Also this issue:

Danger After Dark
Strangers meet in Claire Denis’ minor-key Friday Night.
-Sam Adams

Fresh Breath
The stunning-looking Respiro is a breeze.
-Cindy Fuchs

Déjà Vu
Terminator 3 shows us the same old future, with a few twists.
-Cindy Fuchs

Screen Picks
-Sam Adams

Continuing Shorts

Repertory Film

Showtimes

July 3- 9, 2003

movie shorts

New Shorts

The Heart Of Me

Emotionally captivating at times, restrained and distant at many others, The Heart of Me never consistently reaches the dramatic heights it strives for, but is held together by a strong cast. Set in WWII-era London, the film uses flashbacks to trace the love triangle between dispassionate socialite Madeleine (Olivia Williams), her straight-laced husband Rickie (Paul Bettany) and her sultry, free spirited sister Dinah (Helena Bonham Carter). Director Thaddeus O’Sullivan mistakenly rushes into the affair, putting the focus entirely on the illicit lovers without properly fleshing out the history between the three. (Madeleine is especially underdeveloped and could have given the film a much-needed dramatic push early on.) That said, O’Sullivan kindles the affair’s sparks with subtlety, despite the occasional resort to more obvious gestures (as the lovers kiss, fireworks explode behind them) and keeps the film moving over its lean 95-minute running time. Emotional resonance is felt, however, only when the affair is eventually revealed: Madeleine’s icy exterior finally fades and she seethes with regret and vitriol at Rickie, who is slowly deteriorating in front of us. Dinah, her flame-red hair exuding raw sexuality, melts down stirringly as she is torn between her love and her family. These brief moments of passion bring the characters to life, but only momentarily. Fans of Carter (in familiar territory here) or period romances may be interested, but the film is otherwise disappointing. --Marc Berzenski (Ritz at the Bourse; Ritz 16)

LEGALLY BLONDE 2: RED, WHITE & BLONDE

More than awful, Legally Blonde 2 is a big fat nothing; it doesn’t exist enough to be called bad. It doesn’t seem right to yearn for the sticky gloss of the first film, but at least it fit the story. Director Charles Herman-Wurmfeld (Kissing Jessica Stein) films the proceedings like an out-of-focus sitcom, in a drab palette you just know Elle Woods would never approve. Just as the first movie’s Elle seemed like a smudged Xerox of Election’s Tracy Flick, so the sequel finds Reese Witherspoon fighting the law of diminishing returns. Here, Elle’s a Senator’s aide who campaigns for doggie rights, but the clip of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington she watches for inspiration just shows up LB2’s cynical facetiousness: Paying lip service to democratic ideals, it doesn’t have a sliver of the tough-minded honesty Frank Capra got away with six decades ago. Apart from a few well-executed reaction shots by Mary Lynn Rajskub, Legally Blonde 2 is pure flab -- why bother getting Sally Field and Bob Newhart if you’re not going to give them any decent lines? At least Terminator 3 knows how dumb it is. --Sam Adams (AMC Orleans; Bridge; Roxy, UA 69th St.; UA Grant; UA Main St.; UA Riverview)

SINBAD: LEGEND OF THE SEVEN SEAS

There are worse things to show up on screen this summer than Brad Pitt as a pirate. Even better, this DreamWorks project -- based on The Arabian Nights plus other (Greek) myths -- features an animated Catherine Zeta-Jones holding her own among a skeptical crew, Michelle Pfeiffer as shape-shifting Eris, Goddess of Chaos, and Dennis Haysbert as the first mate. But for all the talent and cartoony concepts lined up here -- sea monsters, snow birds, a giant fish passing as an island, a preternaturally clever bull mastiff named Spike -- the film, scripted by John Logan (who co-wrote Gladiator), offers precious few excitements or jokes. The plot starts when Sinbad (or "Sin-Brad," as Pitt calls him) is wrongly sentenced to death for stealing the Book of Peace, which he then sets out to steal back from the real thief, Eris. Sinbad is more Braddy than swashbuckly, though, which is either distracting or amusing, depending on your tolerance for either. --Cindy Fuchs (AMC Orleans; Narberth; UA 69th St.; UA Cheltenham; UA Grant; UA Riverview)