scrappy, blues-playing young Southerner who helped remake the Republican Party, will evoke blood-spitting rage or resounding awe. Either way, it's a hugely entertaining, efficiently crafted documentary about a ruthless, if undeniably clever, American political force. The film expertly lays out the fearmongering, "perception is reality" tactics Atwater created to mastermind presidential victories for Ronald Reagan (serving as his "special assistant") and George H.W. Bush (as campaign manager) that would also set the groundwork for protégé Karl Rove's later engineering of George W. Bush's White House wins. (Gary Goldstein, Los Angeles Times) 86 minutes

"Burn After Reading"

Dark lark. ***1/2. R. Brad Pitt and George Clooney star and one could fear too much chuminess from Joel and Ethan Coen's zippy comedy about secrets, lies and an errant computer disk two gym employees Chad and Linda (Pitt and Frances McDormand) attempt to turn to their advantage. Instead the brothers' departure from the brutal terrain of "No Country for Old Men" provides a crisp belt of Beltway absurdism. John Malkovich is furiously amusing as Osborne Cox, an intelligence analyst who up and quits the CIA when his role is downgraded. That disk has his notes for a memoir. Tilda Swinton plays Ozzie's wife. She's carrying on an affair with U.S. Marshal Harry Pfarrer (Clooney). "Burn" is a juggling act of mistaken identities and misjudged reactions. One of the funniest miscalculations comes when shake-down numbskull Chad gets popped in the nose by Ozzie. Ouch. (Kennedy) 95 minutes

"Changeling"

Drama. ** 1/2. R. It's a period piece, a true-crime mystery and a slice of history, vintage Clint Eastwood in many ways. Jolie plays Christine Collins, a single mom in 1928 Los Angeles. She has to leave her 9-year-old son home one Saturday. When she gets home, he's missing. After many months police return another boy and try to convince her it's her son. "Changeling" is a fascinating, high-minded and ambitious story, with twists and turns and implications far beyond the "true crime" origins of the tale. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 122 minutes

"Choke"

Profane and Sacred comedy. ***. R. What would Jesus so not do? That question propels sex-addict Victor Mancini in Clark Gregg's dirty pretty thing of a comedy, "Choke." Sam Rockwell plays the randy guy who freaks when he learns he might be the half-clone of Jesus Christ. Anjelica Houston plays mom Ida, an eccentric losing her memory. Her journal — translated by a strange doctor (Kelly MacDonald). Gregg's adaptation of Chuck Palahniuk's novel has a fluid grasp of the impossible and possible, not to mention the profane and sacred. The title comes from the young Victor's discovery in a diner that if he stopped breathing, good Samaritans would come to the rescue. When not visiting Ida, Victor attends Sex Addicts Anonymous meetings or works as a Colonial re-enactor with best friend Denny (the wonderful Brad William Henke). Either place, he breaks rules. Arguably the funniest scene in the very R-rated "Choke" is its most sacriligeous and moving. If you are of the opinion that JC will return in the unlikeliest form, moments amid straw and farm animals may work surprising wonders on you. (Kennedy) 92 minutes

"City of Ember"

Action adventure. ** 1/2. PG. Talking 'bout my g-g-generator could be the theme song for this tale in which Ember youngsters Lina and Doon (Saoirse Ronan, Harry Treadaway) try to save their underground refuge before its mammoth generator runs out of juice for good. Based on Jeanne DuPrau's young-adult novel, the fantasy adventure is a well-meaning fable about rediscovering the light in a flickering world. Long before the protagonists ride a rushing wave of water to their fate, the movie bobs about on the swells of music that have become a tiresome Walden studio trademark. Thank goodness, then for the ballast of vets Bill Murray, Tim Robbins and Martin Landau. Murray plays the mayor who isn't as troubled by his citizens' fates as one might hope. Robbins is Doon's seemingly apathetic father. Martin Landau is the lad's drowsy supervisor. The brightest star, however, is the soundstage that stands in for endangered Ember. It's a beguiling, belching, labyrinthine example of movie magic. (Kennedy) 95 minutes

"The Dark Knight"

