Burlesque (PG-13)
A spunky Ali (Christina Aguilera) leaves rural Iowa to find fame and fortune, and stops at The Burlesque Lounge in Hollywood, a musical theater teetering on financial ruin owned by Tess (Cher). She starts as a cocktail waitress, makes friends (Julianne Hough) and enemies (a super Kristen Bell), and works her way up to saving the day. The plot is tired, but lavish costuming and musical numbers. With Peter Gallagher, Eric Dane, Alan Cumming, Stanley Tucci.
Due Date (R)
It’s a birth and death road-show romp that partners two opposites: the urbane, tightly-wired, frantic Peter (Robert Downey Jr.), who is trying to get home in time for his first child’s birth, and the annoying, slovenly nerd Ethan (Zach Galifianakis), who looks for a place to scatter his recently departed father’s ashes. The mismatched two rent a car to drive cross-country, and it’s one calamity after another. But just when you’re starting to get annoyed, sympathies develop.
Fair Game (PG-13)
A true spy drama and epic betrayal. Naomi Watts, brilliant as Valerie Plame, was outed as a CIA spy by the Bush/Cheney administration in retaliation for her husband, diplomat Joe Wilson’s (Sean Penn) outing of the government’s misrepresentation of Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction. The marriage suffers collateral damage.
Harry Potter & the Deathly Hallows (PG-13)
The first of the two-part finale — very different, very dark, very hocus-pocus. It’s war, and Voldemort’s Death Eaters seize control of the Ministry of Magic where Harry, Ron, and Hermione, disguised as older wizards, are sneaking around. Harry has to find the Horcruxes before Voldemort finds and kills him. Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson), creates seven Harry clones so that the Death Eaters won’t know which one is real. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson.
Morning Glory (PG-13)
A comic battle of style versus substance. Hyperactive young television producer Becky Fuller (Rachel McAdams) takes on the task of resuscitating “Daybreak,” a dying morning news show. With the two aging, cranky, and bickering co-hosts (Harrison Ford and Diane Keaton), it’s a combination of the 1987 “Broadcast News” and “The Devil Wears Prada,” all of which would make a great TV sitcom. With Jeff Goldblum, Matt Malloy, Patrick Wilson.
Megamind (PG)
It’s a good guy/bad guy role reversal in this smart DreamWorks animation. The evil Megamind (Will Ferrell), always bested by the caped hero Metro Man (Brad Pitt), finds himself having to defend rather than destroy Metro City. With Tina Fey and Jonah Hill.
The Next Three Days (PG-13)
Long, complicated, and somewhat contrived thriller. Husband John (Russell Crowe) spends years trying to prove his jailed wife Lara (Elizabeth Banks) innocent of murdering her boss. Finally, with help from ex-con (Liam Neeson), he stages a prison break and crosses over into the criminal world in a big way.
Secretariat (PG)
Predictable, but polished. Diane Lane is the winner in her portrayal of Penny Chenery, the poised, confident, subtly nuanced housewife who takes over her father’s (Scott Glenn) thoroughbred farm, and discovers a champion. The last half-hour is devoted to the thundering Triple Crown races. With John Malkovich, Nelsan Ellis, Dylan Baker, Dylan Walsh, and a score of old standards.
