The Great Debaters

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Inspirational Bio-Pic Brought to DVD

When a movie bills itself as “Inspired by a True Story,” to what extent should it be allowed to take liberties with the truth? That is the question which begs to be answered in the course of appraising this inspirational bio-pic about a debate team from a tiny black college which allegedly took on Harvard University in a big showdown for the national championship.
The film’s most glaring, factual faux pas is that while Wiley College’s opponent was not Harvard at all, but USC. This fabrication naturally makes one wonder about other aspects of this recreation. Was the original contest really broadcast live on radio? (Unlikely) Was it even the first time, as implied, that a black college competed against a white school in the debate tournament? (No) Etcetera… etcetera…
Furthermore, the picture propagated plenty of other tall tales. For instance, there’s a scene where Professor Tolson (Denzel Washington) attempts instill some self respect in his pupils by quoting from Willie Lynch’s 1712 speech supposedly delivered to fellow slave owners about how to mold and control the minds of their slaves.
Well, the problem is that the infamous lecture never took place, and has long been dismissed by academics and experts, even African-American, as an urban legend created around 1993. Since I’ve criticized references made to Willie Lynch by other flicks, it would be hypocritical for me to give this flick a pass just because it’s such a well-meaning message movie.
All of the fibs aside, there is still much to recommend here. Denzel certainly delivers as the film’s plucky protagonist, as do Forest Whitaker, Denzel Whitaker, Jurnee Smollett, Nate Parker and Jermaine Williams. Well-Intentioned and well-executed, but recommended with reservations only because there’s still something terribly troubling even about a feelgood flick packed with so many misrepresentations.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, mature themes, brief sexuality, violence and disturbing images.
Running time: 124 minutes
Studio: Genius Products
2-Disc DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, a couple of music videos, and nine featurettes.

Leatherheads

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Clooney Courts Zellweger in Screwball Comedy Set in the Roaring Twenties

It is the height of the Roaring Twenties, an era generally associated with overindulgence and irrational exuberance in spite of Prohibition and the specter of the Great Depression looming over the horizon. The decade also signaled the introduction of professional football in the American heartland, and this is where we meet Jimmy “Dodge” Connelly (George Clooney), the owner/captain/coach of the Duluth Bulldogs.
While most folks fail to see much of a future in a game being played on turnip fields by miners, farmers and shell-shocked veterans, Dodge can already envision the fledgling league’s potential as a popular spectator sport.
Plus, the aging star is still a kid at heart, who would rather continue playing indefinitely than make any concessions to Father Time.
But with his Bulldogs enjoying more of a reputation for brawling in speakeasies than for greatness on the gridiron, they find themselves without a sponsor and teetering on the brink of bankruptcy. So, in order to save his team from financial collapse, Connelly comes up with an inspired idea to bolster his flagging franchise’s box-office receipts.
The plan is to offer a record-setting contract to Carter Rutherford (John Krasinski), provided the Princeton University sensation is willing to abandon plans to attend Yale Law School and turn pro instead. For the 6’3” Golden Boy offers the added bonus of being a celebrated World War I hero who single-handedly captured a platoon of German soldiers during the Battle of the Argonne Forest in Northern France.
Carter signs up and, sure enough, the gamble works. Sportswriters covering the Bulldogs begin writing articles recounting the veteran’s exploits and enormous crowds start flocking to the team’s games. However, a fly in the ointment arrives in Lexie Littleton (Renee Zellweger), an up-and-coming investigative journalist looking to make a name for herself.
She suspects that the patriot’s war record might have been a bit embellished, so she sets about doing a little digging to elicit the truth. Meanwhile, she simultaneously finds herself being courted by both Carter and Dodge, and a love triangle ensues.
Written and directed by George Clooney (for Syriana), Leatherheads is an old-fashioned screwball comedy cut from the mold of a Preston Sturges farce. Half slapstick, half romantic romp, the picture is at its best when indulging in witty repartee between Clooney and Renee Zellweger. Reminiscent of Tracy and Hepburn, the two Academy Award-winners again prove their worth, generating an endearing chemistry while delivering their every line with perfect aplomb.
If only the rest of the script measured up to their inspired exchanges, the movie might have added up to something more memorable than a momentary diversion. Instead, what we have is a pleasant period piece harking back to days of yore, but one so superficial that it’s likely to be forgotten by the time you file up the aisle.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for brief profanity.
Running time: 114 minutes
Studio: Universal Pictures

Love and Other Four-Letter Words DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Tangi Miller and Flex Alexander in Marriage-Minded Sitcom

Stormy LaRue (Tangi Miller) is a popular TV talk show host in Chicago who has it all except a man. And that wasn’t really a problem until she went back home to Montgomery, Alabama to visit her supposedly terminally-ill grandmother (Aloma Wright).
For when Nana on her deathbed says her last request is to see her favorite granddaughter happily married, Stormy lies on the spot, saying she’s already engaged and the wedding is in just six weeks. Then, when granny miraculously recovers and announces that she plans to attend, the bride decides to find a guy to fake playing her groom for a day rather than ‘fess up to the fib.
This is the familiar point of departure of Love and Other Four-Letter Words, a formulaic sitcom based on a story created by its talented star, Tangi Miller. Despite the plot’s predictability, it is well-enough executed with the help of a colorful supporting cast to be rated a worthwhile rental.
Relying on her best friend, Roxanne (Essence Atkins), desperate Stormy begins auditioning potential husbands, only to settle inexplicably on Tiger (Marcus Patrick), a stripper she meets at her assistant Carrie’s (Mary Linda Phillips) birthday party. However, this arrangement soon starts to sour when the hunky boy-toy begins demanding an ever-increasing amount of money to participate in the ruse.
Matters become even more messy after possessive Carrie sleeps with Tiger and develops a bad case of Jungle Fever. And further complications ensue when Stormy’s trashy cousins, Frieda (Sandy Brown) and Lucille (Tasha Smith), show up on the scene.
Hope arrives in a local yokel who’s been there all along, Reverend Arnold Peterson (Flex Alexander), the minister hired to perform the phone ceremony. Arnold, aka Peanut, was a nerdy childhood friend who had long-admired Stormy from afar, but failed to turn her head. But now that he’s matured into a handsome man of the cloth, it’s just a matter of time before Stormy wises up and grabs the beefy bachelor.
Yet another African-American romantic comedy where a damsel-in-distress is rescued by an almost zombie-like perfect gentleman who’s seems a little too good to be true.

