Commentary Track

by HELEN GEIB

This is going to be a good month at the multiplex. It’s not all good. But there’s enough.

December 4

Armored – Matt Dillon, Laurence Fishburne, Columbus Short, Jean Reno, Skeet Ulrich, and Fred Ward are in the cast of this thriller revolving around an armored car inside-job robbery gone awry. Armored was directed by Nimród Antal (Kontroll, Vacancy) from a script by first-time writer James V. Simpson.

Brothers – The wife of a soldier serving in Afghanistan begins a romantic relationship with her brother-in-law after the family is erroneously notified that the husband has been killed in action. His subsequent return home is further complicated by his combat trauma. Natalie Portman plays the wife, Tobey Maguire the husband, and Jake Gyllenhaal his brother. Jim Sheridan (In America) directed this remake of a 2004 Danish film.

Everybody’s Fine – Robert De Niro stars in this family comedy-drama as a widower who sets off on an impromptu holiday road trip to visit his son and daughters and their families after he realizes they never tell him anything important about their lives. Sam Rockwell, Drew Barrymore, and Kate Beckinsale co-star; Kirk Jones (Waking Ned Devine, Nanny McPhee) wrote and directed this remake of a 1990 Italian film.

Transylmania – Sex comedy meets horror spoof when promiscuous college students spend a semester abroad in Romania. Co-directed by brothers David and Scott Hillenbrand (the cut-from-the-same-cloth Dorm Daze and Dorm Daze 2, a series I’m happy to say I had not heard of before researching this movie) and starring Patrick Cavanaugh (TV credits), James DeBello (Dorm Daze), and Tony Denman (Dorm Daze).

December 11

The Princess and the Frog – Disney’s much-heralded return to hand drawn animation, The Princess and the Frog looks to be cut from traditional Disney cloth in a lot of good ways. A new spin on the fairy tale about a princess who meets a prince who’s been turned into a frog by a curse, this is a musical set in Jazz Age New Orleans. Anika Noni Rose provides the voice of the princess whose attempt to turn the frog-prince (voiced by Bruno Campos) human again backfires when she turns into a frog herself; Ron Clements and John Musker co-wrote (with several other writers) and directed.

December 18

Avatar – And it’s here. Writer-director-new technology junkie James Cameron brings us his practically guaranteed to be a huge blockbuster sci-fi/action/3-D experiment set on an alien planet where the natives are blue and living atop a rich mineral vein that militaristic humanity is determined to mine at any cost. I will of course be contributing to its opening weekend gross. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi, and the rest of the cast contend with the special effects to make an impression.

Did You Hear About the Morgans? – Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker co-star as a couple whose marriage is on the rocks when they become witnesses to a murder and enter the federal witness relocation program. This being a Hollywood comedy, they are relocated from New York City to small town Wyoming. Written and directed by Marc Lawrence (Two Weeks Notice, Music and Lyrics).

December 25

Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel (on Wed.) – To the extent it matters to anyone contemplating seeing this film: This sequel to 2007’s commercial hit Alvin and the Chipmunks was directed by Betty Thomas (I Spy, John Tucker Must Die), replacing Tim Hill. Justin Long, Matthew Gray-Gubler, and Jesse McCartney again supply the voices of Alvin, Simon, and Theodore; a competing female chipmunk trio is voiced by Anna Faris, Christina Applegate, and Amy Poehler. Jason Lee also returns as Dave, the principal human character in the cast.

It’s Complicated – Comedy featuring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin, and Steve Martin as three points in a romantic triangle. Baldwin is Streep’s ex, who left her for a younger woman before cheating on wife number two with wife number one and Martin is the new man in her life who may or may not supplant the old one in her affections. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers (Something’s Gotta Give, The Holiday).

Sherlock Holmes – Director Guy Ritchie (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, RocknRolla) makes his first foray into blockbuster (or at least blockbuster budget and aspirations) territory with this contemporary-minded though period-set Holmesian outing, which might just as well carry the tagline “not your father’s brilliant deducer.” Based on the trailer, this version of Arthur Conan Doyle’s super sleuth doesn’t bear much resemblance to the original, let alone any of the many previous film and television iterations. Fortunately that doesn’t mean Sherlock Holmes doesn’t look like a heck of a lot of fun. Robert Downey Jr. is Holmes, Jude Law is Watson, and Rachel McAdams is Irene Adler; Mark Strong plays the aristocratic villain of the piece. Several writers contributed to the screenplay.

Up in the Air – George Clooney stars in his third film in two months, and it promises to continue his winning streak. Jason Reitman co-wrote (with Sheldon Turner) and directed this adaptation of Walter Kirn’s novel about a road warrior who specializes in telling people they’ve been downsized, and who must re-evaluate his life when he is suddenly on the receiving end of  a corporate restructuring. Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, and Danny McBride lead the supporting cast.