At the Movies: capsule reviews of new films

Associated Press
Published Friday, September 21, 2001

American Pie 2

Less a second slice than a reheated piece of the original, the sequel tastes just as good, though if you tried it the first time, you know what it's like. Having finished their freshman year in college, the whole gang of friends is back together for the summer at a Michigan lake house.

Captain Corelli's


NIcolas Cage is a zestful Italian officer who's part of the Axis troops occupying a Greek Island during World War II. Corelli wins over the locals with his passionate singing and mandolin playing and woos the beautiful Pelagia (Penelope Cruz).


Keanu Reeves stars as a down-and-out gambler whose pal loans him money to keep the bookies at bay, but only if he coaches a youth baseball team in Chicago's housing projects. It sounds like 'Bad News Bears in the 'Hood," but 'Hardball" director Brian Robbins skillfully weaves comic interaction among Reeves and the boys with stark urban drama. Diane Lane co-stars.

Jeepers Creepers

A brother and sister (Gina Philips and Justin Long) in an old car on a winding road think they see a mysterious man dumping bodies into a sewage pipe. But they can't keep driving they have to investigate, and become his next targets.

The Musketeer

This clumsy retelling of Alexandre Dumas' 'The Three Musketeers" is full of frustrating, brainless behavior. Characters bumble about with no sense of reason or logic in the service of elaborate stunts staged for their own sake. Soap star Justin Chambers stars as D'Artagnan and speaks all his lines as if he's reading them for the first time and isn't quite sure what they mean.

'O" is an uncompromising modern take on 'Othello," transplanted to a Southern boarding school. Mekhi Phifer stars as Odin, a black basketball star at the white prep school. Josh Hartnett is the Iago equivalent, an envious teammate who plays puppetmaster to convince Odin his girlfriend, Desi (Julia Stiles), is stepping out on him. Director Tim Blake Nelson skillfully crafts a slow build of subterfuge that finally erupts in a shocking, violent frenzy that's extremely hard to watch for the same reasons that news coverage of school shootings is so disturbing.

The Others

Under the sure, restrained hand of Alejandro Amenabar, 'The Others" is an old-school haunted house movie of the eeriest kind. Nicole Kidman plays a controlling mother holed up with her two children in a spooky old mansion at the end of World War II. She hires a trio of new servants and things start going bump in the night.

The Princess Diaries

Newcomer Anne Hathaway goes from wallflower to royalty after her regal grandmother, played by Julie Andrews, turns up after her father's death to make her a suitable heir to the throne.

Rat Race

This story of a group of strangers trying to outscheme and outwit each other in a hunt for $2 million looks a lot like the 1963 comedy 'It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World," though it's not supposed to be a remake. The cast includes Whoopi Goldberg, John Cleese, Jon Lovitz and Cuba Gooding Jr.

Rock Star

As the wannabe '80s rock star who gets a chance at stardom when the lead singer of his favorite band quits, Mark Wahlberg looks the part all feathered hair and tight leather pants, flicking his tongue defiantly at the audience. Jennifer Aniston co-stars.

Rush Hour 2

Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker team up for laughs in this action-packed comedy about a party-seeking American visiting a work-a-holic officer in Hong Kong.

Two Can Play That Game Vivica A. Fox stars as Shante Smith, a sassy, self-assured Los Angeles ad exec who spouts dating advice to her friends and brags that she has her lawyer boyfriend, Keith (Morris Chestnut), under control. When she learns he's cheating on her, she schemes to tame him with a 10-day plan her version of 'The Rules."