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The Bourne Supremacy
* * *

Reuniting pretty much everyone who worked on 2002’s "The Bourne Idenitity" (with the exception of director Doug Liman, who is replaced here by "Bloody Sunday" helmer Paul Greenglass), "The Bourne Supremacy" is pretty much the exact same thing as the orignal; since that first film was an uncommonly smart and well-acted spy drama-one that relied on intriguing characters instead of fancy gadgets-such repetition is not necessarily a bad thing. Once again, Matt Damon plays the amnesiac CIA assassin Jason Bourne who, as the film opens, is hiding out in India with girlfriend Marie (Franke Potente). At the same time, another CIA mission in Berlin goes violently wrong, two agents are killed and evidence left behind suggest to the new agency deputy director (Joan Allen, mostly making up for her unwatchable histronics in "The Notebook") that Bourne is the man responsible. Clearly, someone is trying to frame him and flush him out and in order to find out who, Bourne must once again travel the world (the subtitle device that announces every new location in films of this nature gets a real workout here) and uncover more of his own buried past.

Like most things that come from the pen of author Robert Ludlum, any cursory attempt to analyze the plot of "The Bourne Supremacy" is a losing battle ending in either complete confusion or temporary insanity. It is to the credit of Greenglass and screenwriter Tony Gilroy that they manage to keep such a ludicrous tale humming along with enough speed and efficiency that the gaps in logic barely register. If I had to choose between the two films, I would probably favor the former, simply because the best aspect of the first film (the way that Damon effectively depicted his surprise when his killer tendencies suddenly popped up out of nowhere at key moments) is necessarily absent and the silliest aspect (the notion of Julia Stiles as a CIA agent) has been unnecessarily expanded. That said, this film still contains a lot of good performances, a few surprises, a entertainingly unconventional score and one of the best car chases in recent memory. Best of all, "The Bourne Supremacy" is an uncommonly smart thriller-something that comes as a blessed relief after the idiocies of "Catwoman" and "King Arthur".

PG-13

Written by Tony Gilroy. Directed by Paul Greenglass. Starring Matt Damon, Franke Potente, Joan Allen, Brian Cox and Julia Stiles.

Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle
* * *

Utilizing the most blatant in-title product-placement since the immortal "Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man", "Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle" tells the shaggy-dog story of the misadventures experienced by two stoners-corporate drone Harold (John Cho) and slacker med student Kumar (Kal Pen)-during a night-long odyssey to satisfy a pot-induced craving for everyone’s favorite laxative-on-a-bun. As premises go, this is a pretty dopey one (no pun intended) but I have to admit that it has somehow coalesced into a reasonably entertaining dumbo comedy. Cho and Pen get a nice comic rhythm going and the screenplay has the making-it-up-as-they-go-along charm that the old Hope-Crosby "Road" movies used to have-not an insignificant detail for a film that somehow ties in such elements as a stoned cheetah, Neil Patrick Harris, gratuitous nudity, a couple of weird fantasy sequences and a joke about Katie Holmes’s appearance in "The Gift" outrageous enough that the filmmakers will no doubt receive either a thank-you note from her or a stern letter from her attorneys. As comedies go, "Harold and Kumar" is pretty disposable and never really breaks through in the way that "Anchorman" does, but, unlike the burger that it pays homage to, the film goes down pretty easy and leaves no revolting aftertaste.

RATED R

A Home at the End of the World
* * 1/2

"A Home At the End of the World", better known now as "The Film That Used to Feature Colin Farrell’s Penis", is based on a book by Michael Cunningham, best known for writing "The Hours"; as a result, I went into the film pretty much fearing another insulting melodrama along the lines of that earlier work. Instead, it turns out to be a surprisingly low-key story about Bobby (Farrell), a charming oddball who, as an Ohio youth, latched on to high-school classmate Jonathan (Dallas Roberts) and his family (especially mom Sissy Spacek) in order to make up for his own messy home life. The two separate after school but reunite a few years later in New York when Bobby moves in with the now-gay Jonathan and his straight roommate Claire (Robin Wright Penn) and the trio form a strange relationship that somehow transcends any number of social and sexual boundaries in order to become the most traditional of units-a genuine family.

