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American Pie 2

Screenwriter Adam Herz works with bodily discharges and fetishes the way a jazz musician handles melodies and instruments. The storyline for the sequel pretty much follows the first "American Pie," but Herz and director J.B. Rogers ("Say It Isn't So") manage to elicit a surprising amount of guilty chuckles for a retread. This time around the guys (Jason Biggs, Chris Klein, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Seann William Scott and Eddie Kaye Thomas) are fresh out of their first year of college and are living together in a Lake Michigan beach house. Herz has a pretty good idea of what worked in the first movie, so there is more of Eugene Levy as Jim's well-meaning but intrusive dad, and Alyson Hannigan ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), who stole the last film as a band camp devotee, has a more substantial and affectionate role. It's encouraging that the new film's funniest gag involves a trombone that has no kinky complications. If Herz and his collaborators keep up this type of comedy, they may one day succeed at making flicks that don't rely on violating innocent flutes or pastries. (R) -- DL

*** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

The Closet

French writer-director Francis Veber (the hilarious "The Dinner Game") takes a premise that sounds more suited for a sitcom. Miraculously, he manages to make a smart, engaging comedy about Francois Pignon (Daniel Auteuil, "The Widow of St. Pierre") a dull accountant who pretends to be gay to keep his endangered job at a condom factory. As a result, for both good and ill, the previously ignored fellow becomes the most talked about employee in the office. Veber succeeds with this setup because he doesn't perpetuate stereotypes, but bases his gags on how people perceive Francois. He also has some help from a top-notch French cast, which includes Gerard Depardieu, Jean Rochefort and Mich�le Laroque ("Ma vie en Rose"). Veber's movies have frequently been remade into mediocre American flicks like "Pure Luck" and "The Man With One Red Shoe." It's best to put up with the subtitles and see his work done properly. (R) -- DL

*** Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

The Deep End

Like "Blood Simple" before it, "The Deep End" generates a good deal of suspense as its characters wander into danger because they don't know information that has been made plain to the audience early on. Scottish star Tilda Swinton ("The Beach") stars as a woman who suspects that her teen-age son (Jonathan Tucker) has murdered an older man he's had an affair with. When she discovers the body, she tries to hide it but winds up at the mercy of a blackmailer (Goran Visnjic, "ER"). Writer-directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel walk precariously close to implausibility, but have created such intriguing characters that a viewer gives little pause when a somewhat forced conclusion rolls around. The visuals in the film are arresting, if overbearing. Sundance Cinematography award winner Giles Nuttgens gets the most out of the Lake Tahoe locations, but his efforts would be for naught if the people occupying the landscape weren't so compelling. (R) -- DL

*** 1/2 Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

Don't Say a Word

"Don't Say a Word" pleads on bended knee for its audience to abandon common sense in the name of lukewarm thrills. Michael Douglas ("Traffic") stars as an upscale shrink who has been forced to "cure" a young mental patient so that she will reveal a mysterious code. If he doesn't deliver, an English thug (Sean Bean from "Goldeneye") will kill his young daughter. Director Gary Fleder ("Kiss the Girls") has some visual flair (the hospital looks like something out of Poe), but the material consistently falls on the side of the familiar and the outlandish. For example, as Douglas' wife (Famke Janssen) manages to subdue one of the perps despite the fact that she has an enormous cast on one leg. As a rule of thumb, be wary of movies where Douglas plays opposite a leading lady more than half his age. The kind of effort it takes to create convincing female characters past the age of 40 is absent from this script. (R) -- DL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Ghost World

