| Sept. New Films On DVD |
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| Written by Kevin Filipski | |
 SMART PEOPLE Smart People (Disney) - This low-key character study nearly falls over since it’s so laidback, yet somehow, director Noam Murro and writer Mark Poirier right themselves to create a smart (not smart-ass) adult movie–practically an oasis in the desert of American cinema. Dennis Quaid, as an arrogant professor with girlfriend, brother and daughter issues, gives the kind of assured, convincingly obnoxious portrait of failure which has been rare in his career–and it’s more than merely the beard. Sarah Jessica Parker (girlfriend), Thomas Haden Church (brother) and Ellen Page (daughter) contribute nicely understated support. Too bad that the skimming-the-surface extras only include brief interviews with the cast and filmmakers, along with superfluous deleted scenes and the now-ubiquitous—and aptly-named—gag reel. ALSO AVAILABLE... Heartbeat Detector (New Yorker), a compelling corporate thriller, loses its way upon invoking the Holocaust, superb acting by always-reliable Mathieu Amalric notwithstanding; although exceedingly well-acted by Pierce Brosnan, Chris Cooper, Patricia Clarkson and Rachel McAdams, Married Life (Sony) is a shallow soap opera awash in leaden irony (best extra: trio of strange alternate endings); it’s tough to get more laughably earnest than David Mamet’s martial arts extravaganza, Redbelt (Sony), which shows the writer-director’s pretentiousness at its nadir (best extra: interviews with real martial arts fighters); a sort of prequel to The Queen, writer Peter Morgan and director Stephen Frears return with The Deal (Weinstein), which shows the backdoor dealings that made Tony Blair (once again, the terrific Michael Sheen) prime minister; Morgan Spurlock returns with another comic documentary, Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (Weinstein), which buries a few insights into the Arab world amid the usual Spurlockian dross (best extra: additional interviews); one of the most dopily funny movies in years, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay (New Line) is as ridiculous as its title, and also as irresistible (best extra: 27—yes, that’s right!—deleted scenes); Stefan Ruzowitzky’s Oscar-winning Best Foreign Film, The Counterfeiters (Sony) makes no concessions to political correctness in its exploration of a Jew who does anything to survive the concentration camps (best extra: director interview and commentary); 99-year-old Portuguese director Manoel de Oliveira is no Luis Bunuel, as Belle toujours (New Yorker)–his disposable sequel to Bunuel’s classic Belle du jour–proves (best extra: interviews with actors Michel Piccoli and Bulle Ogier); even with photogenic locations and game actors Brendan Gleeson, Colin Farrell and a sidesplitting Ralph Fiennes, writer-director Martin McDonough’s In Bruges (Universal) blusters about with little payoff (best extra: making-of featurette); the status of Wong Kar-Wai as the supposed “world’s greatest filmmaker” took a severe hit with My Blueberry Nights (Weinstein), his first movie made in America and a weak road picture ignoring the charms of leading lady Norah Jones (best extra: director Q&A); surprisingly, Tina Fey is only mildly uproarious in Baby Mama (Universal), a cop-out women’s comedy blessed with a priceless cameo by Steve Martin (best extra: alternate—and better-ending); and The Rape of Europa (Menemsha), a necessary history lesson, details the absorbing story of the Nazi plunder of priceless art and those brave, intrepid men and women who saved and preserved what they could. |