Superhero action. PG-13. ****. More than any other recent comic-book hero flick, Christopher Nolan's tour de force sequel provides an enduring, unsettlingly bleak fable of our moment. The theme of the lawman's reliance on those outside the law to take down those who know not the rule of law beats at the bruised heart of this flick. Christian Bale's modulated presense as sour billionaire Bruce Wayne/Batman finds competetion in the performances of the late Heath Ledger and Aaron Eckhart as the Joker and D.A. Harvey Dent. Maggie Gyllenhaal proves a superior Rachel Dawes, Wayne's beloved who's fallen for Dent. Ledger's portrayal of the scarred, face-painted arch-villain is uncanny and kitch-proof, even when he dons a dress. An evil clown has taken the sensitive actor's place. He's not a Bozo but an even creepier character than the E-Trade baby springs for. (Kennedy) 152 minutes

"The Duchess"

Corset drama. ***. PG-13. The story of Georgiana Spencer, starring Keira Knightley and Ralph Fiennes as the lady and her husband, William Cavendish, a cold fish who becomes positively frozen when his young wife bears him daughter after daughter but no male heir. True friendship comes to Georgiana in the person of Lady Elizabeth Foster, who becomes her husband's lover. Once Bess moves in, the film finds a fascinating triangle. We shouldn't underestimate Keira Knightley's ability to channel the historic and modern into one compelling figure — or her grasp of the power of dress-up to free performance. (Kennedy) 105 minutes

"Eagle Eye"

Action thriller. ***. PG-13. The fever-pitch paranoia of this terrorist thriller, the seizure-inducing editing, the dense layers slapped on a fairly simple plot, all point to a kind of overkill that only Hollywood money can buy. Jerry, checks his ATM and discovers hundreds of thousands of dollars in his account. He opens the door to his dump of an apartment to see military ordnance and the makings of an Oklahoma City bomb. His cellphone rings. "The FBI will be there in 30 seconds." There's no time for character development, barely a pause to catch our breath or consider how plausible all this is, because of the heart-racing pace of the piece. Which means that "Eagle Eye" isn't a bad movie, it's just too cluttered, too derivative. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 118 minutes

"The Express"

Sports Uplift. ***. PG. Actor Rob Brown's phone should ring a great deal thanks to his turn as Ernie Davis. As the legendary Syracuse University running back and the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, Brown consistently captures the athletic ambitions and social sensitivities of a young man coming into his own as the nation's civil rights movement grew in vigor. Dubbed the Elmira — that's New York, to you — Express Davis goals went beyond merely crossing the goal line. Dennis Quaid plays Hall of Fame coach Ben Schwartzwalder with scowl and heart. Darrin Dewitt Henson as Jim Brown and Charles S. Dutton as Davis' grandfather make muscular yet subtle statements about mentoring. Directed by Gary Fleder and written by Charles Leavitt from Robert Gallagher's book, "The Express" works for football fans as well as general audiences hankering for a heart-provoking flick. (Kennedy) 126 minutes

"Filth and Wisdom"

Comedy. *1/2. Not Rated. Madonna's directoral debut features A.K., a Ukranian rocker who pays the rent on his London flat by working as a gay S&M callboy. His roomies are Holly, a ballerina moonlighting as a stripper, and Juliette, a pill-popping pharmacist who dreams of helping children in Africa. The filth is scrubbed clean — A.K. barely touches his customers — and there's not an ounce of wisdom in these shallow characters. Not even the excellent Richard E. Grant, as a blind poet, can save this false, empty film. (Rafer Guzman, Newsday) 84 minutes

"Flash of Genius"

Invention drama. **. PG-13. Greg Kinnear has been perfectly cast in "Flash of Genius," Marc Abraham's fact-based drama about an all-American family man driven to madness when corporate America tries to take credit for one of his groundbreaking inventions. "Flash of Genius" introduces us to university engineering professor and part-time inventor Bob Kearns (Kinnear), who, in 1962, while driving home from church with his family, experiences the titular lightning bolt: Why, he wonders, can't automobile windshield wipers operate like the human eyeball and be designed to wipe intermittently? With each successive scene, Kinnear's performance turns darker and knottier. The actor shows us that just beneath that all-American veneer lurks a man whose ego tramples everything in sight. (Christopher Kelly, McClatchy Newspapers) 118 minutes

"Ghost Town"

