Shooter

SHOOTER is your basic action/conspiracy thriller, starring Mark Wahlberg as the former superdupersoldier who can ... not ... be ... stopped.

Which is fine, and lots of stuff goes boom and all. But what makes this movie interesting are Danny Glover, Ned Beatty, and Elias Koteas as villains. These are not names I normally associate with villainy, and it's great fun to watch Glover do "efficiently amoral," Beatty do "self-interested evil," and Koteas do "batshit crazy." Further, the excellent Michael Peña (BABEL, CRASH, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) does fine work as the noble FBI agent, and I'm actually coming to like Kate Mara (pictured), whom I found grating in ZOOM.

But this movie is so pedestrian, so lacking in creativity or unique voice, that I can give it no more than the most lukewarm approval. If you like watching stuff blow up and you find SHOOTER on cable, you could do a lot worse. But don't go out of your way for it.

Dreamgirls

Bill Condon's DREAMGIRLS had me smiling and tapping my foot almost from the opening credits. Here's a musical with infectious songs, interesting characters, and productioon values like you wouldn't believe. It looks great, it sounds great, and it feels great - what more could you ask for?

Here's the deal: DREAMGIRLS runs like a musical biopic about Barry Gordy, Diana Ross, and The Supremes. The film is enough like real life to add versimilitude, but it's different enough to (a) avoid litigation and (b) pump things up a little. And pump things up, it does. It uses its numbers to do so and, if they work for you, you're going to love this movie. Jennifer Hudson is revelatory, Beyonce Knowles is predictably fabulous, and Eddie Murphy managed to do something I didn't think possible - he broke my heart. If only Jamie Foxx had had a number of his own: his career-defining performance in RAY, it seems like a waste not to use him here.

You know what? I loved this movie. I loved the performances, the framing, the set design, the story, and the music. This, not CHICAGO, should be the template for the filmed musical. Now, if only I could get this theme song out of my mind.

Angels in the Outfield (1994)

Look, ANGELS IN THE OUTFIELD is a trifling kids’ entertainment. The question is, is it a competent trifling kids’ entertainment?

It’s a simple setup: pathetic child prays that woeful team will win a few games. God hears prayer, dispatches angels to fix games. Team needs newfound confidence to win Big Game on its own. Oh, there are some family issues and character arcs along the way, but they basically serve to add some emotional weight to a series of gags whose effectiveness is directly proportional to the number of six-year-olds with whom you’re watching the picture.

While I enjoyed spotting the future movie stars among the team’s lineup of misfits, my six-year old laughed at every gag, cheered at every victory, and generally bought the whole thing. From a trifling kids’ entertainment, what more can you ask for?