MINI MOVIE REVIEWS

OLYMPIAN STAFF, NEWS SERVICES

Originally published Friday, February 8, 2002

A BEAUTIFUL MIND

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly and Ed Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas Yelm Cinemas and Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Russell Crowe delivers a virtuoso performance as the tormented, brilliant mathematician John Forbes Nash. Directed by Ron Howard. Universal Pictures, 129 minutes.

BIG FAT LIAR

* 1/2 (PG)

- Stars: Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti and Amanda Bynes.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A small, thin comedy about a high school student who gets revenge when his homework is stolen by a movie producer and transformed into a movie. Universal Pictures, 88 minutes.

BIRTHDAY GIRL

* * * (R)

- Stars: Nicole Kidman, Ben Chaplin, Vincent Cassel and Mathieu Kassovitz.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Nicole Kidman, fresh from winning a Golden Globe for her role in "Moulin Rouge," stars as a Russian mail-order bride with a past. When she arrives as the wife of a timid British bank clerk, all is not what it seems. Directed and co-written by Jez Butterworth. Miramax Films, 93 minutes.

BLACK HAWK DOWN

* * (R)

- Stars: Tom Sizemore, Sam Shepard, Josh Hartnett and Eric Bana.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A gritty, tough re-enactment of a U.S. mission in Somalia in 1993 that went drastically wrong -- and the heroism of the men involved. But its racial politics are muddled and unsettling. Directed by Ridley Scott. Columbia Pictures, 143 minutes.

CODE UNKNOWN

* * * (not rated)

- Stars: Juliette Binoche, Luminita Gheorghiu and Sepp Bierbichler.

- Playing: Feb. 10-13 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: A series of vignettes are linked by participants in an opening scene -- in which a cruel youth throws trash into the lap of a beggar and an onlooker objects. Directed by Michael Haneke. In French with English subtitles. Contains mature themes.

COLLATERAL DAMAGE

* * (R)

- Stars: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Francesca Neri and Cliff Curtis.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: A standard action film, built on the revenge formula, with Arnold Schwarzenegger as a Los Angeles fireman who travels to Colombia to kill the terrorists whose bomb killed his innocent wife and child. Directed by Andrew Davis. Warner Bros., 115 minutes.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

* * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Jim Caviezel, Guy Pearce, Richard Harris.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas, Yelm Cinemas and Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Alexandre Dumas' swashbuckling tale of betrayal and revenge looks great in this new version, but suffers from a lack of depth once it gets past the production design. Still, it could be just the movie to interest that pre-teen boy of yours in reading the book. Directed by Kevin Reynolds. Touchstone Pictures, 110 minutes.

LORD OF THE RINGS: THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING

* * * * (PG-13)

- Stars: Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Peter Jackson's vivid and imaginative retelling of the first part of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy trilogy about a young Hobbit who tries to save Middle Earth by destroying an all-powerful ring of evil. New Line, 178 minutes.

LUMUMBA

* * * (not rated)

- Stars: Eriq Ebouany, Alex Deca and Theophile Moussa.

- Playing: Feb. 10-13 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: This movie describes how the United States conspired to bring about the death of the Congo's democratically elected Patrice Lumumba. Directed by Raoul Peck. Suitable for mature audiences.

THE MOTHMAN PROPHECIES

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Richard Gere, Laura Linney and Alan Bates.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Richard Gere dives into "X-Files" country for this story about a reporter trying to uncover mysterious paranormal activities in a West Virginia town. Mark Pellington directs. Screen Gems, 119 minutes.

ORANGE COUNTY

* * (PG-13)

- Stars: Colin Hanks, Schuyler Fisk and Jack Black.

- Playing: Shelton Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Typical teen comedy featuring an atypical cast. Tom Hanks' son, Colin, and Sissy Spacek's daughter, Schuyler Fisk, star alongside Hollywood giants like Kevin Kline. Director Lawrence Kasdan's son, Jake, directs. Hanks plays a high school student trying desperately to get into Stanford University despite receiving a rejection letter. Paramount, 100 minutes.

ROLLERBALL

(PG-13)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Chris Klein, Jean Reno, LL Cool J and Rebecca Romijn Stamos.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Chris Klein and teammates find that their dangerous sport is becoming downright lethal. Directed by John McTiernan.

THE ROYAL TENENBAUMS

* * * * (R)

- Stars: Gene Hackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller and Anjelica Huston.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Director Wes Anderson scores with this quirky, funny tale of a dysfunctional family of geniuses who learn not to overthink everything in their lives. Rated R for profanity, sexuality and violence. Touchstone Pictures, 103 minutes.

SHE'S GOTTA HAVE IT

* * * (R)

- Stars: Tracy Camilla Jones, Tommy Redmond Hicks, John Canada Terrell and Spike Lee.

- Playing: 6:30 and 9 p.m. Feb. 14 at Capitol Theater with Olympia Film Society.

- Synopsis: Spike Lee's feature directorial debut tells a comic tale of a woman's refusal to commit to any of her three boyfriends.

SLACKERS

no stars (R)

- Stars: Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman and James King.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Dewey Nicks' film is the umpteenth teen or college sex and gross-out comedy. It's as stupid and inane as a movie can get; it's also a colossal waste of time and celluloid. Screen Gems, 87 minutes.

SNOW DOGS

* * 1/2 (PG)

- Stars: Cuba Gooding Jr. and James Coburn.

- Playing: Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Predictable children's film about a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits a dogsled team and heads to Alaska. While there, he butts heads with a gruff local (James Coburn). Should be fun for the kids, but not parents. Directed by Brian Levant. Disney, 99 minutes.

A WALK TO REMEMBER

(PG)

- Star rating: Not reviewed.

- Stars: Mandy Moore and Shane West.

- Playing: Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas.

- Synopsis: Jaded high schooler Shane West falls for Mandy Moore in a coming-of-age story set in North Carolina. With Peter Coyote and Daryl Hannah.

Star guide

Superior * * * *

Good * * *

Fair * *

Poor *

Movie ratings

G - General audiences.

PG - Parental guidance suggested.

PG-13 - Parental guidance sug-gested for children under 13.

R - Under 17 requires adult guardian.

NC-17 - No one under 17 admitted.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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