Haunted comedy. ***1/2. PG-13. Bertram Pincus DDS hasn't much use for the living and even less for the dead. Indeed, Pincus DDS is such a bitter pill, there are times you wonder if David Koepp's comedy about the dour doctor and the deceased cad who enlists his earthly help to help wreck his widow's new relationship stands a ghost of a chance of pulling off the transformations it hints at. But Koepp, who co-wrote the screenplay with John Kamps, has delivered a gem of a movie. Ricky Gervais, Greg Kinnear and Téa Leoni are terrific working the pain and pleasures of comedy. Kristen Wiig is impossibly funny as the surgeon who must explain to Pincus that well, yes, something happened during a routine medical procedure: he died. (Kennedy) 103 minutes

"Happy-Go-Lucky"

Feel-Good flick. ***. R. Poppy, the flighty heroine of "Happy-Go-Lucky," lives to spread good cheer. A primary-school teacher who feels it's her duty to teach the world to banish negativity and cheer up. And when her bike is swiped, she doesn't grumble but signs up for driving lessons. Poppy meets her problems head-on, reaching out with unflagging good humor to people who are unhappy, unfulfilled and dissatisfied. She's a nonconformist of the nicest kind, taking what is most inhospitable in the world around her and uplifting it with a joke and a smile. (Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune) 118 minutes

"High School Musical 3"

Teen Musical. ***. G. After two cable films on the Disney Channel, with the cast singing and dancing through the halls of East High School, the action moves to the big screen. It's senior year. And in a piece of obvious writing, the gang gets cast in the school play called "Senior Year." No one wants to concentrate on the play — they're too busy thinking about what they will be doing after high school. This one is for the fans who go to sleep each night in their "High School Musical" pajamas under their "High School Musical" blankets after turning off their "High School Musical" lights. (Rick Bentley, McClatchy Newspapers) 118 minutes

"Lakeview Terrace"

Rorschach Drama. **1/2. PG-13. Samuel L. Jackson's once good cop makes for a very bad neighbor in this drama about an interracial couple moving next door to 30-year LAPD veteran Abel Turner (Jackson). Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington are the young couple excited about their new home. But all is not right and as the distant hills burn with California brush fires, the story smolders. Washington is especially interesting as the sort of character we haven't seen onscreen: a quasi-bohemian African American woman. Neil LaBute directs David Loughery and Howard Korder's screenplay that challenges generation attitudes about race by flipping the script on whether this is or isn't a film about interracial relationships, black bigotry, abusive of authority, or all of the above. "Lakeview Terrace" is most intriguing when it simmers with interpersonal tensions. Once those tensions are set ablaze in a final-act escalation, it falters. (Kennedy) 106 minutes

"Mamma Mia!"

Musical redux. ** 1/2. PG-13. Fans of the ABBA musical will likely bring a happy sense memory of the play with them into the multiplex. That will be all they need to be off and humming along to this story of a daughter on the cusp of marriage, her mother and the three men who may be her father. Those hoping to be wowed by what is a tantalizing, grown-up cast — Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Christine Baranski — are in for choppier waters. But you can't accuse Streep and Co. of not being super troupers. They sing. They dance. Only too often, it seems like exertion when play should be the thing. Instead theater director Phyllida Lloyd has made "the play the thing." One of the three creators of the onstage smash, LLoyd has little sense of cinema's less-is-more powers. Not to say she's delivered a dud or a dirge. Far from it. It's just that "Mamma Mia!" feels like a souvenir program: something to revive the feelings you had watching the stage performance. (Kennedy) 108 minutes

"Miracle at St. Anna"

War epic. ***1/2. R. Maverick director Spike Lee contributes a much belated often beautiful addition, to the "greatest generation" WWII genre with this tale about four soldiers holed up in a Tuscan village. James McBride adapted his historical novel about a murder in 1983, the discovery of a priceless Italian artifact, and the experiences of the 92nd Buffalo Soldier Division in 1944. Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso and Omar Benson Miller play the soldiers. Each brings a distinct approach to their characters' freighted feelings about racial identity and racism. And Lee brings a maturing sensibility and a talent for ensemble performance to a story that is loving, angry and profoundly American. The shimmering presense and believable camaraderie of Italian newcomer Matteo Sciabordi and Miller as the Italian orphan and lumbering giant who rescues him is nearly magical. (Kennedy) 155 minutes

"Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"

