It makes sense to transplant Nick Hornby's memoir about rooting for Britain's hapless Arsenal soccer team to the world of Boston Red Sox fans. Fate even conspired to give Fever Pitch (Fox), set against the 2004 season, an unbelievable happy ending. Unfortunately, others conspired to turn it into a bland, overlong movie that proves Jimmy Fallon can't act, Drew Barrymore needs a strong foil for that whimsy, and the Farrelly brothers should never attempt to film a script by comedy undertakers Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel…
Simultaneously one of the most delightful movies of the year and one of the most aggravating, The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy (Buena Vista) should at least partially entertain fans of the book, who'll enjoy seeing some of Douglas Adams' more random flights of fantasy charmingly illustrated. Though the tone and pacing are frequently off—and the non-book material is frankly awful—Adams' essential concept of blissful pessimism carries over well…
Romantic comedies aren't generally known for their edginess, but Fatih Akin's cross-country, cross-cultural romance Head-On (Strand) paves the road to love through miles of prickly thatch. In the opposite of a meet-cute, bedraggled bum Birol Ünel and the ravishing Sibel Kekilli come together in a clinic for unstable patients, then embark on a quickie marriage of convenience that's doomed to flame out. It's unlikely and surprisingly moving when it doesn't…
Based on a true story, Hirokazu Kore-eda's Nobody Knows (MGM) joins The Night Of The Hunter and Small Change as one of the great cinematic testaments to the resilience of children. When a flighty young mother strands her four children in a cramped apartment and forces them to fend for themselves, it's up to a 14-year-old boy to improvise their survival, which he manages over an entire year. The film unfolds in a series of episodes that follow the downward slope from lightly comic to desperately sad as their situation worsens…
Those allergic to the blunt misanthropy of Todd Solondz (Happiness) will not be cured by Palindromes (Wellspring), his characteristically provocative semi-sequel to Welcome To The Dollhouse. But his conceit of having the lead role played by girls of all shapes, sizes, ages, and races proves a compelling piece of gimmickry. In Solondz's world, no matter who you are, you're equally screwed.