‘Below’ is sub-par entertainment

In “Below,” Director David Twohy tries hard to make something from

the screenplay that he wrote with Lucas Sussman and Darren Aronofsky.

Unfortunately the mixture of manufactured dread, cookie-cutter

characters and low-budget set takes away from the successes of the

film.

“Below,” in limited release throughout Los Angeles and New York

markets, stars Bruce Greenwood, Matt Davis, Olivia Williams, Scott

Foley, Zach Galifianakis and Holt McCallany.

Set aboard a World War II submarine, the movie shows a crew

fleeing detection from a mysterious boat above, just as they discover

that something else is hunting them. Is it a giant monster, ghosts, a

sworn enemy or their imagination?

The successful component of the film is its somewhat twisted plot,

with perhaps one surprise. However, the gradual story development

that is meant to evoke suspense does not. The scares and surprises

are few and contrived.

What distracted me most about the film was its design. It

portrayed itself as a period piece set in World War II, yet the

decor, the costumes and the mannerisms seemed strangely

anachronistic, pulling me at times away from the setting. I can only

attribute this to the budget.

The characters that inhabit the submarine are also too convenient

to the story. Efforts to pay homage to other works of suspense

backfire by forcing a comparison by which this film loses.

The ensemble cast does an adequate job with their roles, but the

writing is their enemy. The theme of the film is “accepting

responsibility.” The responsibility for this lame duck lies solely

with its director.

At almost 2 1/2 hours, the film is also too long. My wife nailed

it on the head when she said to me as the credits rolled, “The story

could have been better summed up in a 60-minute episode of ‘The

X-Files.’”

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

artist.

“Knockaround Guys” won’t knock your

Films are often made that are thought to have so little chance for

commercial success they aren’t worth the investment of a decent

marketing campaign. Such movies sit forgotten on a shelf in the

distributor’s office for years, never to be released, or suffer the

most ignoble cinematic fate of all, straight to video.

Sometimes, in a stroke of luck, these forgotten reels are brought

back to life when one of the film’s minor players becomes a big star.

This explains why New Line held on to “Knockaround Guys” for nearly

two years until one member of its ensemble cast became a major

Hollywood player -- namely, Vin Diesel.

“Knockaround Guys” is a fairly standard coming-of-age gangster

tale. Matty (Barry Pepper), the son of prominent gangster Benny

“Chains” Demaret (Dennis Hopper), has tried every legitimate avenue

to become a sports agent. However, his association with his father

convinces potential employers that he simply represents the prelude

to an attempted underworld takeover.

Matty resigns himself to the inevitable and decides to become

involved in his father’s business. Unfortunately, Benny Chains and

his right-hand man, Teddy (John Malkovich), think Matty and his other

gangster wannabes are too soft for the job.

After begging for a shot, Matty is finally allowed to arrange a

simple pickup of some cash for his father. Unfortunately, he chooses

his loser friend Johnny Marbles (Seth Green) to be the bagman.

There are a few interesting characters in “Knockaround Guys.”

Diesel’s Taylor Reese is a half-Jewish street fighter who is truly a

fish out of water, not even fully accepted by the Italian gangsters

with whom he associates. Diesel is an imposing physical presence and

dominates nearly every scene he is in. The always intriguing Tom

Noonan plays the sheriff as unscrupulous but tough and intelligent.

Malkovich, who can be excellent, overdoes the creepy aspect of his

persona as Teddy. Hopper is totally wasted as the one-dimensional

Benny Chains. It’s an astounding case of bad casting -- neither of

them is the least bit believable as New York Italian gangsters.

“Knockaround Guys” is a mediocre film in any context, but given

the many excellent films and even TV shows in this genre, it is

especially weak. My advice is to save yourself the price of

admission, stay home and watch “The Sopranos.”

* VAN NOVACK, 48, is the director of institutional research at

Cal State Long Beach.

“White Oleander” faint shadow of novel

Well, I hate to agree with Oprah, but go buy the book. The screen

adaptation of Janet Fitch’s “White Oleander” just doesn’t do the book

any justice. The vivid picture created by Fitch’s magnetic language

loses its grip the moment it shoots through the projector.

The relatively unknown Alison Lohman does her best to keep the

movie together as Astrid, the ringleader of this film’s downtrodden

women. The movie tries to tell the vivid story of a lost young woman

trying to find herself as she bounces through foster homes after her

mother Ingrid is imprisoned for poisoning and killing an old

boyfriend. The movie, however, fails to deliver Fitch’s magic.

The acting was not bad per se, but the book’s vivid language is

diluted by narration and strained adaptation. Lohman and the rest of

the cast do an admirable job with what they were given, but I left

the theater with the same feeling you get when you only eat half of

your dinner.

There could not have been a better choice to portray a

not-yet-middle-aged stunning blonde than the classic beauty Michelle

Pfeiffer. While I didn’t believe Pfeiffer could convince the audience

that she was a monster as well as a beauty, she manages to perfectly

walk the tightrope between repentant mother and deranged hippie.

Robin Wright Penn and Renee Zellweger give admirable performances

as foster mothers to Astrid. Zellweger impressed me as Claire, the

warm and wealthy Beverly Hills socialite who provides Astrid her only

glimpse into motherly love.

Unless you don’t have more than two hours free in your life, head

for the bookstore and curl up at home with the real thing.

* ANGELA LEE, 31, is an avid moviegoer who recently received her

master’s degrees at UC Irvine.