There’s no place like ‘Sweet Home Alabama’

In this romantic comedy, Reese Witherspoon (“Election”,

“Pleasantville”) plays Melanie Carmichael an Alabama girl who moved

to New York City and built a career as a fashion designer. She

becomes engaged to the prominent mayor’s son, played by Patrick

Dempsey (“Run”, “Meatballs 3”, “Scream 3”). Having embraced

Yankeedom, she must first travel back to her hometown in what she now

believes to be the embarrassing South to tie up a loose end. Her

estranged husband Jack, played by Josh Lucas (“A Beautiful Mind”,

“The Deep End” and upcoming, “The Hulk”) is that loose end.

Director/Screenwriter Andy Tenant (“Anna and the King”, “It Takes

Two”) with the screenwriting assistance of rookies Douglas Eboch and

C. Jay Cox, does not seek to challenge the viewer. They fill the film

with happy cliches. This is a sappy, feel-good film, through and

through. The story’s message may not change your life or even mildly

resonate with you. I, being from Florida, could relate to

Witherspoon’s snooty Rebel-turned-Yankee character. If you don’t feel

like seeing the type of movie where every plot-line and character

enjoys a warm, rosy ending, then don’t go. Tenant’s light touch

allows for a veneer of humor to permeate the entire film, without

being outlandish. His hand can also be witnessed through the

magnificent chemistry between all of the key players. The excellent

supporting cast, (Rhona Mitra, Ethan Embry, Jean Smart, Katharine

Towne, Fred Ward, Mary Kay Place and Candice Bergen) along with the

scenery provide a trite, yet captivating backdrop for the story.

Witherspoon demonstrates why she is one of the most talented

actresses of her generation. As fluffy as the script is, she pulls

out a wonderful entrenched performance. Melanie’s journey of self

discovery takes her through segments of lighthearted banter, a scene

in which she drinks too much and says more than she should, as well

as a touching apology at a pet’s graveside. Witherspoon executes each

sequence with depth and proficiency. Her costar, Josh Lucas also

delights and mystifies as the husband who seems like he won’t give

up.

* RAY BUFFER, 33, is a professional singer, actor and voice-over

artist.

‘The Tuxedo’

falls flat

His name is Tong, James Tong. OK, hapless Jackie Chan will never

have the suave sophistication of Sean Connery, but that’s what makes

“The Tuxedo” a lot of fun. Chan plays a cab driver whose reputation

for driving insanely fast gets him a job as the personal driver for a

secret agent. When his boss gets badly hurt in an assassination

attempt, Chan decides to step up and go after the assassins. Chan’s

character has no qualifications to be a secret agent. He doesn’t know

how to fight, or shoot a gun, and he lacks self-confidence. His ace

in the hole is his boss’s tuxedo. The tuxedo is an experimental piece

of high tech gadgetry that is programmed to do everything from

martial arts to imitating James Brown. With the tuxedo, and help from

Jennifer Love Hewitt, Chan discovers a fiendish plot to dominate the

world.

OK, the secret agent stuff in the story isn’t anything new or

special, but it’s basically just a vehicle for gags, so who cares?

The main issue that I have with this movie is that when you go to see

Chan, you expect to see stunt work that’s borderline suicidal. In

“The Tuxedo,” the stunts are toned down and a lot of them are done

with computer graphics. Maybe he just got sick of including hospital

time in his shooting schedules, but it’s a bit of a downer to see

Jackie Chan stoop to the same fakery as Jet Li. The action/fight

sequences are nothing amazing, but the movie makes up for it by being

funny.

Love Hewitt has great chemistry with Chan. She plays her part

straight and gets a lot of laughs. One of the things I like about

this movie is that it’s not constantly winking at you, telling you

when you are supposed to laugh. The characters are true to themselves

and the laughs come naturally. Both Love Hewitt and Chan are

oblivious in their own ways. She’s pathologically focused on being a

good agent and he’s clueless about the mission. Neither character

goes too far over the top, so there’s never an urge to throw the, “I

ain’t buying it,” flag. You just laugh at the absurdity of how they

handle what they are doing.

One of the things that makes Chan so endearing is that his

character is the total opposite of the kind of macho stereotype that

Vin Diesel plays in “XXX.” Chan is humble, shy, respectful and

self-effacing. He’s likable, which makes it easy to go with the flow

and have a good time. “The Tuxedo” isn’t a brilliant movie, but it’s

got its share of laughs. It’s not really worth $9, it’s worth renting

when it becomes available in a few months. My guess is the DVD will

be on the street by Thanksgiving.

* JIM ERWIN, 40, is a technical writer and computer trainer.

‘Moonlight Mile’ stunning piece of work

How do you make a movie about a young woman’s violent death and

still manage to keep it uplifting and inspirational? “Moonlight Mile”

shows you. This is a stunning piece of work; a beautifully crafted

film that explores an ambitious range of moods you would never

imagine fitting so seamlessly inside the same movie.

Director Brad Silberling makes it clear that “Moonlight Mile”

isn’t about death, it’s about continuing to live despite it. Set

three days after the tragedy, we are instantly immersed in the

fallout. Most films would start with the shooting. There’s nothing

more dramatic in films than witnessing a murder, but Silberling knows

this is too easy.

Still in shock, the victim Diana’s fiance, Joe (Jake Gyllenhaal)

glances out at the normal world passing by his limousine window,

going about its business, refusing to grind to a halt despite the

tragedy he’s faced with. A few more scenes brings Joe’s dilemma fully

into focus: Does he continue the life he had planned out with Diana

or does he wipe the slate clean and forge a new one?

What makes “Moonlight Mile” so fascinating is how Silberling

contrasts Joe’s easy, nurturing relationship with Diana’s parents,

Jo-Jo (Susan Sarandon) and Ben (Dustin Hoffman), with the emotional

prison they have a desperate need to keep him locked in. Ben still

wants Joe to go into business with him, Jo-Jo allows him to sleep in

their dead daughter’s room, where the relics of her lost life both

comfort and haunt Joe. Jo-Jo and Ben want Joe to fill the gaping hole

Diana’s death has left behind in their family, and Joe’s own guilt

keeps him living there. All these factors are brought to an

inevitable head by Joe’s burgeoning relationship with Birdie (Ellen

Pompeo), who immediately recognizes Joe’s pain from first-hand

experience.

Silberling weaves all these threads together with such success,

never taking a wrong step. He finds the comedy in tragedy, knowing

the most heartfelt laughs are earned from an audience that relates to

honest human behavior. Every frame of “Moonlight Mile” is painted

with the details of a real family living real lives.

The acting is spectacular. I’ve always enjoyed Gyllenhaal in his

previous ventures, but not until now has he really delivered on his

potential. Hoffman and Sarandon delve into their roles, always

finding a deeper layer to overturn.

I was so swept up with the viewing experience that it was only on

later reflection that I realized how traditional the screenplay was;

it was carefully structured, but unfolded in an organic fashion.

Touchstone Pictures is unveiling “Moonlight Mile” with a slow-burn

strategy: open small and let word-of-mouth build. This usually means

they have Oscar in mind. My only disappointment with this movie would

be if it failed to pick up a few gold statuettes this March.

* ALLEN MacDONALD, 29, is currently working toward his master’s

degree in screenwriting from the American Film Institute in Los

Angeles.