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HOUSTON DAILY JOURNAL
Move Picks
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
OPEN SEASON 3 1/2
stars: A genuinely amusing
computer-animated story
about a domesticated griz
zly (Martin Lawrence) and
a wacky mule deer (Ashton
Kutcher) gathering the
eccentric residents of the
forest to fight back against
hunters - in a non-lethal
way, of course. It’s brisk,
unpretentious and pleasant
ly warped, bopping along on
great Paul Westerberg songs.
PG.
THE SCIENCE OF
SLEEP 3 1/2 stars: The
more playful among the art
house crowd should love
this funny and melancholy
bit of extreme whimsy from
Michel (Eternal Sunshine of
the Spotless Mind) Gondry.
Gael Garcia Bernal stars
as a young man who’s hav
ing a hard time distinguish
ing between sleep and wake
fulness, which complicates
work and romance. R.
THE GUARDIAN 3
stars: Kevin Costner’s a
gruff, legendary instructor
of rescue swimmers, while
Ashton Kutcher’s a promis
ing protege.
You’ve seen this kind of
thing before (An Officer and
a Gentleman, anyone?), but
it’s done well here, with less
fuss and fury than you might
expect. Plus it’s about time
someone made a movie about
the Coast Guard. PG-13.
FACING THE GIANTS 2
1/2 stars: A Baptist church
in Albany made this earnest,
Christian-themed movie
about an underdog football
team.
It’s pretty good, and its
message should resonate
quite movingly with many.
PG.
ALL THE KING S MEN
2 stars: The grandest seem
ing so-so movie you’re likely
to see this year. Sean Penn
throws himself into his role
as a hell-raising Louisiana
politician, but every time the
film moves away from him c
and it does that a lot c it bogs
down in murky subplots. For
all its period detail, it feels
half-formed, never coming to
sweaty breathing life. PG
-13.
THE LAST KISS 3 stars:
Zach Brass heads this smart
ensemble look at the various
ways people mess up their
love lives. He’s a 29-year-old
guy flirting with a college
student, though he already
has a perfect, pregnant girl
friend. R.
GRIDIRON GANG 2 1/2
stars: The Rock is a tough
coach guiding a football
team of teenage criminals.
It’s based on a documentary
about a real team and is best
when it stays hard-bitten
and realistic. It slips when it
goes all Mighty Ducks on us.
Still, it works. PG-13.
HOLLYWOODLAND 2
1/2 stars: Ben Affleck gained
some weight to play TV’s
old Superman, Diane Lane
is his older lover and Adrien
Brody is a down-and-out pri
vate eye looking into Supe’s
mysterious death. It looks
great, and it stays interest
ing and often witty for a long
while, though it eventually
does runs out of gas. R.
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Robins Williams, right, stars in ‘Man of the Year.’
‘Man of the Year’ an uneven hodgepodge
By MATT SOERGEL
Morris News Service
Man of the Year isn’t the
shiny happy movie that’s
promised in the trailer. In
other words, it’s not just
Robin Williams running for
president and mining goofy
laughs from it.
Instead, writer-director
Barry Levinson mixes in
a conspiracy thriller, some
social commentary and a
political satire as well. It’s
ambitious yes, especially
if the thought of Robin
Williams as a wacky candi
date for two straight hours
gives you a headache.
The trouble is, what
results is just a so-so come
dy, a not quite so-so thriller,
a blindingly obvious social
commentary - and a par
ticularly toothless satire.
Here’s what passes for
insight: Big-spending spe
cial interest groups are bad.
Crooked lobbyists are bad.
The little guy gets trampled.
The public can’t distinguish
between entertainment and
reality.
But war? Terrorism?
Never mentioned. The real
political nitty-gritty, the
real dirty tricks and win
ner-takes-all warfare of
campaigning?
Glossed over.
There’s nothing in this
uneven hodgepodge to rile
anyone, anywhere.
In retrospect, Williams
going manic and goofy for
two hours wouldn’t have
been so bad.