Teen Romantic Comedy. ***. PG-13. Michael Cera shines brightest when he has a nova burning nearby. In the pleasantly fizzy "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist," he has a kleig light of a playmate in Kat Dennings. Nick meets Norah at a club where he and his gay bandmates are bringing the noise. Norah already knows of Nick and loves the brilliant, slightly pathetic mix CDs he makes for his unappreciative ex (Alexis Dziena). In rom-com tradition, they do and don't hit it off as they roam the city together looking for an elusive alt band called Fluffy. You know that kind of night. As Norah's pal Caroline, Ari Graynor does amusing work capturing the fleeting fun and hangover ugliness of drunkenness. Aaron Yoo and Rafi Gavron play Nick's pals with sweet verve. Director Peter Sollett brings to Lorena Scarfiria's adaptation of Rachel Cohn & David Levithan novel the same gift for authentic observation that worked wonders in his debut, "Finding Victor Vargas." (Kennedy) 90 minutes

"Nights in Rodanthe"

Romantic drama. **. PG-13. PG-13. There's still plenty of charm in romantically pairing Richard Gere and Diane Lane who can still play flirty and cute with the best of them. A storm's a-coming. The Banks are hunkering down. And they're the only two sad, lost souls at the inn. All you need is a little hurricane, a little wine, some Dinah Washington/Brooke Benton records, and sparks will fly. It's a pity that a movie that begins with such simmering promise chills into a film of pretty people in a pretty place telling a pretty bland story. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 98 minutes

"Pride and Glory"

Cop-family Drama. ***. R. Director Gavin O'Connor and twin Gregory are sons of a New York City policeman and it shows in their richer than routine drama about cops, corruption and core values (screenplay cowritten by Joe Carnahan). Det. Ray Tierney (Edward Norton) is pulled back into the fray by father Frank Sr. (Jon Voight) when four cops are gunned down in what intially looks to be a 911 call gone bad. The officers came from brother Frank Jr.'s stationhouse. Brother-in-law Jimmy Egan (Colin Farrell) also works there. Over time, Ray's inquiries lead back to family. The deep importance of ties, police and familial, is delivered in Francis Sr.'s overstated, heart-felt oratory. Better, it's also shown in the understated domestic details captured by Declan Quinn's fine camerawork. Too often in cop-family tales, the primary relationships are between cop and quarry, cop and cop. Full of the requisite violence and brotherly angst, "Pride and Glory" makes delicate, impressive use of wives and mothers. With a couple of dynamic scenes between Frank Jr. and ailing wife Abby (Noah Emmerich and Jennifer Ehle), "Pride and Glory" reminds us how seldom other lives — and other ways of dying — get their due. (Kennedy) 130 minutes

"Rachel Getting Married"

Family Drama. ***. R. Kym Buchman would gladly rewrite the title of Jonathan Demme's wondrously observed drama about the return of a recovering addict to a home abuzz with celebration but still susceptible to aching grief. After all, shouldn't the title reflect Kym's central role? Wounded, self-involved Kym is so uneasy she overperforms intimacy. She's loud. She's fraudulently hard on herself. The generous gift of this movie and its talented ensemble is that it makes clear Kym is also tormented by authentic grief, guilt and anger. Rosemarie DeWitt is tremendous as Rachel, the older sister who tried to hold a tattered family together. So too are Bill Irwin and Debra Winger who play the divorced Buchman parents. Jenny Lumet's script is modest in the best sense. Bearing witness to the movie's many gatherings, Demme and cinematographer Declan Quinn have made an exquisite home movie that argues for what can be epic about our tiny, familiar lives. It is during the weddings, the funerals, those heightened events, that the players become self-aware that they are fleetingly great — and puny. This is why perhaps those events often invite such spectacular scenes of "acting out." (Kennedy) 114 minutes

"Religulous"

Spiritual Documentary. ***. R. Bill Maher and director Larry Charles' globe-trotting sojourn into the heart of fundamentalist darkness — be it Christian, Muslim or Jewish - is awfully funny. Who better to deflate pious windbags than a smug-smart blowhard? Maher is at his best as philosopher-jester — poking holes in other people's certainties. Or just finding something zany to riff on: It's hard not to be tickled by the shriek of the PR liaison at the Holy Land Experience in Orlando, Fla., when she learns Maher is interviewing Jesus Christ without clearance. Christ holds his own. More often though Maher sees himself as philosoper king, even saviour. His fiery epilogue as he stands at Megiddo, Israel, the place the New Testament names as ground zero for Armageddon, scorches all the work that came before. As a comedy exploration, "Religulous" is often hilarious. But in the end, Maher insist on preaching to the nonconverted, weilding the weapon of fear and judgment. You others be damned. Sound familiar? (Kennedy) 101 minutes