In his brief 80-page comic series "Ghost World," cartoonist Daniel Clowes manages to make the ennui of two sarcastic teenage girls scathingly funny and often oddly moving. Director Terry Zwigoff ("Crumb") reaches the same emotions and adds some new characters and situations that are entertaining in their own right. Thora Birch ("American Beauty") and Scarlett Johannson ("The Horse Whisperer") play Enid and Rebecca, two recent graduates of high school (or in Enid's case, a near graduate) who find their new environment phony and rather disturbing. Rebecca adapts, but Enid always seems out of place. Zigoff and Clowes teamed up on the script and, like Enid, view the world with a unique blend of sarcasm and compassion. It's also refreshing to see eternal oddball Steve Buscemi playing something other than a criminal. By exaggerating the foibles of modern life only slightly, Zwigoff and Clowes have made a satire that has more than ridicule on its mind. In some ways it seems fitting that a comic book adaptation offers a more realistic and entertaining film than most reworkings of novels. (R) -- DL

*** 1/2 Liberty Hall Cinemas, 644 Mass.

The Glass House

Screenwriter Wesley Strick (the 1991 "Cape Fear") has come up with a juicy setup in "The Glass House." But the results occasionally make a viewer wish a few rocks were present. When a pair of adolescents (Leelee Sobieski and Trevor Morgan) lose their parents in a car wreck, they are adopted by their mom and dad's best friends Terry and Erin Glass (Stellan Skarsg�rd and Diane Lane). While the two live in a nice cliff-side abode, she's a doctor who takes too much of her own medicine, and his apparent fortune is based on loan shark debts. All of this is potentially horrific because adults unfairly mistrust teens even when they are telling the truth, and coming home to a couple like the Glasses would be an unwelcome prospect even for non-relatives. Still, one wishes Strick and TV-trained director Daniel Sackheim had taken a less hackneyed approach. Many characters might as well be wearing "Next to Die" T-shirts, and the film's overuse of "is he dead?" twists make one indifferent to the question. (PG-13) -- DL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Hardball

While Hollywood was expected to sanitize the material in Daniel Coyle's novel "Hardball: A Season in the Projects" -- which could have ended up "Mighty Ducks in the Hood" -- the resulting "Hardball" is a deceptively edgy adaptation. Keanu Reeves stars as Conor, a career gambler who's grown increasingly in debt to bookies. Strapped for cash, he turns to a successful friend who provides an unusual solution: If Conor will coach a corporate-sponsored youth baseball team from Chicago's housing projects, he'll earn enough to pay off the thugs. A premise such as the one offered in director Brian Robbins' "story of triumph over adversity" is a magnet for cliches. But the material remains fresh, thanks to the distinct, convincing personalities of the little leaguers and because of Reeves' troubled protagonist. Although it's somewhat backhanded praise, Reeves gives his best performance yet -- one of the few times he's actually played a character instead of just relying on his glazed movie star persona. It also helps the film's credibility that Robbins chooses to keep the street language of the kids intact. By its third act, however, "Hardball" pushes things too far, as the grim realities of residing in gang territory result in a plot twist that is simply too violent for a movie ostensibly aimed at children. Moreover, the team's quest for post-season play seems petty and insignificant when following this horrific mood swing. (PG-13) -- JN

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Hearts in Atlantis

Anthony Hopkins is the kind of actor who can make almost any film interesting simply by being on screen, and "Hearts in Atlantis" is no exception. As Ted Brautigan, a mysterious psychic who moves into the home of a single mother (Hope Davis) and her young son (Anton Yelchin), Hopkins brings his trademark melancholy thoughtfulness to the role, and he provides an anchor for this otherwise scattershot film. Director Scott Hicks ("Shine") and screenwriter William Goldman have adapted two of the five connected stories from Stephen King's 1999 book, and the narrative gaps between them make the movie nearly incoherent. Most of the relationships, including that between Yelchin and Hopkins, are not drawn clearly enough to be affecting, and a subplot about a group of shadowy men harassing Hopkins just seems silly. With the exception of Davis, who has little to work with, the actors fare reasonably well, especially Yelchin, who holds his own with his formidable co-star. For the most part, however, this is just a conventional coming-of-age story with a supernatural twist, and one that never quite holds together, despite the best efforts of its cast. (PG-13) -- LL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Max Keeble's Big Move