While exceedingly well-acted by the entire cast (in a far more restrained role than he is generally known for, Farrell easily demonstrates that there is a genuine actor behind the tabloid headlines), the film shares the same problem that Bobby has; both are so eager to please that they gradually become less interesting over time. With every potentially interesting rough edge thoroughly smoothed over and scored with an achingly tasteful soundtrack, there never really seems to be anything at stake in the lives of these people; we know that no matter what one of them says or does, the others will reassure them that it is just fine and all will be well. (It feels like the drug of choice on this set must have been Ecstacy.) Most frustrating is the fact that even though we are supposed to applaud the characters for their bold and daring lifestyle choices, they all look and act as if they just stepped out of a Sears catalogue; they are perhaps the most conventional unconventional trio to appear in a movie in recent memory.

RATED R

Written by Michael Cunningham. Directed by Michael Mayer. Starring Colin Farrell, Robin Wright Penn, Dallas Roberts and Sissy Spacek.

"Maria Full of Grace", a low-budget indie film which has been winning all sorts of acclaim on the festival circuit this year (including top prizes at Berlin and Sundance) tells the story of Maria (Catalina Sandino Moreno), a young Colombian woman whose desire for a better life for herself leads her to agree to become a drug mule-flying into New York with 62 fragile rubber pellets full of heroin that she has swallowed-in exchange for $5,000. On the surface, this may not sound like the most endurable 101 minutes one could spend in a movie theater this summer-there is always the threat that it could turn into either an After-School Special that reminds kids that Being a Drug Mule is Bad or, potenitally even worse, an achingly noble drama about the indignities suffered by the downtrodden (better known as John Sayles Syndrome)-but the film is actually much different and much better than either of those scenarios for two very good reasons. The first is that writer-director Joshua Marston has resisted the urge to go overboard on the melodrama in order to underscore his point; he paints Maria in a far more complex manner than one might expect (a smart and rebellious girl, she becomes a mule because she chooses to and not because she has no choice) and resists the urge to moralize. The other reason is the soulful performance by Moreno (a stunning screen debut) as Maria, one of the best acting jobs I’ve seen this year. Instead of playing her as insufferably noble, she makes Maria a lively, fiesty character that doesn’t always make the right decisions but you still can’t help but root for no matter what you may think of her actions.

RATED R

Written and directed by Joshua Marston. Starring Catalina Sandino Moreno, Yenny Paola Vega, Jhon Alex Toro , Guilied Lopez and Patricia Rae.

Metallica: Some Kind of Monster
* * *

The idea of a world-famous rock band becoming so fraught with interpersonal tensions that it requires the services of a personal therapist in order to help them overcome their problems so that they can finally record together again sounds like a ripe premise for a comedy-"This is Spinal Tap" by way of "Analyze This". "Metallica: Some Kind of Monster" uses that premise as the basis for a serious-minded documentary and the results are still pretty funny. After years of inactivity, the top-selling metal group decided to regroup to record the "St. Anger" album and, despite the personality conflicts that inspired them to hire a full-time therapist (at $40,000 a month), they decided to allow documentarians Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger to capture the proceedings-a decision that they might have reconsidered if they had any inkling that the process would take 715 days and be interrupted by stints in rehab (and the fear that the results might be good from a health standpoint but disastrous from an artistic one), quarrels among the members (the fight inspired by the comment that a song sounds "stock" may be the funniest band fracas caught on tape since that infamous tape of the Troggs trying to record surfaced), a brawl with Napster and the last-minute search for a new bassist on the eve of a world tour. (However, the film makes no mention of the tepid audience response to the album when it finally emerged last year.)

By turns amusing, depressing (the only person who ever seems genuinely happy to be making music is the clear-eyed female bassist who wins the chance to paly with the band during a fan appreciation convention) and tedious (aside for hard-core fans, it is hard to imagine too many people keen to spend 140 minutes watching Metallica bitch and moan), "Some Kind of Monster" is a fly-on-the-wall document that once again demonstrates that highly-paid artists can be just as stupid and self-absorbed as anyone else. While I can’t say that any of it was particularly edifying or indispensible to those who aren’t already fans of the group, I must admit that Sinofsky and Berlinger keep things moving along and that there are enough priceless scenes (including the moment where the therapist attempts to salvage his job when he is informed that his services are no longer required) to warrant a recommendation. I must also admit, however, that the might have been a lot more fun if it had been made about Guns’n’Roses.

RATED R

Directed by Bruce Sinofsky and Joe Berlinger. Starring Metallica.

-- Capsule Reviews by Peter Sobczynski

Copyright © 2004 Peter Sobczynski
All rights reserved.
Used with permission
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While the views expressed by Peter Sobczynski do not necessarily reflect the views of Criticdoctor.com, the Critic Doctor will occasionally examine Mr. Sobczynski's film reviews to bring forth an honest examination of those views expressed.