Good (2 stars)
R for nudity, sexuality and profanity.
Running time: 87 minutes
Studio: Image Entertainment
DVD Extras: Audio commentary by Tangi Miller and Flex Alexander, “Behind-the-Scenes” footage, film festival tour featurette, a trailer, and more.

Love Songs (Les Chansons d’Amour) FRENCH

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Parisian Drama Features Daring Game of Musical Beds

Julie (ludivine Sagnier) and Ismael (Louis Garrel) are a young Parisian couple stuck in a relationship which has seemingly lost its spark. So, to spice things up, they invite Alice (Clotilde Hesme), an attractive bisexual, to share their bed. However, this arrangement works out more for the frisky females who focus on each other sexually while teasing Ismael about being the world’s worst lover and a mini-Jew who isn’t circumcised.
He deals with the situation by breaking into song, something most of the characters in this amusing musical are prone to do periodically in lieu of dealing with their emotional issues in a meaningful manner. In fact, there’s a marked contrast between the storyline’s sobering themes, and the relatively lighthearted show tunes, a baker’s dozen in all, being belted out by various performers.
The plot thickens when tragedy strikes leaving Alice and Ismael unexpectedly alone. After she dumps him for another guy (Yannick Renier), he entertains the idea of going gay for the dude’s seductive brother (Gergoire Leprince Ringuet). Will he or won’t me? That’s the pressing question expected to keep you on the edge of your seat for the duration of Love Songs, the latest offering from Christian Honore.
While this flick fails to measure up to either of Honores’ last two pictures, Dans Paris or Ma Mere, the overambitious project still earns an A for effort, if only a D for execution. The film’s glaring flaw rests with the tameness of the goings-on with precious little in the way of titillation ever making its way to the screen, given all the shameless coupling and uncoupling.
.Why make a movie about bohemian swingers, if all you’re going to serve up is the French equivalent of a Broadway musical?

Good (2 stars)
Unrated
In French with subtitles.
Running time: 95 minutes
Studio: IFC Films and Red Envelope Entertainment

I Am Legend DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Will Smith Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Adventure Arriving on DVD

Written by Richard Matheson in 1954, I Am Legend is a harrowing tale of survival pitting the last human alive against a horde of bloodthirsty vampires. This fourth screen version is a modernistic variation which establishes its apocalyptic scenario via a man-made virus run-a-muck. The picture is a Will Smith vehicle in the purest sense, given that he spends more than half of the movie on screen alone.
The movie opens in 2009, with Dr. Alice Crippen (Emma Thompson) announcing the discovery of a cure for cancer, unaware that her vaccine also causes rabies. Fast-forward three years, and we find New York City in complete chaos. The healthy few are being evacuated, while the infected are being left behind to morph into ghouls. Although virologist Robert Neville (Smith) has been given a clean bill of health, he gallantly opts to stay in the city to work on an antidote in the lab in the basement of his brownstone.
So, after he tearfully bids adieu to his wife (Salli Richardson) and daughter (Willow Smith), he divides his time between research and blowing away the occasional nocturnal creature he encounters after dark. Not surprisingly, Will Smith comes across as quite the macho charmer in his familiar role as the hero having to save the planet.
I Am Legend is actually at its best early on, while Will is solo and captured starkly against the breathtaking backdrop of the vast, urban wasteland. Unfortunately, the second-rate special effects leave a lot to be desired, so the arrival of the cheesy mansters he has to wrestle with fails to measure up to the tension built in anticipation.
Nonetheless, it’s got a great performance by Smith and just enough edge-of-your-seat entertainment to remain recommended, even if the cinematic house of cards collapses during the third act.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and mature themes.
Running time: 100 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
2-Disc DVD Extras: Alternate version of the film, four animated comics and DVD-ROM weblink to bonus material.

Semi-Pro

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Will Ferrell Takes to the Basketball Court in Latest Sports Spoof

