Bad accents, bizarre wigs and dialogue that varies between windy speeches and hysterical screaming matches – many of which involve such phrases as, “By Zeus and all the gods!” – Alexander has all the makings of a camp classic, including the crucial element: deadly serious intentions. Once-vital director Oliver Stone (JFK) helps embarrass the likes

First-time director Denzel Washington brings a sincere, sympathetic touch to this tough story about a scarred, inner-city orphan (newcomer Derek Luke, showing real talent) struggling to put his painful past behind him after joining the Navy. The fact that this is the first screenplay from Antwone Fisher, who based the movie on his own life,

This independent drama follows a young couple (Campbell Scott and Hope Davis) trying to cram dual careers, three young kids and a happy marriage into one overextended life. The daily tensions only intensify when he begins to suspect her of having an affair. Not much happens that doesn’t happen in the lives of millions of

The marketing campaign for 21 Grams – a series of posters asking variations on the question, ‘How much does life weigh?’ – is more artful than the movie, because the film itself is anindulgent exercise that could use some of the streamlining a poster demands. With flair and pretension, director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu follows three

24 Hour Party People works best as a snapshot – a brief, busy glimpse at the new wave music that was born during the late ’70s and early ’80s in Manchester, England. Our eager host is Tony Wilson (Steve Coogan), the television reporter turned music promoter who nurtured the Happy Mondays, Joy Division and others.

Woody Harrelson makes a welcome return here as a FBI agent who has been bumbling for years after notorious thieves Max and Lola (Pierce Brosnan and Salma Hayek). The three meet up in the Bahamas, where Max and Lola are supposed to be enjoying retirement but are enticed by a diamond on a nearby ocean

As Jackie Kallen, a real-life professional boxing manager, Meg Ryan sashays through Against the Ropes in outfits that appear to have been lifted from Erin Brockovich. Even her high heels are tight. If Brockovich is the role model, Against the Ropes falls far short. Both are about sexy, sassy women who make waves in a

William H. Macy’s true gift hasn’t been the way he perfectly embodies life’s losers but the way he has made such sorry schlubs interesting. That quality isn’t on display in The Cooler, in which Macy plays a luckless gambler employed by a second-rate casino owner (Alec Baldwin) to cool off tables with hot streaks. This