Last week saw Leonardo DiCaprio and Ridley Scott get shut down by some talking dogs and flesh-eating people. Who saw that coming? I'll tell you who — the families that were thirsting for inoffensive movie fare they could take their children to and teens and twenty-somethings with a little blood lust. Not many people want to see drama set with the backdrop of a real conflict. Oh well, we see what we can and move on. This week's releases are top billed by a video game adaptation and a real life adaptation. Which one will win?
Max Payne. (2008, 100 minutes, PG-13, action, trailer) Leaping from computer and television screens across the country and onto the big screen. The film, based on the video game of the same name, features the character Max Payne teaming with an assassin to descend into the criminal underworld to track down those responsible for the slaying of his family. Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis star as Payne and the assassin and are joined by Chris O'Donnell, Beau Bridges, Ludacris, and Amaury Nolasco. John Moore is behind the camera for the first time since the 2006 remake of The Omen. Will it be any good? I hope so, I like the trailer and Wahlberg seems right for the role.
The Secret Life of Bees. (2008, 110 minutes, PG-13, drama, trailer) I have heard good things about this drama. Dakota Fanning stars as Lily, a young girl who runs away following the death of her mother. Joining her is her friend Rosaleen (Jennifer Hudson). She flees to the town where her mother came from and it leads her to three sisters (Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, and Sophie Okonedo) who teach her about beekeeping and honey production. Actually, that sounds rather dry, but the trailer looks good. The film was directed and adapted by Gina Prince-Bythewood.
Sex Drive. (2008, 109 minutes, R, comedy, trailer) I am not so sure about this one. I think it will be sporadically funny, but it looks like it will lack a good deal of the heart that makes the raunchy Apatow comedies work so well. It centers on an 18-year-old who is unlucky in love, turns to the Internet, and chooses to drive 500 miles to meet this Internet chick. Comedy ensues as he steals his older brother's GTO. I look at the runtime and it just seems too long for a movie like this. Time will tell if it is any good. There is always hope.
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