"The Secret Life of Bees"

Coming of Age Drama. ***1/2. PG-13. Director Gina Prince-Blythewood was aware of the challenges of bringing Sue Monk Kidd's beloved tale about 14-year-old Lily Owens and her escape to Tiburon, S.C. to the big screen. In the wrong hands, Kidd's book set in 1964 could become an updated version of cinema's mammy flicks, in which kindly black women bring along white children. So Prince-Blythewood and stars Queen Latifah, Dakota Fanning, Alicia Keyes, Jennifer Hudson and Sophie Okonedo do sweet and intelligent work to make sure the relations between Lily (Fanning), caretaker Rosaleen (Hudson) and the extraordinary Boatwright sisters who run a honey enterprise ring true. (Kennedy) 110 minutes

"Sex Drive"

Rauncy Teen Road Trip. *1/2. R. It's a road-trip comedy about a teen, Ian, driving 800 miles to lose his virginity after an Internet hook-up with a girl who may or may not be as hot as her Web photo, but who has promised to "go all the way." Because dorky Ian has that one sex-obsessed pal, Lance, along for the ride to coach him, to lead by example (sexual conquests along the way), to teach Ian "the ability to close" — the deal, that is. The problem is that the just-out-of-reach BFF Felicia, who has a crush of Lance, invites herself along. Ian has had a crush on her forever. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 104 minutes

"W."

Political Biopic. *1/2. PG-13. A black sheep rises to the highest office of the land driven by a hole in his psyche the size of the great state of Texas. Who dug that ditch and — as Oliver Stone suggests — the consequent abyss we find ourselves in? A guy called "Poppy," Some crtics complain that "W." isn't hard enough on Bush 43 and his vexed legacy, in particular the Iraq War. For moviegoers, the truth is far less interesting.. It's not that "W.," starring Josh Brolin as George W. Bush, goes too easy. It's that it's so durn facile. There have been powerfully compelling documentaries that wrestle honestly with the prez and the mire the nation's been plunged into ("No End in Sight," Errol Morris' flawed but thoughtful "Standard Operating Procedures" out on DVD). Despite a talented cast that includes James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, a.k.a. "Poppy," and Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, "W." achieves the insight of a TV miniseries, and not one of those fine HBO ones. Stone's Oedipal conflict theme while likely true doesn't go beyond armchair psychoanalysis. Just because the movie isn't the parody trailers suggest doesn't mean it should be taken seriously. (Kennedy) 129 minutes

"What Just Happened"

Hollywood satire. **. R. Robert De Niro keeps it watchable but can't stop the obvious query that comes at the end of Barry Levinson's satire: Why do movies skewering the ginormous egos of film-industry types assume that audiences will be intrigued by the ginormous egos — and karmic woes — of said industry types? Adapted by Art Linson from his memoir, "What Just Happened" opens with a cadre of hot-shot producers preparing for a "Vanity Fair" shoot. Then the movie flashes back to recent seismic rattle in the career of Ben, a producer played by Robert De Niro. A bad-boy director commits the ultimate bad act onscreen. Now studio honcho Lou (Catherine Keener) wants the filmmaker and Ben to change the ending. Then there's the wee problem of Bruce Willis' facial hair and heft. Ben's professional upheavels trump personal woes involving his estranged wife (Robin Wright Penn) and his teen daughter from his first failed marriage (Kristen Stewart). De Niro keeps things watchable. But "What Just Happened" often feels like an attempt to, if not make amends for moviemaking myopia, at least show how easily the contagion takes hold.(Kennedy)113 minutes

"Zack and Miri Make a Prono"

Raunchy Sex Comedy. ** 1/2. PG-13. "Zack and Miri Make a Porno," is a raunchy comedy about two childhood friends who decide to make a dirty movie together and maybe fall in love along the way. Immature and classic underachievers, Zack and Miri decide to make a porno film to help pay their bills. Initially, they plan a sci-fi spoof called "Star Whores." When their sets and costumes vanish along with the condemned warehouse they've rented, they decide to film at night in the coffee shop where Zack pulls lattes. The director is judicious in his use of nudity, but a fairly high squirm factor remains. (Robert W. Butler, McClatchy Newspapers) 112 minutes

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