James Rocchi At The Movies

Review: Summer Movie Madness

CBS 5 Film Critic James Rocchi

(CBS) July's movies range from big-screen cartoon adventures to intimate dramas, jumping from the sweltering kitchens of Manhattan to the cold vastness of space; here's a few quick takes on some of the month's releases.

No Reservations (3 out of 4 Reels)
An Americanized remake of the German film Mostly Martha, No Reservations stars Catherine Zeta-Jones as a workaholic, rigidly-controlled New York chef whose orderly life gets turned upside down when she suddenly has to care for her niece Abigail Breslin after her sister's sudden death. That's not the only challenge Zeta-Jones has to face, of course -- new chef Aaron Eckhart is a loud, sloppy free-spirit, and the two start a tentative romance. No Reservations contains no surprises, but it offers a warm mix of comedy, drama and romance -- and Breslin turns what could have been a cliché part into a surprisingly effective cornerstone of the film.

The Simpsons Movie (3 out of 4 Reels)
After 18 years and countless awards, The Simpsons finally jump to the big screen, as Homer's stupidity unleashes an environmental catastrophe on Springfield so disastrous it prompts the EPA (whose villainous head is voiced by Albert Brooks) to seal the town off under a huge dome. The movie has the smart-stupid comedy The Simpsons does so well -- brief, witty satire and social commentary combined with slapstick and physical comedy -- and while the animation may look a little crude compared to the high-tech gloss of films like Ratatouille and Surf's Up, Simpsons fans wouldn't have it any other way. The Simpsons Movie may be a few years too late -- the TV series seems to be running on fumes at this point -- but it's still a funny enough way to spend 86 minutes.

Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry (0 out of 4 Reels)
New York Firefighters Adam Sandler and Kevin James pose as a gay couple so their civil union can ensure James's pension benefits go to his kids in the event of his untimely death; of course, the twosome's secret plan becomes public knowledge. Ther interesting -- and terrifying -- thing about I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry is that it's intended as a parable of tolerance, but it's filled with racism, sexism and homophobia: Rob Schneider plays a "Asian/Jewish" wedding chapel owner complete with buck teeth and squinty eyes; every female character in the film is a sex-starved idiot; every gay character is a prancing, predatory, perverted stereotype. Worse, the movie isn't even funny in a way that could even begin to compensate for these failures in common sense and basic decency. I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry wants to have it both ways -- practicing the intolerance it preaches against -- and the end result is a sour, unfunny mess that leaves you feeling like you've been had.

Sunshine (3 out of 4 Reels)
Director Danny Boyle may be best-known for the thrilling and frightening heroin epic Trainspotting, but his career's ranged from suspense (Shallow Grave) to drama (The Beach) to kid's fables (Millions) to horror (28 Days Later). Now, he's taking on science fiction in Sunshine, with a cadre of astronauts undertaking a desperate mission to kick-start the sun before it dies, riding into space on top of a bomb 'the size of Manhattan Island." The physics in the movie is mostly real-world -- no aliens or transforming robots appear on-screen; in many ways, Sunshine is in the tradition of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. The cast includes Cillian Murphy, Rose Byrne and Chris Evans, but it's Boyle who's the star here -- Sunshine has brilliant visuals and a creepy sense of the vastness of space. There's a plot twist in Sunshine that, frankly, I could have done without, but the film's still got big ideas, gorgeous images and manages to thrill the audience without insulting your intelligence.

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