How many silly sports movies can Will Ferrell churn out before his legions of rabid fans get fed up and tell him he’s finally milked the genre dry? In 2005, he portrayed a rabid soccer dad in Kicking and Screaming. The next year, he was an irreverent race car driver in Talladega Nights. And by 2007 he was back as a flamboyant figure skater entering doubles competitions with another man as his partner.
Now, in Semi-Pro, a retro comedy set in 1976, Ferrell brings his bawdy brand of tomfoolery to the world of basketball. As Jackie Moon, he’s playing a one-hit wonder-turned-player-coach and owner of the Flint Tropics who has purchased the fledgling ABA franchise with money from his only Top 40 single, “Love Me Sexy.”
At the point of departure, the cellar-dwelling team looks like a horrible investment, given that attendance is down due to the economic recession which has hit the State of Michigan. So, the ever-enterprising Jackie resorts to desperate measures to get more fannies in the seats. But even these promotions tend to backfire, like when a hippie (Jackie Earle Haley) miraculously sinks a full court shot for $10,000 during a halftime contest, despite being high as a kite at the time.
A ray of hope arrives when the ABA Commissioner (David Koechner) announces an impending merger with the NBA. The catch is that only the four best teams will be included in the deal, and the rest of the struggling clubs will simply be dissolved. So, what passes for tension in Semi-Pro revolves around whether the prospect of playing in the NBA will inspire the Tropics to overachieve and finish in fourth place by the end of the season.
The film also features a couple of slightly amusing subplots, one, a love triangle involving an ex-girlfriend (Maura Tierney) Jackie is trying to win back, the other, the salty, off-air badinage between the team’s play-by-play announcers (Will Arnett and Andrew Daly). However, neither of these sidebars is designed to advance the front story in the least, as this is, above all, an infantile Will Ferrell vehicle.
True to the Ferrell formula, going for the joke trumps character development at every turn, with much of the trademark humor coming courtesy of nonsensical sight gags, slapstick and non-sequiturs, and at the expense of such Seventies-era fashion statements as cotton-candy afros, garish color schemes and loathsome leisure suits. Each Tropics team member is patterned after a familiar caricature, whether that be the trash-talking showboat (Andrew Benjamin), the aging veteran with just enough gas left in the tank to take one last shot at the brass ring (Woody Harrelson) or the gangly, Eastern European import (Peter Cornell).
Kent Alterman makes a decent directorial debut here, though he needlessly packed the screen with a coterie of underused comedians (Tim Meadows, DeRay Davis, Charlyne Yi, Rob Corddry and Andy Richter) plus pop diva Patti LaBelle. Not much is asked of them except for wide-eyed reaction shots to Moon’s manic misbehavior. See Jackie urinate on himself in a dumpster! Watch him wrestle a bear! Or shoot a guy while playing Russian roulette! Or almost successfully execute a jump on rollerblades over a long row of cheerleaders lying on the court! Ouch!
Another goofy spoof strictly for the Ferrell faithful who ostensibly never tire of such bottom-feeding fare.

Good (2 stars)
Rated R for profanity and crude humor.
Running time: 85 minutes
Studio: New Line Cinema

What's Done in the Dark... DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Videotape of Stage Version of Tyler Perry Musical Released on DVD

There’s a fundamental difference in the way in which actors perform onstage as opposed to onscreen. In a play, they tend to over-enunciate and to exaggerate their body movements for the benefit of members of a live audience who might not be sitting near enough to read their facial expressions.
However, no such amplification is in order in front of a camera, since the lens is able to zoom in and capture even the most subtle of nuances.
For this reason, don’t be surprised to find this version of Tyler Perry’s What's Done in the Dark... problematical. For the DVD is essentially a simple recording of the stage production which treats us to close-ups which make the characters appear a tad cartoonish. That being said, the film is still recommended, provided you are willing to make a mental adjustment and understand that the thespians are playing the roles so broadly to engage the folks in the theater.
Set in a hospital emergency room, the musical soap opera revolves around a couple of nurses, each of whom has a little drama going on in her life. Head nurse Kerry (Shawna Vinson) is having an affair with Dr. Bowman (Terrell Carter) who’s promising to leave his wife (Chantelle Christopher), even though she’s pregnant. Meanwhile, her new assistant, Brenda (Chandra Currelley) is a single-mom who just wishes her deadbeat ex (Dino Hanson) would take an interest in spending some quality time with his teenage son (Ahmad Jamal McGhee).
The tension generated by these relationships is broken up intermittently by spirited renditions of gospel songs and by comic relief which comes courtesy of Mr. Brown (David Mann), an eccentric hypochondriac who seizes on any excuse to have his doting daughter, Cora (Tamela Mann), bring him in to see a physician. Family-friendly entertainment with a pointed message intended to remind us that What's Done in the Dark... will always come to light.

Good (2 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 140 minutes
Studio: Lions Gate Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: “Mr. Brown Goes Shopping” and “Mr. Brown Introduces the Cast” featurette.

Dirty Laundry DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Brother on the Down-Low Outed by His Kid in DVD Comedy

Sheldon (Rockmond Dunbar), a writer for a Manhattan magazine, hasn’t been back to Georgia in over a decade because he hasn’t figured out how to break the news to family and friends in his tight-knit black community that he’s a homosexual. To protect his secret, he’s created an alter ego, and goes by the name of Patrick in New York City, where he’s secretly shacking up with a flamboyant white guy named Ryan (Joey Costello).
Their gay bliss is suddenly shattered when a little angel named Gabriel (Aaron Grady Shaw) unexpectedly arrives on their doorstep. Turns out that the boy is Sheldon’s ten year-old son, the result of a liaison from when he was still on the down-low.
Now, the emotionally-needy kid has been sent to find his father by his paternal grandmother, Evelyn (Loretta Devine). Ill-equipped either to explain Gabriel’s appearance or to handle the responsibility of raising a child, Sheldon heads to Georgia, his young offspring in tow.
So unfolds Dirty Laundry, an out of the closet comedy written and directed by Maurice Jamal. The bulk of the movie takes place in and around matriarch Evelyn’s house, where we meet an array of colorful African-American characters, familiar cookie-cutter stereotypes ranging from the Greek chorus of Bible-thumping church ladies to the shameless narcissist (Jenifer Lewis) to the clueless Neanderthal (Jamal) to the sassy trash-talker (Sommore).
Because the film’s opening act is littered with the generally jive behavior of an assortment of two-dimensional stick figures, it’s a little hard swallow the notion that Sheldon and his lifemate would be so readily embraced. Even though homophobia is undoubtedly an issue in the ‘hood, the motley ensemble’s supportive response to Sheldon’s revealing his sexual preference proves to be a surprisingly sweet way to bring down the curtain on this well-meaning message movie.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, homophobic slurs and mature themes.
Running time: 108 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment

