Cold Mountain (2003)

Drama Rated R

An unsuccessful prestige project based on Charles Frazier’s 1998 best-seller, this is a movie with pages sticking out of it. The story is good; the structural problems are insurmountable. Nicole Kidman and Jude Law cancel each other out as lovers separated by the Civil War, while Renee Zellweger brings some zest as a rifle-toting drifter.

Emperor’s New Groove, The (2000)

Family Rated G

There’s no rousing musical score, star-studded vocal cast or groundbreaking animation in this Disney fable about an emperor who has been turned into a llama. But aside from the subpar visuals, the movie does not suffer as a result. Without the weight of a blockbuster tag, The Emperor’s New Groove is freed from the Disney

Kingdom of Heaven (2005)

Action/Adventure Rated R

This may be the first hippie war film, a peace-espousing flower child that gleefully takes up arms. Set during the Crusades, it has as its hero (Orlando Bloom) the knight charged with defending Jerusalem and keeping the peace between Christians and Muslims. Fortunately for director Ridley Scott – whose Gladiator turned bursts of violence into

Narc (2002)

Drama Rated R

Narc gets most of its fire from a riveting Ray Liotta. As a hard-core narcotics officer hell-bent on avenging his former partner’s murder, he lumbers through the movie like a bear that everyone else on screen is afraid of rousing. He and Jason Patric, who plays an undercover cop, turn the movie into a tense

Return to Never Land (2002)

Family Rated G

Disney may seem like it’s cashing in on one of its brand names with this sequel to 1953’s Peter Pan, but Return to Never Land is lavished with more care and respect than you’d expect. The result is a fun, thoughtful extension of the fairy tale’s central themes – this time Wendy’s daughter takes center

Spy Game (2001)

Thriller Rated R

As long as it stays ambiguous and messy – much like the international espionage it depicts – Spy Game is a smart, scintillating consideration of the prices that are paid for the sake of American national security. As a 30-year CIA veteran and his protege, Robert Redford and Brad Pitt make a fine screen team;

Sum of All Fears, The (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated PG-13

This geopolitical thriller based on the Tom Clancy novel is so insistent on having a strapping young hero that drama and common sense are sacrificed just to squeeze him in. In an odd casting stunt, Ben Affleck takes over the role of CIA analyst Jack Ryan when Harrison Ford, who played Ryan in Patriot Games

Veronica Guerin (2003)

Drama Rated R

A cloying martyr movie, Veronica Guerin is all the more shameful because it’s based on an actual person. In the 1990s, Dublin journalist Guerin published extensive exposes on the drug rings in the city, eventually paying with her life. Cate Blanchett has the right sort of fire to bring some dignity to the proceedings, but

We Were Soldiers (2002)

Action/Adventure Rated R

In this well-intentioned attempt to honor American soldiers who fought in Vietnam, writer-director Randall Wallace and star Mel Gibson have created a Saving Private Ryan wannabe, from the melodramatic air of reverence to the trendy dollops of gore. Do Vietnam veterans who fought bravely and honorably deserve our respect? Certainly. But lazily anointing them as

Whale Rider (2002)

Drama Rated PG-13

An enchanting ending redeems this otherwise familiar story of contemporary society clashing with traditional culture. Whale Rider takes place in a coastal tribal community of New Zealand, where a young girl (Oscar-nominated Keisha Castle-Hughes) challenges the gender biases that have governed her people for generations. Writer-director Niki Caro fares better capturing the cascading green hills