The following movies opened too late for a review in Health & Family.
“All the Pretty Horses”: Billy Bob Thornton’s fine movie of Cormac McCarthy’s novel captures the timeless, universal feel of the great westerns. It’s about two teenage friends (Matt Damon and Henry Thomas) who take off from their Texas home in 1949 heading for the freedom of Mexico. Also stars Penelope Cruz, Ruben Blades, Sam Shepard. MPAA rating: PG-13 (violence and some sexuality); running time: 1:52.
“Finding Forrester”: Like “Good Will Hunting,” director Gus Van Sant details an older-man/younger-man friendship. But his visual lyricism and uncondescending attitude toward almost everyone on screen ensures that the film won’t succumb to formula. Stars Rob Brown as a 16-year-old African-American boy living in the Bronx who happens to meet William Forrester (Sean Connery). MPAA rating: PG-13 (brief strong language and some sexual references); running time: 2:16.
“O Brother, Where Art Thou?”: This is what you get when you cross the Coen Brothers, Homer’s “The Odyssey” and three criminals (George Clooney, John Turturro and Tim Blake Nelson) who escape a Mississippi chain gang (circa 1930s) still shackled together. Also stars Charles Durning, John Goodman, Holly Hunter. MPAA rating: PG-13 (some violence and language); running time: 1:43.
“An Everlasting Piece”: What we’ve got here is yet another “Full Monty” wannabe. And, for all its flaws, it’s an amusing, sometimes quite brave comedy (directed by Barry Levinson) about two young barbers who meet in a Belfast mental institution and attempt to corner the wig market. MPAA rating: R (language); running time: 2:28.
“Malena”: Giuseppe Tornatore’s (“Cinema Paradiso”) latest is an often-spectacular example of cinema technique. Set in a small Sicilian coastal town in the World War II years, it’s about a 13-year-old boy with a wild infatuation for Malena (Monica Bellucci). But it renders the story in such grandiose visual terms, that style often seems to overpower the tale. MPAA rating: R (sexuality); running time: 1:30.
“State and Main”: As in “Wag the Dog,” David Mamet’s latest is a sly spoof that revolves around calculating manipulators and explores the convergence of the entertainment and real worlds: It chronicles what happens when a big Hollywood production invades a small New England town and is aimed mostly at viewers already able to appreciate jokes about associate producer credits. Stars Alec Baldwin, Clark Gregg, Philip Seymour Hoffman, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker, Julia Stiles. MPAA rating: R (language and brief sexual images); running time: 1:45.
“Wes Craven Presents Dracula 2000”: This vampire tale supposedly picks up where Bram Stoker’s “Dracula” left off, with The Count confronting the modern era. MPAA rating: R (violence/gore, language and some sexuality); running time: 2:07.