Prince Among Slaves

PBS-TV Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Mos Def Narrates True Tale of Abduction and Enslavement

In 1788, 26 year-old Abdul-Rahman Ibrahim Ibn Sori (Marcus Mitchell) was in Mali pursuing higher education at Timbuktu when he was seized and sold to slave traders. The fact that he was a Fulbe Prince from the land of Futa Jallon meant nothing to his captors who immediately shipped him across the ocean to America where he ended up picking cotton on a plantation in Mississippi owned by Thomas Foster.
Abdul-Rahman’s ensuing adjustment to the change of circumstances, from a life of power and privilege to one of exploitation and utter subjugation is the subject of Prince Among Slaves, a costume drama narrated by rapper Mos Def. As the bio-pic evolves, we learn that, despite suffering unspeakable indignities, this member of a Muslim royal family managed to marry and father nine children.
He never totally capitulated to his plight mentally, sharing his tragic story with any empathetic soul willing to listen. Eventually, word reached the ears of President John Quincy Adams, and Abdul-Rahman was released after 40 years of servitude. But rather than return to Africa alone, he first moved to the North where earned enough money to purchase the freedom of his family.
Prince Among Slaves is recommended because it resurrects the tale of survival of a remarkable hero who overcame incredible odds. Though shedding light on a little know chapter of African-American history, the production suffers from unconvincing acting efforts, and the subtle suggestion that blacks who weren’t kings or queens might have somehow deserved their lot.

Good (2 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 57 minutes
Studio: PBS American Experience/Paramount Home Video

Prince Among Slaves is set to premiere on PBS at 10 PM (EST) on February 4th (check local listings)

Meet the Spartans

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Nothing Is Sacred in Silly Spoof of 300

Released just last year, 300 was a green-screen epic recreating the bloody Battle of Thermopylae during which King Leonidas led several hundred Spartans in a futile defense of the country against invaders from Persia. Meet the Spartans is a light-hearted spoof of that costume drama which pits a now gay army against a suddenly hip-hop horde of marauders.
Since the movie is being brought to you by the same purveyors of parodies who made Scary Movie, Date Movie and Epic Movie, you ought to have a good idea of what to expect. For example, instead of macho heroes marching valiantly off to war, anticipate the sight of more sensitive soldiers affectionately holding hands two-by-two as they skip up the trail to their fate.
Although the picture fairly faithfully follows the plot of 300, it obviously does take considerable license with the facts. Besides revisionist history, the production also mixes-in prominent placement ads for everything from Gatorade to Grey Goose Vodka to Dentyne to I-Pod to Coke to Budweiser, all while taking potshots at a variety of movies, TV shows and cultural icons.
Seems that everyone is fair game, here, especially females whose faces and genitalia we generally find splashed across the tabloids, including Britney Spears, Paris Hilton and Lindsay Lohan, each of whom is graphically impersonated sans panties, the PG-13 rating notwithstanding. Other celebrity look-a-likes include Ugly Betty, American Idol judges Paua Abdul, Randy Jackson and Simon Cowell, the show’s host Ryan Seacrest and sexually-ambiguous also-ran Sanjaya. Warning: while some of the aforementioned impersonators bear an uncanny resemblance to the real people, others must have been the directors’ idea of a joke.
This mean-spirited shock comedy is likely to make you laugh to the extent that you enjoy poking further fun at the vulnerable and the emotionally damaged. For example, there’s a parody of Tyra Banks’ on-air meltdown over her big butt bathing suit picture. Most characters end up in the Pit of Death as soon as the writers run out of ideas of what to do with them.
Yet, Britney definitely gets the most mud tossed in her direction, whether over shaving her head, going public with her privates, or being caught up in a custody battle with K-Fed. One of the film’s funnier moments arrives when internet curiosity Chris Crocker appears on screen delivering the “Leave Britney Alone!” rant on YouTube that landed him his 15 minutes of fame.
The movie makes other allusions to Austin Powers, Oprah, Stomp the Yard, You Got Served, Deal or No Deal, Yo! MTV Raps, Borat, Happy Feet, Ghost Rider, Transformers, Spider-Man Grand Theft Auto, Rocky and more. Unfortunately, most of the skits fall flat, since they have nothing of insight to share about the subject.
Don’t expect anything of depth and you won’t be disappointed by this predigested pabulum. Mental bubblegum for the brain whose cinematic taste lasts only about as long as the viewing.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality, crude humor and slapstick violence.
Running time: 84 minutes
Studio: 20th Century Fox

The Invasion DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers Released on DVD

The original Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), starring Kevin McCarthy, was based on The Body Snatchers, a serialized novel by Jack Finney
published by Colliers Magazine. That black and white, sci-fi classic was set in a California town where citizens were being murdered and mysteriously replaced by identical pod people.
The first remake was released in 1978, followed by another in 1993. This version stars Nicole Kidman as Dr. Carol Bennell, a psychiatrist living in Washington, DC, one of many cities where people have begun behaving strangely after the explosion of a Space Shuttle during reentry from outer space. Seems that the debris has somehow contaminated the planet with an intelligent alien life force capable of reprogramming DNA.
Soon, this otherwordly catalyst starts turning people into polite automatons willing to sacrifice their individuality for the sake of a mind-numbing conformity. So, it falls to Dr. Bennell, her boyfriend, Dr. Driscoll (Daniel Craig) and another colleague, Dr. Galeano (Jeffrey Wright), to figure out how to reverse the epidemic before everybody is turned into a sea of easily-managed, insufferably well-behaved robots.
The film features a silly subplot revolving around Carol’s frantically text-messaging her missing young son, Oliver (Jackson Bond), a spunky kid who had been left in the care of her possibly infected ex-husband (Jeremy Northam). While this sidebar might accurately illustrate the current fad in electronic communication, here, it proves to be more of an annoying distraction than a compelling cinematic device.
Not that the front story is any more credible. Can someone explain to me exactly how a horror flick about a scourge that’s making humanity more civilized is supposed to be scary? Intermittently amusing, tautly-edited and very well-acted, but hopelessly crippled ab initio by a fatally-flawed script.
An amusing diversion, but not exactly edge of your seat excitement.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, terror and disturbing images.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Warner Home Video
DVD Extras: A documentary and three featurettes.

