Candy

Thinkfilm
directed by Neil Armfield
starring Heath Ledger, Abbie Cornish, & Geoffery Rush

Tremendous performances by Heath Ledger and Abbie Cornish as a lost couple unable to beat drug addiction overcome a melodramatic script and direction by Neil Armfield (Luke Davies was co-writer). Ledger showed his dramatic mettle in “Brokeback Mountain,” but it’s Cornish—a naturally unaffected actress—who, in the space of three movies (“Somersault,” “A Good Year,” now “Candy”), has proven that she can handle any role with racy authenticity. Geoffrey Rush as a fellow addict lends able support.

Extras: writer/director commentary, behind-the-scenes featurettes.

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Color Me Kubrick

Magnolia Films
directed by Brian W. Cook
starring John Malkovich, Jim Davidson, Richard E. Grant, & Marc Warren

John Malkovich’s flamboyant turn as Alan Conway, who duped many Londoners into thinking he was Stanley Kubrick in the mid-‘90s (even though he looked nothing like the reclusive director), is the main reason to watch this one-note comic journey through a man’s lunacy. Once the premise is set up, the movie has nowhere to go, relying instead on musical and visual cues from Kubrick’s films, so enlightened audience members can say, “Hey—that’s from ‘A Clockwork Orange’!” It’s fun at first, but since Malkovich has no character to play, it pales quickly.

Extra: “Being Alan Conway” featurette.

Come Early Morning

Genius Films
directed by Joey Lauren Adams
starring Ashley Judd, Jeffery Donovan, Laura Prepon, & Diane Ladd

Ashley Judd takes a lot of knocks for those routine thrillers she makes, but there’s no denying her very real acting talents. She was a revelation in “Ruby in Paradise” back in 1993; in “Come Early Morning”—the surprisingly absorbing debut feature from writer-director Joey Lauren Adams (a commercial washout as an actress)—Judd is simply superb as a trashy Southern gal looking to make a new life for herself is handsome enough, including a plausible recreation of the premiere of the revolutionary Ninth Symphony. Extras: Holland/Harris commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette.that doesn’t include waking up in a different bed every morning. Judd’s on-target acting makes me wish she had followed a less obviously commercial (but far more lucrative) career trajectory.

No extras.

Copying Beethoven

MGM/Fox
directed by Adnieszka Holland
starring Ed Harris, Diange Kruger, Ralph Riach, & Bill Stewart

Ed Harris hams up a storm as the composer in this less-than-satisfactory biopic, which invents a fictional character (a younger female composer, charmingly played by Diane Kruger) who transcribes his music and puts up with his tirades) apparently because Beethoven’s real life wasn’t dramatic enough otherwise. Director Agnieszka Holland seems damned to making hackneyed biopics (“Total Eclipse,” about French poets Rimbaud and Baudelaire was hilariously bad), even if the production itself—well-photographed by Ashley Rowe—is handsome enough, including a plausible recreation of the premiere of the revolutionary Ninth Symphony.

Extras: Holland/Harris commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette.

La Crimen Ferpecto (The Perfect Crime)

Tartan Films
directed by Álex de la Iglesia
starring Guillermno Toledo & Monica Cervera

Álex de la Iglesia is considered the next big Spanish director, but his movies have so far been underwhelming. Supposedly his breakthrough, this black comedy falters badly after a terrific start as its ruthless salesman protagonist gets sidetracked by an unappealing confidant/lover. A few bright moments fall by the wayside once the gears creak into motion, and the comedy drops off after that.

Extras: making-of featurette, director commentary.

The Curse of the Golden Flower

Sony
directed by Zhang Yimou
starring Chow Yun Fat, Gong Li, Jay Chou & Ye Liu

That Zhang Yimou ("Hero," "House of Flying Daggers") is one of cinama's finest visual stylists is unquestionable; the question is—after seeing this staggeringly colorful, visually oppressive exercise in style–why does Yimou make such dazzling-looking movies if there’s nothing substantial underneath? Such pageantry for its own sake becomes a dramatic dead end, and whenever the characters’ machinations take over the screen, the movie becomes inert. The director’s best movies are small, personal stories, so maybe he’ll drop these extravaganzas for awhile and make something deeper.

Extras: behind-the-scenes featurette, footage from the L.A. premiere.

Death of a President

LionsGate
directed by Gabriel Range
starring Hend Ayoub, Brian Bolad, Becky Ann Baker, & Robert Mangiardi

Not the hateful polemic that right-wing blogs made it out to be, this is actually an unerringly accurate-looking recreation of one of those cable documentaries about historical events. It’s shot and edited with utmost skill, and the unknown actors look and sound authentic, but what’s the point? Aside from showing off how well director Gabriel Range stages realistic-looking fiction, there’s little dramatic urgency, since the assassination of George W. Bush would have far-reaching consequences beyond what’s shown in the movie.

Extras: interviews with Range and collaborators.

Freedom Writers

Paramount Pictures
directed by Richard LaGravenese
starring Hilary Swank, Patrick Dempsey, Scott Glenn, & Imelda Staunton

Unabashedly manipulative, “Freedom Writers” is another in the “unorthodox teacher sways tough students” genre, forged by films like “Stand and Deliver” and “Dangerous Minds.” Hilary Swank is sensational as the new teacher who connects with her “misfit” kids by letting them bring their difficult lives into the classroom. Of course, she’s initially shat on by students, teachers, even her husband, but eventually wins over (almost) everyone. Writer-director Richard LaGravenese doesn’t miss a trick turning on the sentiment; since this is a true story, its tears are honestly earned.

Extras: LaGravenese/Swank commentary, deleted scenes, making-of featurette, and interview with the teacher who inspired the movie.

The Good Shepherd

Universal
directed by Robert DeNiro
starring Matt Damon, Robert DeNiro, Alec Baldwin, & Angelina Jolie


Even at 2 hours and 45 minutes, Robert DeNiro’s ambitious film documenting the CIA’s beginnings feels foreshortened; to be a truly epic experience, the movie needs more room to breathe. There is much good stuff here, especially the acting of Matt Damon, DeNiro, Alec Baldwin, Billy Crudup, Michael Gambon, and even Angelina Jolie in the thankless role of the put-upon wife. A fascinating historical lesson, “The Good Shepherd” would have benefitted from an even lengthier DVD cut: the 16 minutes’ worth of deleted scenes included as an extra lack the necessary heft. Perhaps a longer cut is down the road.