Writer-director Oliver Parker continues the charming, witty conversation he began with 1999’s An Ideal Husband by tackling Oscar Wilde’s better-known play. The result is pretty much the same, and delightfully so: another verbal roundelay conducted by an exquisite cast. Rupert Everett stars as a rich and eloquent English layabout whose only true pursuit is the

Whimsy with a French accent. Audrey Tautou is irresistible as a shy waitress who finds happiness – and eventually love – by performing anonymous acts of kindness (her smile is that of a 5-year-old who just cracked her first joke). Meanwhile, director Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s style – bold colors, impulsive edits, an eye for life’s little

What sounds like a bad bar joke – a priest (Edward Norton) and a rabbi (Ben Stiller) fall in love with the same woman (Jenna Elfman) – is actually an endearing romantic comedy that’s respectful of religion and a riot all at once. There are some inherent theological questions that remain unanswered, but those looking

A romantic comedy with two opportunities to be romantic and comic, and it fails on both counts. Luke Wilson plays a frustrated novelist who dictates his latest tale to a feisty stenographer (Kate Hudson), while scenes from the novel in progress also feature the two stars. It’s all surprisingly bland considering the talent involved, a

This big-budget, star-laden adaptation of the 1960s television series, with a fellow headliner no less glittering than Nicole Kidman, represents one of Will Ferrell’s biggest platforms and blandest performances. Most of the problems are related to the movie’s needlessly convoluted structure, in which Ferrell plays a fading movie star looking to revive his career with

A nice little vehicle for the gifts of Amanda Bynes, who is rare among teen starlets in that she doesn’t sell CDs on the side and she has a real, natural talent. This light teen comedy is casually modeled on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, and amidst all its gender-bending farce, the movie has a smart absurdist

Another Reese Witherspoon romantic comedy that’s safe and satisfying but hardly exciting – sort of the cinematic equivalent of caffeine-free Coke. This time she’s a New York City fashion designer who gets engaged to the mayor’s son (Patrick Dempsey) – too bad she never divorced that Alabama good old boy (Josh Lucas) she married out

Jennifer Garner plays a gawky adolescent who magically turns 30 after making a wish on her 13th birthday, but she’s also turned into a petty and shallow woman. Could a reunion with her formerly sloppy friend from junior high (Mark Ruffalo) help her reclaim her youthful innocence? This is more of a romance than its