Feel the Noise DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Omarion as Aspiring Rapper in Overcoming the Odds Saga

After Rob (Omarion) has run-ins with both cops and hoodlums in his Harlem neighborhood, his mother (Kellita Smith) decides it’s high time that her son try a change of scenery. So, she ships the troubled teenager off to Puerto Rico to live with the long-lost dad (Giancarlo Esposito).
Although he doesn’t speak Spanish, Rob doesn’t have much of a problem adjusting to life on the enchanting island, primarily because, as an aspiring rapper, he’s well-versed in the universal language of music. Furthermore, he shares this interest with his step-brother, Javi (Victor Rasuk), a cool dude in a loose mood who introduces him to Reggaeton, a catchy blend of reggae, hip-hop and meringue.
The instantly-inseparable semi-siblings start dividing their time between the recording studio and a popular haunt filled with couples grinding shamelessly and gyrating with abandon to the sensuous beat. While soaking in the new sound, Rob saunters over to meet C.C. (Zulay Henao), the prettiest girl in the nightclub. Wouldn’t you know she’s already primed to dump her abusive, possessive boyfriend in favor of love at first sight with the tall, dark stranger?
This assorted state of affairs sets in motion the three ring circus called Feel the Noise, a combination flick comprised of equal parts overcoming-the-odds saga, across-the-tracks romance and father-son bonding opportunity drama. Fairly formulaic in most respects, the picture unfolds innocuously enough to stomach as a Latin version of the ghetto fabulous blaxploits which found their way to theaters in the wake of the explosion of gangsta rap.
Fortunately, R&B crooner Omarion proves himself quite the leading man here, generating enviable screen chemistry with his co-star, Zulay Henao, while his character simultaneously makes his assault on the music industry. How do you say “sappy Horatio Alger tale” in Espanol?

Good (2 stars)
PG-13 for sensuality, violence, profanity, ethnic slurs, sexual innuendos and illegal drug use.
In English and Spanish with subtitles.
Running time: 89 minutes
Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: “The Making of” featurette and more.

The Game Plan DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features The Rock as Bachelor-Turned-Daddy

Joe Kingman (The Rock) has it all. The narcissistic star quarterback of Boston’s pro football team is the toast of the town surrounded by a bevy of attractive groupies when not performing astounding feats on the gridiron. However, the egomaniacal party animal is forced to rethink his priorities after eight year-old Peyton (Madison Pettis) shows up on his doorstep announced.
For when the spunky stranger announces that she’s his daughter, Joe has to admit to his shocked agent (Keira Sedgwick) not only that he had briefly been married but that he was last intimate with his ex-wife (Paige Turco) about nine years ago. A vindicated Peyton says her mom has flown off to Africa for parts unknown, which leaves her long-lost dad no choice now but to play Mr. Mom.
The fish-out-of-water comedy which ensues revolves around the shopworn storyline featuring an exasperated adult driven batty by the sudden onset of the responsibility of having to be a parent. We’ve seen this theme countless times before, in everything from 3 Men and a Baby to Baby Boom to Big Daddy to Raisin Helen to Daddy Dare Care.
This variation has hapless Joe learning to juggle Peyton’s ballet classes, play dates and bedtime stories with his nightlife and leading his team to the championship. While the outcome of this Disney tale is never much in doubt, fortunately, The Rock throws himself into the role of Joe with enough gusto to make his character credible. Likewise, his diminutive co-star, Madison Pettis, is endearing enough to tug on your heartstrings a tad, and to teach her daddy a big lesson about what really matters.
Formulaic, but watchable.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG for mildly mature themes.
Running time: 110 minutes
Studio: Walt Disney Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Bloopers with sportscaster Marv Albert, deleted scenes, interview with The Rock, four featurettes, and more

Sydney White DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: DVD Features Amanda Bynes as Latter-Day Snow White

If you’re eager to see Amanda Bynes play yet another tomboy who still lands the boy-most-likely in the end, then this may be the teensploitation flick for you. Here, her title role is as a freshman at mythical Southern Atlantic University, where she plans to pledge Kappa Phi Nu, her late mother’s sorority.
However, soon after arriving on campus, Sydney finds herself ostracized by an army of bottle-blonde Barbies led by the dreaded Rachel Witchburn (Sara Paxton). These brunette haters could care less about her legacy connection, so the poor girl ends up living with seven dwarfs, I mean dorks, at lowly Vortex, the least popular fraternity on Greek Row.
If you haven’t figured it out by now, this flick is a thinly-veiled update of Snow White the classic fairy tale from the Brothers Grimm. But this variation on the theme features a heroine with the name Sydney, not Snow White, and instead of dwarfs, we have allergic Lenny (Sneezy), mental midget George (Dopey), super-senior Terrance (Doc), moody Gurkin (Grumpy), upbeat Spanky (Happy), shy Jeremy (Bashful), and laidback Embele (Sleepy).
Rachel is obviously the Evil Queen and a character who comes along called Tyler Prince (Matt Long) serves as Prince Charming. Everybody knows exactly how the story ends, so the question is whether the execution makes it all worthwhile. The wacky Bynes displays the comic timing and endearing appeal of a latter-day Lucille Ball which has you in her corner every step of the way.
Sydney White has been constructed like a cross of Revenge of the Nerds and In & Out, both of which celebrated the ultimate triumph of underdogs, geeks in the former, gays in the latter. Unfortunately, the purloined and predictable plot elements leave too little to the imagination to warrant more than a tepid stamp of approval.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, partying and sexual humor.
Running time: 108 minutes
Studio: Universal Studios Home Entertainment
DVD Extras: Gag reel, deleted scenes, plus a half-dozen featurettes.

