Chicken Little

Poor Chicken Little. He gets no respect. He's the Gaylord Focker of the animated world; no matter how great his intentions, he just can't seem to do anything right. Not only does his size make him an easy target for middle school bully Foxy Loxy, but everyone in town thinks he's crazy because he claimed the sky was falling. His own father is embarrassed of him. All he's got is his troop of under-animal friends, Abby Mallard, Runt of the Litter and Fish Out of Water. Unfortunately his troops can't even help him save a messy film. After breaking up with Pixar - the animation company who along with Disney brought us "The Incredibles" and "Finding Nemo," - Disney should have worked a little harder to create something that reminded us of its magic. "Chicken Little" is far from magical. While the chicken was cute and Zach Braff's voice made us feel for the poultry, the movie moved slowly and did not have the same witty dialogue that allowed parents and children to enjoy the Pixar flicks of the past. But having said that, "Chicken Little" is not even that worthwhile for children. My 9-year- old cousin gave the movie a 6, but during half of the movie she was more entertained with what the people in front of us were doing than with what was happening onscreen. She's a dedicated Disney Channel viewer, so I'm sure she was just as hypnotized by the barrage of ads for "Chicken Little" as I was with "Star Wars." It's unfortunate that Disney couldn't try harder, instead of recycling the same material - wimpy sidekicks and sappy soundtracks - and get my respect as well. G - Parra

Shopgirl

There's a fine line between cinematic romance and actions warranting a restraining order, a line that Steve Martin has never come close to crossing before. While he wrote the novella and the screenplay, as well as produced "Shopgirl," his role of Ray Porter is a man that Roxanne would never imagine and a father of the bride that the bride would keep away from her bridesmaids. He enters naïve shopgirl Mirabelle Buttersworth's (Claire Danes) life by lying to Sak's to get her address then initiating a courtship where he proffers a variety of romantic sentiments that seem more inappropriate than romantic. Throughout this whole ordeal is Jeremy, a disheveled self-proclaimed artist, believably and endearingly played by Jason Schwartzman, that would have the audience cheering for him in a less subtle movie. However, it's the subtlety that gives the film its undeniable charm and separates it from the likes of "Pretty Woman." If Ray weren't approximately three times Mirabelle's senior, it would be more admissible, but it would also be a completely different film. Thankfully, Steve Martin's next endeavor is "Pink Panther," which should be more suiting. R - Sholler

The Legend of Zorro

Diminutive "Saturday Night Live" star Chris Kattan forever skewed my impression of Antonio Banderas when he portrayed the Spanish star as a lecherous, bare-chested Latin loverman. The real Banderas deserves more credit based on wide-ranging roles in "Philadelphia," "Spy Kids," "Desperado" and "Shrek 2." Nonetheless, his sequel to 1998's "The Mask of Zorro" doesn't venture far beyond the suave surface appeal exploited by Kattan. "The Legend of Zorro" is the simplest kind of cinema offering. There's a hero, a beauty, a wealthy villain, a love triangle, a precocious kid and an idealistic fight against injustice. There's action that newspaper ads will tout as "swashbuckling" and a fanciful golden glow that envelops a ruggedly exotic location. If you like that sort of thing, "Zorro" is your next Friday night out. If you don't, stay home and watch "Monk." PG - Goldberg

The Weather Man

The glum "The Weather Man" can't quite support the weight of another strong Nicholas Cage performance. Cage plays David, a Chicago weatherman who has recently separated from his wife and children. David enjoys the money and other perks of celebrity, but can't quite shake the feeling that he hasn't really earned them. Cage is up and down the scale of male immaturity here, from preening in one scene to emotionally raw in the next. A problem: much time is devoted to David's deadpan voice-over narration, which Cage performs wonderfully. But there's too much of David's not-that-interesting psychological insights and not enough of him actually living his life. While the wistful ending is probably supposed to have me thinking about the difficulties of family life and being a grown-up in 21st-century America, I couldn't help but think that the film - unlike the archery arrows David shoots throughout - never really found its target. R - Crowe

