“Thirteen Days” (PG-13, 1:38) A riveting re-enactment of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis that hits both visceral and emotional Ground Zero, “Thirteen Days” unfolds from an inside-the-Oval-Office perspective.
It will transfix adults with vivid memories of those awful two weeks, and should equally fascinate their history-loving teens or teenage grandkids, who’ll doubtless have questions about what it felt like to live through it all. The PG-13 reflects frequent mild profanity and a lot of liquor consumption, considering the situation. There’s also a scary scene with a U.S. spy plane over Cuba, desperately dodging anti-aircraft missiles.
The story visualizes in crisp, urgent scenes the diplomatic, military and strategic chess game that occurred on the ground in Cuba, in the seas nearby and, most important, in the Oval Office between President Kennedy (Bruce Greenwood in a brilliant, low-key portrait), his brother Bobby, the attorney general (Steven Culp, also first-rate), the rest of the Cabinet and the Joint Chiefs.
Kevin Costner is our window into the story as JFK’s aide Kenneth P. O’Donnell, who watches the players make their moves.
“Save the Last Dance” (PG-13, 1:53) Likable co-stars Julia Stiles and Sean Patrick Thomas lend credibility and fizz to this tale of a middle-class white girl from a small town who transfers to a mostly African-American inner-city high school and has a romance with the star student there. “Save the Last Dance” should entertain teenage girls a lot. The PG-13 reflects considerable low-level profanity, non-bloody fights and shootouts, teens drinking and using fake ID’s, and a gently implied sexual situation between the leads.
Sara (Stiles) moves to Chicago to live with her estranged jazz musician dad (Terry Kinney) after her mother dies in a car wreck. In her grief, she has given up her ambition to study ballet at Juilliard.
In school, she becomes friends with Chenille (Kerry Washington) and her brother Derek (Thomas), a college-bound brain. He teaches Sara hip-hop dancing and they fall in love, though their romance creates tension among his disapproving black friends and earns hostile stares from white strangers.
There’s also a tired subplot about a thuggish pal of Derek’s (rapper Fredro Starr). The dancing’s more athletic than artful, but the movie has a bit of heft to it and treats racial issues with candor.
“AntiTrust” (PG-13, 1:48 ) There are occasionally cute computer geek jokes, and the premise has merit, but this slick, paranoid compu-thriller seems mostly silly.
Its smart insiders’ tone may appeal to cyber-savvy teens, but the drama is so revved up, you’d think this were a Greek tragedy, not computers. The PG-13 covers muted violence, sexual innuendo between unmarried adults and profanity.
Ryan Phillippe plays a young software genius recruited by a Microsoft-esque corporation. He encounters a nefarious plot that goes way beyond predatory pricing or industrial espionage.
Phillippe and co-stars Claire Forlani and Rachael Leigh Cook are all eclipsed by Tim Robbins as a megalomaniac software billionaire who lusts after a satellite-controlled global communications monopoly. (Doesn’t everyone?)
“Traffic” (R, 2:27) A terrifically smart, sad dissection of the illegal drug trade between Mexico and the United States, and the law enforcement folks trying to stop it. High-schoolers will be impressed and entertained while watching this cautionary tale.
A fairly restrained R, “Traffic” portrays occasionally strong violence, sexual situations (one quite explicit), teens using hard drugs, profanity, drinking and smoking.
A grown-up movie with an intense, you-are-there documentary feel, “Traffic” cuts back and forth between three related stories. A few scenes are in Spanish with subtitles.
Michael Douglas plays a newly appointed U.S. drug czar, and the movie focuses on his loss of innocence as he sees the scope of the problem, then learns that his own daughter (Erika Christensen) is an addict. Benicio Del Toro plays a Tijuana cop surrounded by corruption. Don Cheadle and Luis Guzman play DEA agents tracking the wife (Catherine Zeta-Jones) of a jailed San Diego drug lord as she scrambles to clear hubby and save her lifestyle. The keenest emotional sting comes from the girl’s pathetic addiction, and the smug preppy boyfriend who leads her into it.
New this weekend
The following movies opened too late for a review in the Health & Family section.
“The Amati Girls”: An emotional story about four adult sisters and their widowed mother, each at different stages of their lives, whose bonds are tested when tragedy strikes. Stars Mercedes Ruehl, Paul Sorvino, Cloris Leachman, Lee Grant, Mark Harmon and Sean Young. MPAA rating: PG (mild language and brief sensuality); running time: 1:31.
“Panic”: Director Henry Bromell’s debut feature is a comedy about a guy going through a midlife crisis. With William H. Macy, Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, Tracey Ullman and John Ritter. MPAA rating: R (language and elements of violence); running time: 1:28.
“The Pledge”: A retiring homicide detective, played by Jack Nicholson, stumbles upon a murder and decides to track down the killer. Also features Robin Wright Penn, Sam Shepard, Vanessa Redgrave and Mickey Rourke. MPAA rating: R (strong violence and language); running time: 2:04.
“Snatch”: This comedy, written and directed by Guy Ritchie, features a colorful ensemble cast in a rollicking ride through London’s gangster world, its bustling diamond district and a rowdy Gypsy camp. MPAA rating: R (strong violence, language and some nudity); running time: 1:43.