Black Irish DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Coming-of-Age Beantown Drama Arriveson DVD

16 year-old Cole McKay (MichaelAngarano) is a kid with a lot of promise. Not only is he an academic standoutat his Catholic prep school in Boston,but he’s also planning for the priesthood. Plus, he’s a star pitcher on thebaseball team headed for the state championships.

But allof the above is about to be derailed due to the deteriorating state of the dysfunctional family he was born into. For hisfolks are Black Irish, the designation commonly applied to those of his lineagewith lower-class roots and generally associated with drinking, fighting andunderachieving.

Cole’s siblings could easily serve as the poster children for white trash, given thathis teenage sister, Kathleen (Emily VanCamp) is knocked-up and clueless, whilehis big brother, Terry (Tom Guiry) is a ne’er-do-well with a drug habit and arap sheet yay-long.

And Cole’s parents aren’t any better. His sickly father, Desmond(Brendan Gleeson), is an emotionally-unavailable alcoholic stuck in a lovelessmarriage to his disciplinarian mother (Melissa Leo) pressuring Kathleen todisappear to a convent before she shows so as not to bring any further dishonorupon the McKay name.

Sadistic Terry is the type of sibling who beats up his littlebrother in public for borrowing a pair of pants without asking. In fact, he’snot above making Cole taking them off on the spot. Talk about embarrassing thefamily!

Such cringe-inducing antics are par for the course during Black Irish,a drismal drama rather reminiscent of Angela’s Ashes, especially in terms ofmaintaining a relentlessly pessimistic and morose tone. The big difference isthat this story stays put compared to that grand saga which ventured across theocean to the Emerald Isle. And, more importantly, this relatively-optimistic coming-of-agetale does ultimately offer a glimmer of hope.



Good (2 stars)
Rated R for profanity and brief violence.
Running time: 95 minutes
Studio: Echo Bridge Home Entertainment
DVDExtras: “Behind the Scenes” featurette.

The Great Debaters

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Inspirational Bio-Bic Beset by Baffling Historical Inaccuracies

When a movie bills itself as “Inspired by a True Story,” to what extent should it be allowed to take liberties with the truth to spin a heartwarming tale which tugs on the heartstrings? That is the question which begs to be answered in the course of appraising The Great Debaters, an inspirational bio-pic about a professor who, in 1935, allegedly forged the fledgling debate team at a tiny black college into a nationally-ranked powerhouse that took on Harvard University in a big showdown aired on radio live all across the country.
The film’s most glaring, factual faux pas is that while Wiley College did, in fact, participate in the championships finals that year, its opponent was not Harvard at all, but USC. This fabrication naturally makes one wonder about other aspects of this recreation. Was the original contest really broadcast live on radio? (Unlikely) Was it even the first time, as implied, that a black college competed against a white school in the debate tournament? (No) Etcetera… etcetera…
Furthermore, the picture propagated plenty of other tall tales. For instance, there’s a scene where Professor Tolson (Denzel Washington) attempts instill some self respect in his pupils by quoting from Willie Lynch’s 1712 speech supposedly delivered to fellow slave owners about how to mold and control the minds of their slaves.
Well, the problem is that the infamous lecture never took place, and has long been dismissed by academics and experts, some African-American, as an urban legend which first surfaced circa 1993. There isn’t any reference to the speech in any literature prior to then. So, how could a professor have lectured about it way back when? Since I’ve criticized references made to Willie Lynch by other flicks, it would be hypocritical for me to give The Great Debaters a pass just because it’s such a well-meaning message movie.
There are considerable additional conceptual obstacles in the way of enjoying this consciousness-raising costume drama. For instance, whenever the Wiley team debates, it invariably is conveniently assigned to argue the politically-correct side of the issue, whether that be about welfare, lynching, integration, child labor, civil disobedience or elsewhat. Isn’t the mark of a skilled debater the ability to make a convincing case for either side, especially unpopular causes you don’t believe in?
All of the above fibs and fabrications aside, there is still much to recommend here. Denzel certainly delivers as the film’s plucky protagonist, as does Forest Whitaker in his co-star capacity as his less-confrontational colleague, James Farmer, Sr. Gina Rivera and Kimberly Elise capably play their wives, respectively, in support roles which aren’t all that demanding.
The cast is rounded out by the quartet of gifted young actors who comprise the Wiley debate team. Only one of these four characters, lovesick 14 year-old James Farmer, Jr. (Denzel Whitaker), is based on a real person. The precocious Farmer would later found the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE), and go on to become a leader of the Civil Rights Movement.
So, the other three debaters, feisty Samantha Booke (Jurnee Smollett), her womanizing boyfriend Henry Lowe (Nate Parker), and hefty Hamilton Burgess (Jermaine Williams) are fictional. This makes the closing credits a tad misleading, since it relates Tolson’s and Farmers’ subsequent actual exploits along with alleged later achievements of the others, even though they never existed.
One can only conclude that this movie was designed for youngsters, not adults. If that’s the case, do we want impressionable young minds understanding of history to be misshaped in this fashion? Well-Intentioned and well-executed, and recommended with reservations only because there’s still something terribly troubling even about a feelgood flick packed with so many misrepresentations.
Does the truth matter, or is reality retroactively up for grabs? Let the debating begin.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for profanity, ethnic slurs, mature themes, brief sexuality, violence and disturbing images.
Running time: 123 minutes
Studio: MGM