Prime

Women dating younger men: It's one of those topics that's only getting discussed because celebrities are doing it. Now somebody has made a movie about it, and like the discussions on Entertainment Tonight, it could have been more insightful. "Prime" is advertised as a comedy in which Uma Thurman's character Rafi is dating her therapist's (Meryl Steep) son. While that's a subplot in the movie, the story that takes up most of the focus is the age difference between Rafi and David, played by the young and solid Bryan Greenberg. Mom is not too happy that her son is dating an older gentile and that she must sit through therapy sessions hearing intimate details about their sex life and her son's anatomy. These therapy sessions provide most of the humor in the movie, but are not enough to save an otherwise slow and forgettable film. PG-13 - Parra

Saw II

The second "Saw" isn't as accomplished or precise as the first, but it's well worth watching because, in an era when most movies are forgotten before the popcorn is digested, it makes you feel something. Feel what? Take your pick: revulsion, horror, guilt. Its main character is a morally compromised cop (former New Kid Donnie Wahlberg) trying to figure out the location of a bunch of people locked in a house that a madman is filling with deadly nerve gas. The twist is that the madman knows something about the people in the house and claims that, like the junkie whose near-death made her appreciate life in "Saw," they need to taste death in order to figure out what's important. R - AP

G

As directed by Christopher Scott Cherot ("Hav Plenty"), "G" has enough style to belie its low-budget roots. Still, the approach is superficial and soap opera-ish (typified by names like Chip and Sky and Summer G, and the reduction of a famous three-word title to a floating letter in alphabet soup). R - GNS

Dreamer

A youngster lives out her fantasy about having a horse in the backyard. Yep, this is every kid's dream come to life. It's also every man's dream about making a small investment and quadrupling your money. PG - Nicky VanValkenburgh

Elizabethtown

Fresh from a monumental failure as a shoe designer for a Nike-esque Oregon company, Drew Baylor (Orlando Bloom) learns that his father has died. Drew's family sends him to Elizabethtown, Ky., to tie up loose ends with family he hasn't seen in years and bring dad home. On the flight to Kentucky, Drew meets Claire (Kirsten Dunst), a free-spirited flight attendant who helps him re-evaluate ideas about life and success over the next few weeks. "Elizabethtown" deals with a lot of relationships and ideas, and most of them are presented in the clear, quirky, charming manner of most Crowe films. "Elizabethtown" is not Crowe's best work, but like the irresponsible cousin that you only see a few times a decade, there are enough good qualities here to make it worth the trip. PG-13 - Goldberg

Thumbsucker

Those seeking solace in Thumbsucker after being disappointed by the vacuity of Garden State and it's derivative message of "it's OK to be different" will find themselves feeling equally cheated. The film immediately establishes that Justin (Lou Pucci) is addicted to sucking his thumb, and due to this benign habit, he is making everyone's life significantly less enjoyable. As soon as you realize that the "thumbsucking" theme is just a veneer that identifies everyone's domineering addiction, the mother-of- thumbsucker Tilda Swinton cathartically exclaims that everyone is addicted to something, and the plot takes a turn for the melodramatic, concluding with Justin running blithely through the streets of Manhattan accompanied by a musical selection, akin to "Chariots of Fire." An oddly redeeming factor is Keanu Reeve's character, a new-age orthodontist (complete with a "power animal" that he relies on for strength), that is probably the most suiting role he has had since "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure." Lou Pucci also makes a spectacular debut, balancing out the presence of Keanu Reeves and Vincent Vaughn to help secure the film's "independent" status. Unfortunately, the film may have fared better as a smart, mainstream movie instead of an exoteric, independent one. R - Sholler

A History of Violence

In "A History of Violence" director David Cronenberg takes us to the small town of Millbrook and introduces us to the Stalls, who seem like the perfect family. After Tom Stall (Viggo Mortensen) shoots and kills two murderers who try to burglarize his diner, he becomes a local hero. But the shootings cause a shakeup in the Stalls' perfect lives when it brings up Tom's questionable past. With an exceptional cast, that includes unexpected work from Ed Harris and William Hurt, this movie moves along at a steady pace. But be warned: It's graphic. R - Parra