Chuck Koplinski

Familiar love story features drag queens, hit men, and show tunes So what do you do for an encore after you’ve written and starred in the second most successful independent film ever made? Why, you shamelessly remake a Hollywood classic and hope no one notices! That’s what Nia Vardolas appears to be doing with Connie […]

Girl rise above the typical teen flick Matthew Kidman (Emile Hirsch) has done well in high school and hopes to enter a prestigious university. Asked what he’ll remember about school, Matthew realizes that he’s done nothing but hit the books. Everything changes when a freewheeling heartbreaker moves in next door. Danielle (Elisha Cuthbert), in town […]

A familiar story, told with charm Martha Coolidge’s The Prince & Me tells the story of an oh-so-common occurrence among college-aged girls: They go off to school, meet the man of their dreams, and he turns out to be the prince of a European nation. At least, that’s how it happens in the movies. Paige […]

Hanks shines in Coens’ remake of The Ladykillers While it doesn’t reach the heights of inspired lunacy of their classic Raising Arizona, the Coen Brothers’ remake of The Ladykillers delivers plenty of chuckles, albeit of the darkest variety. The film takes some time to hit its stride, but ultimately delivers a wonderfully comic and morally […]

Take this movie. Away. Please. Having to sit through the new thriller Taking Lives made me want to take my own. A convoluted mish-mash, this latest entry in the overcrowded “serial killer on the loose” genre is crippled by countless clichés, a bevy of bad performances, and a script that relies on coincidence far too […]

Jesus, the Lethal Weapon version Few films have generated as much pre-release fervor as Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ, a cinematic lightning rod that’s been labeled anti-Semitic and challenged for its excessively violent depiction of the last 12 hours of Jesus Christ’s life. The criticisms are warranted. In their defense, Gibson and co-screenwriter […]

Mooseport skewers the conventions of politics and media Mooseport is an out-of-the-way burg in Maine that’s besieged by the media when former president Monroe “Eagle” Cole (the unflappable Gene Hackman) decides to retire there. Content to reap millions from a lecture tour, he’s sucked back into public life when given the opportunity to run for […]

Make a Date with four charmers in a tale of love and values Is love more likely to survive in the spotlight of fame or with wholesome values and anonymity? That’s the question three young adults in Win a Date with Tad Hamilton must answer as fate and ashrewd business manager (Nathan Lane) throw their […]

Liberty is derivative of classic romances, but lacks style and grace Andy Cadiff’s Chasing Liberty has more than a few similarities to the Audrey Hepburn romances Roman Holiday and Two for the Road — so much so, I wouldn’t be surprised if first-time screenwriters Derek Guiley and David Schneiderman didn’t have copies in their VCRs […]

Love is hope Ñ and on Cold Mountain, it’s worth the sacrifice Anthony Minghella’s adaptation of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain initially labors under the weight of the high expectations that have dogged this production since its inception. But much like the heroine at its center, shy Southern Belle Ada Monroe (Nicole Kidman), who finds her […]

Roberts delivers low-key, mature performance in Smile Art history instructor Katherine Watson (Julia Roberts) seems unprepared to handle the overachieving and conformist women of Wellesley College. Her students, ’50s-era debutantes, think they know all there is to know about art from their textbooks. But they’re unable and unwilling to form their own opinions. Forced to […]

King is a feast for the eyes, with a compelling story at its heart When last we left the hobbits Frodo and Sam, they were heading to Mordor to destroy the One Ring in the fires of Mount Doom. Meanwhile, brothers-in-arms Aragorn, the elf Legolas, the dwarf Gimli, the wizard Gandalf and hobbits Pippin and […]