The Matador. Pierce Brosnan, of James Bond fame, plays a seedy hit man with the shakes, trying to recruit a nice guy American businessman (Greg Kinear) as an assistant. Part farce, part drama, but oddly compelling. ***
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. The whole family can enjoy this fourth installment of the fanciful movies about the boy magician. Takes seriously the adversarial nature of evil, encourages developing individual talents. So fanciful there’s not much danger of children taking the “wizard world” too seriously. ***
Derailed. Clive Owen and Jennifer Anniston star in a clandestine romance gone sour. To disclose much else would give it away. Some intense scenes, but will appeal to adults who enjoy twists in their story. **1/2
Pride & Prejudice. Keira Knightley lights up the screen as Jane Austen’s lower-class Elizabeth Bennett, reluctantly falling for a taciturn manor-born gentleman (Matthew MacFadyen) whose advances she had previously spurned. Clean, stately, dignified, and oh, so British. **1/2
Walk The Line. Both Reese Witherspoon and Joaquin Phoenix deliver memorable performances as June Carter and Johnny Cash, and they do their own singing. In this retrospective musical biography, Mr. Cash’s personal troubles were of his own making–like most of the rest of us. ***1/2
North County. Charlize Theron convincingly plays Josie Aimes, based on the coalmine worker Lois Jensen, who was the first to win a class-action sex discrimination lawsuit. The last time Theron became this unglamorous, she won an Oscar. Not fun to watch, but a great performance in an unusual setting. ***
Prime. Meryl Streep plays a Jewish therapist whose patient (Uma Thurman) is dating her son. The caricatures are there, the comical tension is in place, but it just isn’t that funny. *1/2
Dreamer. Dakota Fanning is the cute little girl who helps nurse her father’s injured racehorse back to health. Loosely based on a true story. Not as sappy as it could have been. **
Shopgirl. Steve Martin writes, directs, and stars in this melancholy story of a middle-aged man in a love triangle with a lonely shop clerk (Claire Danes) and her immature young boyfriend (Jason Schwarzmann). Nobody very happy here. **
Bee Season. Overweening, self-absorbed Dad (Richard Gere) tries to mentor his precocious daughter through a spelling bee championship, while disconnecting with distant, selfabsorbed Mom (Juliette Binoche) and rebellious, self-absorbed son (Max Minghella). Overt eclectic spirituality, but not enough love. **1/2
Jarhead. Jarring clear-eyed account of one American Marine’s experience in the (first) Persian Gulf War. Jake Gyllenhaal is utterly believable, if not always likable. **1/2
The Weather Man. Nicolas Cage plays a vacuous man whose personal life is falling apart while his professional life is thriving. Lots of cursing, conflict, anger, and passive aggression, not much grace. *1/2
Nine Lives. Fly-on-the-wall perspective of nine very different women, all of whom are passionate, but not all noble. **1/2
Separate Lies. British love triangle between a stuffy barrister (Tom Wilkinson) and his quietly desperate wife (Emily Watson) and their mutual “friend” (Rupert Everett). They all manage to subtract from the happiness of each other. **
The Legend of Zorro. Tongue-incheek sequel with Antonio Banderas as the wealthy, anonymous defender of the poor and Catherine Zeta-Jones as his not-so-helpless wife who’s becoming weary of how much he enjoys his superhero status. At least the parish priest has a positive influence. *
The Prizewinner of Defiance, Ohio. Julianne Moore plays Evelyn Ryan, a successful “contester” of the 1950’s who helped support her family with her prize winnings, overcoming a loutish husband (Woody Harrelson) and the constant distraction of their 10 children. **
RON SALFEN is pastor of First Church, Terrell, Texas.