Every kid dreams of getting back at the sadistic bullies and dictatorial faculty that are part of the standard junior high school package. Max Keeble (Alex D. Linz) is about to live out that fantasy, thanks to his parents' decision to move the family out of town. Knowing he won't be there to reap the consequences, Max turns the tables on the class thugs (Noel Fisher and Orlando Brown) and exposes the shady dealings of the school's vindictive principal (Larry Miller). Then he finds out his family isn't moving after all. Max is sort of a pint-sized Ferris Bueller, enlisting his friends (Zena Grey and Josh Peck) in elaborate schemes to undermine the petty jerks of the world, and there's a certain rebellious kick to watching them stand up for themselves. Director Tim Hill and his pack of screenwriters must have hired their kids to do most of the work, though -- the humor in "Max Keeble's Big Move" is the kind that seems clever and original when you're 11, but becomes dull and stupid by the time you're, say, 12. This means that most adults will be bored out of their minds, but millions of sixth graders just found a new hero. (PG) -- LL

** Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

The Others

The old dark house movie makes a comeback with this creepy ghost story, thanks to writer-director Alejandro Amenabar's gift for creating subtle chills and loads of atmosphere. Set on a remote, fog-enshrouded English estate during World War II, "The Others" gives its star, Nicole Kidman, a virtual one-woman show, as a mother trying to protect her children (Alakina Mann and James Bentley) from all manner of threats, both natural and supernatural. The audience is treated to an unusually intelligent ghost story, where discussions of religion, loneliness and familial devotion are comfortably intertwined with the things that go bump in the night. Kidman's performance is as layered and unnerving as the rest of the film, which moves slowly, but delivers its jolts by making viewers use their imaginations. In this era of shallow, noisy spectacles passing themselves off as horror films, that's a rare gift indeed. (PG-13) -- LL

*** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Rush Hour 2

The pairing of veteran Hong Kong star Jackie Chan with loudmouth comic Chris Tucker isn't quite as novel with "Rush Hour 2," but there is enough of Chan's comic acrobatics to compensate for some of Tucker's less charming moments (what exactly IS he doing in Hong Kong besides making a jerk of himself?). This time around, Chief Inspector Lee (Chan) and Detective Carter (Tucker) try to take out a murderous gang of counterfeiters. The new film has a stronger villain. Zhang Ziyi from "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" may be pint-sized but she's all cold menace -- not bad for someone who doesn't speak a word of English on-screen. Chan gets to put a wastebasket to novel use, and Tucker has a couple of bits (one where he demolishes a Michael Jackson song and another at a craps table) where he demonstrates some chops we haven't seen before. The story's thin and a bit flat, but there's enough action to feed the rush. (PG-13) -- DL

** 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.

Zoolander

If it's funny in a 5-minute sketch, chances are it won't be funny for an hour and a half. That's a rule countless "Saturday Night Live" alums have had to learn the hard way, but Ben Stiller and writing partner Drake Sather apparently thought they were immune. They weren't. "Zoolander," based on a character the duo created for a skit at the 1996 VH1 Fashion Awards, is a perfect example of a joke that goes on 85 minutes too long. Stiller takes the lead as the sweet but idiotic Derek Zoolander, whose main worry in life is competing with rival Hansel (Owen Wilson) for the coveted Male Model of the Year statuette. There are bigger things going on, however, as he learns when pretty magazine reporter Matilda (Stiller's wife, Christine Taylor) discovers a plot to brainwash Derek and train him to assassinate the Prime Minister of Malaysia. Stiller and Wilson head up a great comedic cast, which includes Will Ferrell, Jerry Stiller (nearly stealing his son's movie) and a self-parodying David Duchovny, and there are some gags that are enjoyable (the "walk-off" rumble has to be seen to be believed). There simply isn't enough material here to last an entire movie, though. Watching Stiller suck in his cheeks and pose is only amusing the first 20 times. Then, like the rest of the movie, it just becomes annoying. (PG-13) -- LL

* 1/2 Southwind Twelve, 3433 Iowa.