Movie Shorts

FINAL DESTINATION 2

Don't fret if you haven't seen the first one (called, I believe, Penultimate Destination). FD2 recaps everything you need to know: specifically, that Death is a malevolent force surrounding us at all times that takes being cheated very personally. When Kimberly (A.J. Cook) has a premonition of a horrific -- and imaginatively choreographed -- traffic accident, she blocks the highway on-ramp just long enough to save her life and those of a handful of strangers behind her. This group's still-aliveness apparently causes "a rift in Death's design" that Death wastes no time in rectifying. You've got to hand it to Death and its strict but arbitrary code of Deathics: each make-up slaying has to happen in reverse order from Death's original intent, be red-herringed in a vision to Kimberly, involve a literally ungodly number of elaborate coincidences and finish up with a gruesome and deal-sealing mutilation. This would all be really scary if people ever actually died like this; I guess we can be grateful that Death is not yet a second-rate horror screenwriter. Still, there's a certain amount of fun to be had in the Theater of the Absurd Demises. No matter how ridiculous the premise, it's all in the execution.--Ryan Godfrey (AMC Orleans; Cinemagic; UA 69th St.; UA Cheltenham; UA Grant; UA Main St.; UA Riverview

INTACTO

Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's Spanish supernatural thriller is ripe for the already-announced American remake, which is to say it's got an intriguing premise and a muddled execution that should make for some kind comparisons down the line. In Intacto, luck isn't a factor of chance or fate, but an invisible commodity that can be stolen, traded and, most importantly, gambled with. Earthquake survivor Federico (Eusebio Poncela) is a onetime right-hand man to Sam (Max von Sydow), a Holocaust survivor who's built an underground gambling network frequented by those who have the gift of stealing other people's luck with a touch. Federico has had his powers rescinded, but he taps Tomas (Leonardo Sbaraglia), the sole survivor of a plane crash, to be the instrument of his revenge. Fresnadillo isn't nearly creative enough with his underground of fortunate fortuneseekers -- one contest involves a glowing bug landing on the right person's forehead, another a blindfolded race through a forest and the final conflict, ho hum, Russian roulette. If you're going to make a gimmick movie, you need a better gimmick. --Sam Adams (Ritz at the Bourse; Ritz 16)

THE RECRUIT

If CIA agents are really as hung up on father issues and rocky romances as they appear in the movies, the so-called free world is in even more trouble than the agency's bungled info-deciphering would indicate. In director Roger Donaldson's version of this recurring "troubled agent" scenario (see also Tony Scott's Spy Game), Colin Farrell is the gifted trainee, Al Pacino his brilliant recruiter/father figure, and Bridget Moynahan his rocky romantic interest. For half the film, they're claustrophobic at a training camp called "the Farm." Here they learn that "everything is a test" and "nothing is what it seems." Apparently, this is news for the newbies, because they repeat both phrases like mantras. They also work with those huge-type movie-computers, emote flagrantly, drive like crazy people and miss obvious cues concerning plot turns, all of which suggests they're not exactly cut out for the spy biz, where acumen and precision are reputedly valued.--Cindy Fuchs (Bridge; Ritz 16; UA 69th St.; UA Cheltenham; UA Grant; UA Riverview)

TULLY

Based on a prize-winning short story by Tom McNeal, Hillary Birmingham's debut feature is set on a Nebraska farm about to be foreclosed and begins with a farmer who has kept a family secret from his two sons for many years. As the mystery starts to unravel, handsome elder son Tully, Jr. meets Ella, a wholesome and sensitive veterinary student. While he has been the village rake, he suddenly finds himself falling in love and reflecting on deeper meanings about life and commitment. At the same time, both brothers have to cope with their father's repressed feelings as well as his final courageous act. The evolving self-revelations are deeply moving and the textures and colors of the midwestern landscape harmonize with the deliberate pace of this quintessentially American tale. The winning characters, nuanced acting and patient unhurried narrative add up to a felicitous movie experience. --Ruth and Archie Perlmutter (Ritz East; Ritz 16)