Out of Time (2003)

Thriller Rated R

The middle 40 minutes or so of Out of Time offers some thrillingly intense moviegoing. Too bad its bookends are complete nonsense. The film stars Denzel Washington as a police chief who becomes wrongly implicated in a double homicide. His desperate attempt to stay one step ahead of the investigation has the claustrophobia of a

Tupac: Resurrection (2003)

Documentary Rated R

The late Tupac Shakur mixed a gangsta-rap image with a social activist’s conscience, swooning so wildly between the two poses you were never sure which one was the put-on. This documentary, which he “narrates” via past interviews, isn’t interested in such an identity crisis, even though that’s what made the man fascinating. Instead it’s marred

China: The Panda Adventure (2001)

Drama Rated NR

An awkward attempt to mold the Imax documentary-travelogue format into a traditional movie narrative, China: The Panda Adventure ends up failing at both aims. Maria Bello stars as real-life Ruth McCombs-Harkness, who traveled to China in 1936 to fulfill her late husband’s dream of discovering wild pandas. The result is a nature film without much

Good Bye Lenin! (2003)

Comedy Rated R

The sitcom premise of this German import follows a staunch socialist (Katrin Sass) who falls into a coma during East Germany’s setting sun. She sleeps through the conquest of capitalism, awakening eight months later. Afraid all the excitement will endanger her health, her son (Daniel Bruhl) confines her to her bedroom and tries to recreate

Left Behind (2000)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

Adapted from the best-selling series of novels based on the Rapture, this metaphysical thriller never rises above its straight-to-video production values, from the subpar special effects to the acting of Kirk Cameron. The film’s conviction is admirable – this is that rare movie that actually believes in something – until it gives way to awkward

Nanny McPhee (2005)

Family Rated PG

This adaptation of the Nurse Matilda books wants to be an amalgam of Mary Poppins, the Harry Potter films and Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events – Emma Thompson, also the screenwriter, plays a magical governess of sorts who tends to a rowdy British brood of seven children – but the movie really belongs

Proof (2005)

Drama Rated PG-13

Gwyneth Paltrow suffers beautifully again as the depressive daughter of a dying, delusional math professor (Anthony Hopkins) in this adaptation of the stage play she performed in under returning director John Madden (Shakespeare in Love). It’s all very earnest and weighty – with some nice on-location filming at the University of Chicago – but I

Serving Sara (2002)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Further evidence that Matthew Perry, “Friends” star and king of inconsequential movie comedies, is a strictly small-screen talent. This time he plays a process server trying to deliver divorce papers to a Texas trophy wife (Elizabeth Hurley), and it’s painful to watch him flub his way through nearly two hours of lifeless, would-be comedic situations.

Thing About My Folks, The (2005)

Comedy Rated PG-13

Writer-star Paul Reiser plays a very “Mad About You”-type New York married man whose even-keel life takes a hit when his mother abruptly leaves his father, Sam (Peter Falk), after 47 years of marriage. Much kvetching and bonding between the men ensues. Reiser claims to have written the role of Sam with Falk in mind,

Undisputed (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated R

With all the subtlety of a knockout punch, Undisputed chronicles the inevitable showdown between the undefeated star of an interprison boxing program (Wesley Snipes) and a real-life champion prize fighter recently convicted of rape (Ving Rhames, doing Mike Tyson without the lisp). The movie has a few moments of enjoyable silliness, but like the buildup