I Am Legend

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Will Smith as Last Man on Earth in Adaptation of Apocalyptic Sci-Fi Adventure

Written by Richard Matheson in 1954, I Am Legend was a harrowing tale of survival pitting the last human alive against the horde of bloodthirsty vampires who had taken control of Earth. The book’s hero, Robert Neville, relied on a combination of garlic, mirrors, stakes, sunlight and crosses to keep the cannibals at bay while he simultaneously tried to come up with a the scientific explanation for the plague which had turned everybody else into zombies.
The Last Man on Earth (1964), starring Vincent Price, was the first film adaptation of the apocalyptic best seller. That, in turn, was followed by The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston and, more recently, by I Am Omega (2007), a straight-to-video rip-off released just last month.
Now, we have I Am Legend, a relatively-realistic, modern update of the original which reflects present-day sensibilities by having its apocalyptic scenario result from a man-made virus. The picture is a Will Smith vehicle in the purest sense, given that he spends more than half of the movie on screen alone (ala Tom Hanks in Cast Away), unless you count the omnipresent Samantha, his trusty, tagalong German Shepherd.
Thus, the production represents a true test of Smith’s star power, as its fortunes are fated to rise or fall to the extent that he convinces his audience to invest emotionally in his lonely protagonist’s desperate plight as he perambulates the eerie exoskeleton of a depopulated Manhattan. The point of departure is 2009, which is when one Dr. Alice Crippen (Emma Thompson) announces the discovery of a cure for cancer to the world, not knowing that the vaccine also causes rabies.
Fast-forward three years, and we find New York in chaos. The healthy few are in the midst of being quickly evacuated, while all the infected folks are morphing into ghouls and being left behind. And although Lieutenant Colonel Robert Neville (Smith) has been given a clean bill of health, he gallantly opts to stay in the city to work on an antidote.
You see, he’s a virologist, and has a fully-equipped, state-of-the-art lab in the basement of his brownstone bordering Washington Square Park. So, after he tearfully bids his wife (Salli Richardson) and daughter (Willow Smith) adieu, he proceeds to divide his time between scientific research and blowing away the occasional nocturnal creature he encounters after dark.

Not surprisingly, Will Smith comes across as quite the macho charmer in his familiar role as the hero having to save the planet. Afterall, he’s successfully played this sort of character plenty of times before, most notably in such CGI-driven spectaculars as Independence Day (1996), Men in Black (1997) and Men in Black II (2002). But who knows how a holiday season release of this summer-style blockbuster will be met?
I Am Legend is actually at its best early on, while Will is solo and captured starkly against the breathtaking backdrop of the vast, urban wasteland. Unfortunately, the second-rate special effects leave a lot to be desired, so the arrival of the cheesy mansters he has to wrestle with fails to measure up to the tension built in anticipation.
The movie has a couple of other annoying flaws, neither of which could be discussed without spoiling the fun. Suffice to say that the first involves the introduction of two new characters near the end, and the other revolves around the movie’s revised resolution which delivers a distinctly different message from that of the book.
Nonetheless, it’s got a great performance by Will Smith and just enough edge-of-your-seat entertainment to remain recommended, even if the cinematic house of cards collapses during the third act.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action and mature themes.
Running time: 100 minutes
Studio: Warner Brothers

The Perfect Holiday

Film Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Santa Woos Overburdened Mom in Syrupy Sweet Christmas Comedy

Nancy (Gabrielle Union) has had her hands full trying to raise three kids alone since her divorce from J-Jizzy (Charlie Murphy), a narcissistic rap star who’s too self-absorbed to bear his fair share of the responsibility of raising the children. Since he doesn’t devote enough quality time to them, she’s ended up overburdened and neglecting her own needs.

This state of affairs hasn’t been lost on the youngest, Emily (Khail Bryant), who altruistically whispers to Santa Claus that her Christmas wish is for a man to pay her mother a compliment to make her happy again. What the little girl doesn’t know is that Benjamin (Morris Chestnut), the mall Santa whose lap she’s sitting in, just happens to be a very handsome hunk underneath the fake beard and red fat suit. More importantly, he’s available and instantly smitten as soon as he looks over and gets a load of what her beautiful momma looks like.

The problem is that Benjamin is just seasonal help and, after Christmas, he’ll be back at his more mundane job as an office supply salesman, although he does dream of becoming a famous songwriter. So, even after he does summon up the courage to approach Nancy in street clothes at the cleaners, he’s still suffers from low self esteem, he hightails it out of the store before she can respond.

Thus unfolds the underlying premise established at the outset of The Perfect Holiday, one of those syrupy sweet romantic comedies which keeps a pair of lovebirds obviously meant for each other apart via a series of frustrating circumstances. In this case, the flies in the ointment are Benjamin’s shyness, Nancy’s cluelessness, her son, John-John’s (Malik Hammond), attempt to sabotage the relationship, and her ex’s interference, too.

The movie marks the sophomore offering by Lance Rivera, and a substantial improvement over his dubious debut, The Cookout. Rivera had a most impressive ensemble of African-American actors at his disposal, but he unfortunately squandered most of their services.