He plays Tom Dobbs, a
TV comedian who’s sup
posed to remind you of
Jon Stewart. One bad sign
comes early on, though:
We see several .chunks
of his show, and there’s
not a single moment of it
that approaches the atti-
entertainment
At A Glance
Man of the Year
11/2 stars out of 4
Who’s it for? Robin
Williams’ diehard fans, per
haps: He isn’t bad here, but
the movie leaves him strand
ed.
Credits: Starring Robin
Williams, Laura Linney and
Christopher Walken. Written
and directed by Barry
Levinson.
Running time: 1 hour, 55
minutes.
Family guide: PG-13.
Profanity, off-color jokes, a
little violence.
tude and humor you’ll find
in any random minute of
Stewart’s.
Oh well.
Even so, his fans adore
him, and soon a joke about
running for president has
spiraled into an Internet
campaign for Dobbs as pres
ident- and three or four
minutes into the movie,
he’s in a bus going from
one campaign speech after
another.
His manager (Christopher
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Walken) and writer (Lewis
Black) are dismayed because
he’s suddenly boring and
serious. Lincoln got more
laughs with the Gettysburg
Address, says Walken (cue
the rimshot).
But then Dobbs eventu
ally does cut loose during a
presidential debate, in the
film’s spiciest scene.
And soon he’s speaking
his mind, to the press and
the public. Yes, he inhaled.
Yes, he has a sex life: “When
I was 21,1 went to a prosti
tute. I was so bad, she gave
me a refund.” (Cue another
rimshot.) He even admits
that had an episode of flatu
lence, just a few seconds
ago.
That gets him to 17 per
cent or so in the polls as an
independent candidate.
But on election night, he
comes out on top. Hmm: Do
you think it had anything
to do with the big company
whose computerized vot
ing system - no paper trail
there - was used by voters
in all 50 states?
An employee there (Laura
Linney) thinks so, and
wants to get the news to
put Yen
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GEORGIA
OCTOBER
6-15, 2006
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Dobbs. But she dithers on
and on about it, as darker
forces try to stop her, inef
fectually.
Levinson’s earlier polit
ical satire, Wag the Dog,
struck you as just plausi
ble enough. But not this
one: Man of the Year never
passes the “hmm, this could
happen” test.
That’s crucial here
because, unlike another
political satire from this
year, the far more enjoyable
American Dreamz, it wants
to be taken seriously.
Just one example: If
Dobbs had a vice presiden
tial candidate, he or she is
never actually seen or intro
duced. Kind of an important
thing to overlook, don’t you
think? It distracts.
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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 14, 2006 ♦
Web Watch
By RICH RAY
Morris News Service
Quotations
Although there are
many quote-related sites
on the Web, here’s one
that’s definitely worth a
look. Search with ease for
quotes from literature,
speeches and various
forms of media. Register
for free to rate, collect and
submit quotes. Review
the history and context
of several famous quotes
and learn and share infor
mation about authors via
mini biographies. Click
to top-rated, most-popu
lar and recently-added
quotes, www.quotiki.com
Car community
Billed as the Web’s first
online garage, this easy
to-navigate online com
munity for car enthusi
asts enables users to cre
ate profiles of their vehi
cles and to share pictures,
tuning tips and even car
humor with other mem
bers. Instead of compet
ing on the open road, click
the “battles” tab to pit
your ride head-to-head
with other cars on the
site.www.boompa.com
NetSmartz
This interactive and
informative safety
resource teaches kids and
teens how to stay safe
online. The information
provided here can help
youth recognize dangers
on the Web, discourage
interaction with potential
predators, report possible
victimization to a trusted
adult, and more. Parents,
guardians, educators and
law enforcement person
nel can also benefit from
the information pre
sented at this site. www.
netsmartz.org
Home buying
help
Looking for help mak
ing your way through the
home-buying minefield?
The articles here can help
you avoid making mis
takes when buying or
See WEB, page SA
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