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Us Weekly, 2001 Home Video & DVD Reviews: 2001 (T through Z) (See A-E, F-M, N-S) By Bruce Kluger The Tailor of Panama: In this stylish, knotty thriller, sleazy Brit spy Pierce Brosnan slips into Panama, where he befriends a quirky but shady tailor to the country’s power elite (Geoffrey Rush). Director John Boorman doles out the clues with cunning, while Brosnan breaks new ground as a reprehensible rake. Based on John LeCarre’s 1996 novel. R; 109 minutes (Columbia TriStar) The Terminator: In 1984, murderous cyborg Arnold Schwarzennegger vowed he’d be back—and he is, in a deluxe DVD edition of the sci-fi thriller that includes deleted scenes, a making-of featurette, new interviews with Arnold and co-star Linda Hamilton, and jaunty audio commentary by director James Cameron, who went on to sink the Titanic. R; $24.98 (MGM) Thirteen Days: The disk version of Roger Donaldson’s engrossing account of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis (starring Kevin Costner) features new “infinifilm” technology, with which viewers can bounce from the movie itself to archival footage and interviews with filmmakers and historians, all with a zap of the remote. This is what DVD was made for, folks. PG-13 (New Line) Tomcats: Misogyny and bathroom humor run rampant in this brainless bore about a pack of bastard college pals vying for the half-million-dollar kitty in a last-to-marry wager. Nothing of value here—just infantile sight gags, including ping-pong balls and an excised testicle, the latter of which is mistaken for a chocolate bonbon. Yuck. R; 95 minutes (Columbia TriStar) Town & Country: Hot-shot architect and mid-life crisis casualty Warren Beatty embarks on a slapstick extramarital crusade, notching a lineup of lovelies that includes sultry cellist Nastassja Kinski, horny heiress Andie MacDowell and the wife (Goldie Hawn) of his best friend (Garry Shandling). Call it Shampoo without the suds. Diane Keaton and Jenna Elfman co-star. R; 105 minutes (New Line) Traffic: Steven Soderbergh’s dizzying travelogue of the modern-day drug trade crisscrosses the continent, tracking the pushers and politicos who feed the global jones. Stephen Gaghan scored an Oscar for his complex but convincing screenplay, as did supporting actor Benicio Del Toro, as a wily Mexican narcotics cop. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones co-star. R; 147 minutes (USA) Unbreakable: Bruce Willis is a train wreck survivor puzzled by his own invincibility; Samuel L. Jackson is the frail mystery man who’s telling him he has super powers. Though handsomely shot, M. Night Shyamalan’s follow-up to The Sixth Sense is derailed by convoluted plot twists, gratuitous villainy and chug-chug pacing. Robin Wright Penn co-stars. PG-13; 106 minutes (Touchstone) The Watcher: When weary L.A. detective James Spader relocates to Chicago after failing to nab serial lady-killer Keanu Reeves, the crackpot follows him there and begins a new murderous rampage. The moody direction (courtesy of music vid maker Joe Charbanic) and a deliciously wicked Keanu pump fresh blood into an otherwise boiler-plate game of cat-and-mouse. Marisa Tomei plays Spader’s shrink. R; 96 minutes (Universal) The Wedding Planner: Fussy nuptials coordinator Jennifer Lopez falls for a stranger who saves her life (Matthew McConaughey), only to discover he’s her next customer. J Lo sparkles in a role that’s a lot like wedding cake—sweet and frothy, but nicely layered. Bridgette Wilson-Sampras co-stars. PG-13; 104 minutes (Columbia TriStar) What Lies Beneath: Hard-boiled egghead Harrison Ford finds his home life upended when his already unraveling wife (Michelle Pfeiffer) insists that a ticked-off spirit has moved into the house. Hip-deep in its own paranormality (and sometimes staggeringly slow), it still manages to rivet, particularly when Michelle gets down and dirty. Directed by Robert Zemeckis while on break from Cast Away. PG-13; 130 minutes (Dreamworks) What Women Want: After shocking himself with a blow dryer, womanizing ad man Mel Gibson wakes to discover he can hear females’ thoughts in this wincingly simple-minded spin on the Venus-Mars dynamic. Uninspired slapstick and scenery- chewing abound, though Helen Hunt manages to charm as Mel’s tough-chick-with-a- soft-heart boss. Marisa Tomei and Alan Alda co-star. PG-13; 126 minutes (Paramount) What’s the Worst That Could Happen?: Slimy billionaire Danny DeVito steals the lucky ring of serial cat burglar Martin Lawrence during a foiled midnight heist, setting off a long and goofy game of gotcha-back. Despite its sitcom plotting, the lightweight caper prevails, thanks mainly to the boys’ infectiously endearing comic chemistry. Glenn Headley co-stars. PG-13; 98 minutes (MGM) When Harry Met Sally: The special release of Rob Reiner’s 1989 treatise on friends and lovers features candid interviews with stars Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal and screenwriter Nora Ephron, as well as outtakes and a Reiner confessional that reveals who the movie is really about. Also included: a music video of the film’s theme song, “It Had to Be You,” performed by Harry Connick, Jr.. R; (MGM) Willie Wonka & the Chocolate Factory: The 30th Anniversary DVD edition of Mel Stuart’s deliciously tart Candy Man fantasy (starring Gene Wilder) features outtakes and deleted scenes, candid commentary by Wilder, sing-along songs, the real story of the Oompa-Loompas, and a making-of doc starring the Wonka kids— now all grown-up. A tasty déjà vu. G (Warner) Wit: Buttoned-up, brusque and, ultimately, baldheaded, Emma Thompson chalks up another startling turn as a brilliant but prickly Brit prof whose logical world view is upended by a bout with ovarian cancer. Director Mike Nichols lends a deft hand to this faithful adaptation of Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play. Powerful stuff. PG-13 rating; 99 minutes (HBO) Wonder Boys: Burnt-out college prof and one-hit novelist Michael Douglas (at his rumpled, unshaven best) finds his life upended by an eccentric young protégé (Tobey Maguire), a lecherous editor (Robert Downey, Jr.), an ambivalent lover (Frances McDormand) and a dead dog. Adapted from Michael Chabon’s best- seller, it deliciously skewers everyone from literary artistes to academic windbags. Directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential). R; 112 minutes (Paramount) Woody Allen Collection: Deck the halls with boughs of challah. Deli-dwellers, movie stars and neurotic New Yorkers populate this six-disk batch from the Woodman, which includes, among others, Hannah and Her Sisters, Broadway Danny Rose, Radio Days and Zelig. (MGM) The Yards: Released from prison for a crime he didn’t commit, Mark Wahlberg takes a job in the family’s subway repair yards, only to discover that his kin are as corrupt as his former clink-mates. James Caan plays the shady uncle in a tale that swaps black hat-white hat storytelling for a smarter shade of gray. R; 115 minutes (Miramax) You Can Count on Me: Oscar-nominee Laura Linney shines as a small town single mom in a perpetual lather over her absentee ex, a bureaucratic boss-turned- insatiable paramour (Matthew Broderick) and a ne’er-do-well brother who’s become a permanent houseguest. Great script and dynamite performances by all, notably Mark Ruffalo (54) as the bad-boy bro. R; 109 minutes (Paramount) (See Bruce Kluger's 2001 Us Weekly video/DVD reviews, A-E, F-M, N-S) |