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after taking a job in 1950s Puerto Rico
Director Bruce Robinson (an Oscar
nominee tor his script lor 1985's The
Killing Fields) may be best (and least)
remembered for his cult hit. Wilhnail &
t he was last seen behind the camera
for the underwhelming Andy Garcia-
Uma Thurman serial killer thriller.
Jennifers With Giovanni Ribisi, Aaron
Eckhart. Amber Heard and Richard
Jenkins
THE SMURFS (PG) The live action/
CGI hybrid version of The Smurfs is
not as bad as its atrocious trailers
would imply, thanks largely to the
smurtish talents of Neil Patrick Harris
STRAW DOGS -aking
suspicion this remake of the violent
1971 Sam Peckinpah classic will play
a lot differently in the Deep South than
filmmaker Rod Lurie might expect
Character identification issues might
abound, giving this Straw Dogs a
level unavailable to the original (to
anyone besides small town Northern
Englishmen) Hah-vuhd educated
Hollywood screenwriter David
Sumner (James Marsdent) and his
actress wife. Amy (Kate Bosworth),
return to her backwoods Mississippi
hometown Peckinpah's version will
always be tops, but this closely related
remake should strike some manly
chords, though whether those chords
be Davids or Charlie's might differ
regionally Me. I side with David every
time I also wish someone would let
Hollywood know that small town folk
are near as scary as the movies make
them out to be
THE THREE MUSKETEERS (PG-
13) The latest adaptation of Alexandre
Dumas' wonderful adventure novel
doesn't do anything particularly badly
The cast—including one-time Mr
Darcy Matthew Mactadyen. as Athos.
Ray Stevenson as Porthos and Luke
Evans as Aramis—is tons more literate
than the 1993 trio of Kreter Sutherland.
Charlie Sheen and Oliver Platt The
airships are pretty cool, too Tone is
where “Ocean's Three (Musketeers)"
starts to stumble. Resident Evil direc
tor Paul W S Anderson stages the
Musketeers' exploits to recover the
Queen's diamond necklace from the
Duke of Buckingham (Orlando Bloom),
who's not as bad as the other guy.
Cardinal Richelieu (Christoph Waltz,
who never takes fiery control ol his
scenes), like a mod '60s heist caper
rather than a modern swashbuckler
TOWER HEIST (PG 1 'With the help
of a con (Eddie Murphy), a group of
working stiffs (including Ben Stiller,
Matthew Broderick Casey Affleck
Gabourey Sidtbe and Michael Pena)
plan a Danny Ocean-type heist on the
high-rise home of the rich guy that took
all of their money in a Ponzi scheme
This action comedy trom oft-maligned
Brett Ratner who really missed his
decade, also stars Judd Hirsch.
Drew Wheeler
ROAD TO NOWHERE
DRIVE (R) An auto mechanic and Hollywood
stunt driver, the Driver (Ryan Gosling),
moonlights as a wheelman for various heist
jobs. Except for his relationship with his
boss, Shannon (Bryan Cranston), the Driver
is alone in the world. That starts to change,
though, when he becomes infatuated with
the woman living next door to him, Irene
(Carey Mulligan), and gets to know her young
son, Benicio (Kaden Leos). Only problem is,
Irene is married to a criminal. Standard (Oscar
Isaac), who's getting out of prison. At first,
the Driver keeps his distance from Irene and
Benicio, but when he finds out Standard is
being forced back into crime to pay off a debt,
he offers to help. Much blood flows, and the
Driver loses control.
simultaneously. Underneath the cool postur
ing, though, he's a pure psychopath who is
not the hero he believes himself to be, which
is more apparent as he wreaks great havoc
attempting to "save" Irene.
Drive's minimalist plot (based on a novel by
crime writer James Sallis) is by-the-numbers,
and its core premise of redemption through
bloodshed is block-headed and morally vacu
ous if taken at face value. The Driver is noth
ing more than a malignant, fantasy-driven
monster. He is pure instinct, muscle and
stony glare—a pretty boy version of Lee
Marvin's unstoppable vengeful wraith from
John Boorman's New Wave-influenced neo-
noir Point Blank. But the movie's great virtue
is style, soaked in a retro-'80s neon haze,
Ryan Gosling
Don't believe Drive's advertising. Ryan
Gosling doesn't star in it. An uncanny simu
lacrum of the actor appears instead, giving
a life-like yet muted performance of a real
human being. However, don't be fooled by
Gosling's brooding sensitivity. He's pro
grammed to register appropriate benevolence
or sincere facial expressions when needed. No
astute moviegoer should be confused as to
what really lurks beneath his mask. As with
another infamous archetypal loner of American
movies, Taxi Driver's Travis Bickle, the Driver is
a cipher, representing nothing and everything
referencing everything from William Friedkin's
nasty crime picture To Live and Die in L.A.
(itself capturing a sun-baked Los Angeles to
memorable effect) to Michael Mann's stylish
Thief and Manhunter, as well as Walter Hill's
The Driver— itself a self-conscious homage to
the sort of icy, European existentialist stylings
Jean-Pierre Melville fashioned in Le Samourai.
It may not be as deep a* it wants you to
believe it is, but Drive's seductive surface is
nevertheless intoxicating.
Derek Hill
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