*\Charlie Wilson's War""*
""Charlie Wilson's War"" depicts the Texan congressman who used all his political savvy to bolster covert U.S. involvement in Afghanistan when the Soviets invaded in the late 1980s. Featuring a great cast with some memorable performances, the film falters in its finale, stretching its modern political overtones too thin.
Wilson (Tom Hanks) is a compassionate leader who hides behind the fasade of a corrupt and vice-ridden politician inches from indictment. Joining him is the no-nonsense CIA operative Gust Avrakotos (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who steals the show with his no-bullshit one-liners and razor-sharp sarcasm. The exchanges between Hoffman and Hanks provide comedic rhythm and also insight, especially when Gust questions the future ramifications of arming Afghanis with rocket launchers.
Still, the film is far from perfect. Julia Roberts plays a Southern belle with influence, Christian idealism and none of the screen presence to make either believable.
And, while it hits a serious issue, the plea for nation-building after military involvement draws dubious connections to the current situation in Iraq that aren't supported by the final two minutes.
- Mark Riechers
*""Atonement""*
""Atonement"" tells the story of the romance between Cecilia Tallis (Keira Knightley) and Robbie Turner (James McAvoy), a young man who works for the Tallis family. Almost immediately after their feelings are first expressed, the couple is separated because of a false accusation that Robbie raped a cousin of the Tallis family.
It's actually Cecilia's younger sister, Briony, who makes the accusations because she can't understand her sister's relationship with Robbie at the time. Only when she grows up does she realize the impact she's made.
While the movie is slow moving at times, the details and various points of view are what make the story so exceptional and unlike other World War II romances. The thought-provoking ending is unexpected and encourages viewers to read the book and explore more of this sorrowful apology.
- Marly Schuman
*""Juno""*
Juno, a spunky 16-year-old, finds herself pregnant and must find a suitable home for her unborn child in this A-list coming-of-age comedy.
The eclectic casting (including Ellen Page, ""Arrested Development's"" Jason Bateman and Michael Cera, ""Alias'"" Jennifer Garner, ""The West Wing's"" Allison Janney, ""Law and Order's"" J.K. Simmons and a cameo from ""The Office's"" Rainn Wilson) and eccentric soundtrack create a witty and endearing quality in the film.
Though it unrealistically dismisses the issue of teen pregnancy with a casual two-line lecture, the snappy dialogue and perceptive cast add a dose of reality with a practically universal theme: awkward teenage love. Cera, as an aloof high school track star who ""tries really hard to be cool,"" is definitely an interesting match for Page, the unconventional girl who loves punk rock and hamburger-shaped phones.
- Katie Foran-McHale
*""The Great Debaters""*
If not for its award-winning cast, ""The Great Debaters"" could have slipped through the cracks and been branded a typical underdog story. Fortunately, the tale of the Wiley College debate team who went on to face the No. 1 ranked Harvard University is told with such poignancy and precision that it sheds any labeling.
Denzel Washington's directorial debut weaves the Cinderella-story formula with the beautiful southern landscape marred by brutal racism. The backdrop of fear and danger gives viewers a dose of the harsh reality blacks faced in the 1930s. ""The Great Debaters"" is a story of overcoming the odds, not just in the debate room but amid oppressive surroundings.
- Eunice Abraham
*""Sweeney Todd""*
It comes as no surprise that when Tim Burton, known for his dark films, tackled Stephen Sondheim's ""Sweeney Todd,"" an eccentric masterpiece of blood, gore and catchy tunes ensued.
Sweeney Todd is the tale of a barber who, after years of wrongful imprisonment, discovers that his wife was poisoned and a villainous judge is holding their daughter captive. Sweeney Todd, hoping the judge will one day need a shave, practices his revenge by slitting unlucky customers' throats, cleverly disposing of his victims with the help of the downstairs baker Mrs. Lovett.
Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter give outstanding lead performances, adding sympathy to their characters' demonic behaviors.
Burton's London is a menacing place, but just when the film's intensity is nearly too much, the audience is given a breath of relief by a comic musical number, making the film, if not the meat pies, all the more delicious.
- Meg Anderson
*""Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story""*
Judd Apatow has proven once again that, any time he gets involved in a movie, every comedy star he has ever worked with comes to the set with him. ""Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story"" is a parody of the music biopic genre following a fictional, second-banana Johnny Cash named Dewey Cox and played by John C. Reilly.
The film drips with the one-liners, fantastic performances and drug humor that make Apatow one of the most bankable names in Hollywood. However, the writing seems at its best when it strays from the ""Walk the Line"" parody concept and ventures into jokes ripping on the rock star lifestyle and the times they're set in - perhaps Apatow wishes he was writing a sequel to ""This is Spinal Tap"" instead.
The quality always shines through, with hilarious scenes ripping on the revolving door rehab real rock stars endure and their odder tendencies, like ripping sinks from walls in anguish. Big names abound, from Apatow regulars to a special scene with guest appearances by Paul Rudd, Justin Long, Jack Black and Jason Schwartzman as John, Paul, George and Ringo.
The film falters when it comes to getting the story told and at times seems to be picking bankable pot jokes in favor of higher brow cultural references. It serves as a fun diversion with some friends but certainly not Apatow at his best.
- Mark Riechers
*""The Orphanage""*
In the opening credits of ""The Orphanage,"" tiny hands slash the screen, viciously ripping down its wallpaper background. The same could easily been done to this film, which, at its core, adopts the same clichéd groaning floorboards, creepy playgrounds, cadaverous old women and imaginary playmates lurking down dim hallways as most ghost stories. But the difference between one orphanage of dead children and the next, as any interior decorator knows, is its wallpaper. Or, in this case, style.
Although its plot - an adopting couple's son mysteriously vanishes, leaving the mother psychologically shattered and prone to visions of ghost children wearing menacing head sacks - seems formulaic, the suspenseful cinematography provides plenty of anxiety and the score is like spiders skittering across violin strings.
Disturbing enough to keep those neck hairs at attention and smart enough to keep them there, it will trap audiences in a revolving door between reality and perception, never knowing which is which and which is worse.
- Ryan Hebel