For instance, this is the first film in which I ever found Katt Williams boring. Ordinarily a flamboyant scene-stealer, he totally tones down his trademark trash-talking act here to play J-Jizzy’s assistant. Equally unremarkable are Oscar-nominees Queen Latifah (for Chicago) and Terrence Howard (for Hustle and Flow) who were wasted in throwaway roles as a miracle-performing fairy and latter-day Scrooge, respectively.

No, the picture belongs to Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut, who certainly generate the genre’s requisite chemistry. This should come as no surprise, since it’s the fourth time they’ve co-starred in a romantic romp (also The Brothers, Two Can Play That Game and Breakin’ All the Rules). They handle their parts with perfect aplomb but the production’s still flawed because getting there ought to be half the fun when a flick has as predictable a plotline as this one.

Again and again, the support players are shallow, one-dimensional characters, whether that be Faizon Love as Benjamin’s buddy/lovable buffoon or Jill Marie Jones and Rachel True as Nancy’s girlfriends/amen chorus. With the humor and sidebars so underwhelming, all that’s left to hold your attention is the transparent central love story which makes you wait 90 minutes for a happily-ever-after ending you saw coming practically from the opening credits.

I saw mommy kissin’ Santa Claus, ghetto style. Be grateful that Gabrielle Union and Morris Chestnut have the wherewithal to elevate a mediocre script.



Good (2 stars)
Rated PG for mild epithets and suggestive humor.
Running time: 96 minutes
Studio: Yari Film Group

La Vie en Rose DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Bittersweet Bio-Pic Revisits Tragic Life of Legendary Chanteuse

Edith Piaf (1915-1963) was an unwanted waif who rose from humble roots to become a national treasure in her native France. Born in Paris, she was left as a toddler in the care, if you want to call it that, of her paternal grandmother, a chef at a bawdy brothel in Normandy.
Not surprisingly, the sickly street urchin endured a host of woes during her formative years spent at the whore house, beginning with a bout with blindness which would last from three until she was miraculously cured at 7 during a religious pilgrimage. At 14, rather than become a prostitute, she turned to singing for tips to support herself. By 17, she was a single-mom, though her died daughter died a couple of years later of meningitis.
Next, Edith took up with a pimp intent on turning her out, but was saved when she was discovered by Louis Leplee (Gerard Depardieu) the impresario who gave the pint-sized street performer a gig at his nightclub, and the rest, as they say, is history. However, while the celebrated chanteuse would go on to a legendary musical career, her private life would continue to be marked mostly by tragedy.
La Vie en Rose is a relentlessly-depressing, warts-and-all biopic which depicts the untimely demise of a diva due to the toll taken on her body and soul by a combination of unfortunate disasters: the passing of her mentor, a car crash, drug addiction, infidelity, failed marriages, and so forth. Less an enlightening, insightful tale than an encyclopedic accounting of a series of flashbacks, the best thing this film has going for it are the impassioned strains of Piaf’s actual voice as heard on her original recordings (except for four new versions done by Jil Aigrot).
Regardless, all these classics are lip-synched by look-a-like Marion Cotillard, who at least bears an uncanny resemblance to the 4’8” dynamo she’s been asked to impersonate. Piaf lives!

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sexuality, nudity, profanity, substance abuse, and mature themes.
In French and English with subtitles.
Running time: 141 minutes
Studio: HBO Home Video
DVD Extras: “Stepping into Piaf” featurette detailing Marion Cotillard’s transformation into Edith Piaf.

Shrek the Third DVD

DVD Review by Kam Williams

Headline: Lovable Ogre’s Latest Adventure Out on DVD

This review-proof DVD is another pleasant, if readily-disposable adventure about the ogre who wouldn’t be king. The voice cast again features Mike Myers in the title role, along with Eddie Murphy as Donkey, Cameron Diaz as Princess Fiona, and John Cleese and Julie Andrews as her parents, the King and Queen of Far Far Away. Also back are Antonio Banderas as the swashbuckling Puss in Boots and Rupert Everett as Prince Charming.
The plot is a logical extension of the franchise’s earlier installments. Shrek 1 introduced the lovable green swamp thing and ended with his wedding to Fiona. In Shrek 2, the Princess took her lovable ogre home to “Meet the Parents.”
At this flick’s point of departure, we find King Harold, in failing health and urgently in need of an heir. Unassuming Shrek is reluctant to ascend to the throne, so when his froggy father-in-law croaks, he has to find a replacement. Otherwise, the heir will be his old nemesis, the ambitious Prince Charming.
Fortunately, Fiona does have a more-deserving cousin (Justin Timberlake) in Artie, a nerdy teen who’s still in prep school. Then, after learning from his wife that she’s pregnant, a suddenly discombobulated Shrek sets off in search of her cousin.
Accompanied by his trusted sidekicks, the trash-talking Donkey and the debonair Puss in Boots, our humble hero embarks on a trek during which he finds himself confronting an assortment of villains from famous fables, like Cyclops (Mark Valley), Cinderella’s evil step-sisters (Larry King and Regis Philbin) and Captain Hook (Ian McShane). But there’s never much doubt about how it will all turn out, for yet another happily-ever-after ending is obviously in the offing.
Along the way, brace yourself for enough sassy repartee, slapstick, and bodily function humor to keep kids of any age entertained for ninety-minutes.

Good (2 stars)
Rated PG for crude humor, suggestive language and daring action.
Running time: 92 minutes
Studio: Paramount Home Video
DVD Extras: Additional scenes, cast audio commentary, two music videos, four trailers, two interactive games, four DVD-ROM features and more.