“The Runaway Bride”“Run Lola Run”“The Blair Witch Project”Now On Video: “Shakespeare In Love”
“The Runaway Bride” In this mindless and shameless attempt to recapture the box office magic of “Pretty Woman,” Julia Roberts, Richard Gere and director Garry Marshall reunite in a tale of a bride with serious cold feet. Roberts plays Maggie Carpenter, an attractive young woman who has a problem with commitment. Every time she gets near the altar and a groom, she runs. She’s done this so often, she becomes fodder for the vitriolic pen of columnist Ike Graham (Gere). When he loses his job over the fallout from his column, he packs up and heads to rural Maryland to do a hatchet job on poor Maggie’s upcoming nuptials. Since Marshall never met a sentimental cliché he didn’t embrace with the fervor of an overzealous great aunt, “The Runaway Bride” runs away with shlocky, sentiment. And yet, it also entertains on a mindless romantic level. While everyone involved deserves a better script, they seem to be content to let your memories of “Pretty Woman” do most of the work. “Run Lola Run” What a terrific little import. Yeah, there are subtitles, but since 90 percent of the movie is Franka Potente running through the streets of Berlin, there’s not much dialogue to read. A hip, hyperkinetic update of the “what-if?” genre, “Run Lola Run” presents us with three separate takes on one premise: Poor Lola has 20 minutes to come up with 100,000 marks or her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu) will be killed by his gangster boss. Fortunately for a movie that lives strictly on the surface, writer/director Tom Tykwer proves to be as tireless as his heroine when it comes to invention. Everything in this movie cooks — the acting, the score, and the fast-forward edits of others lives. Entertaining from start to finish, this film will keep your heart pounding as well. “The Blair Witch Project” A creepy tale of three filmmakers lost in the woods, this is a horror movie where the bogeyman is never seen. Refreshingly old-fashioned in style, the movie is up-to-the-minute in its technical approach. Mixing videotape footage with 16mm film, “The Blair Witch Project” presents a dizzyingly real look at group dynamics as fear takes hold. Much of the movie’s scenes were improvised with the three unknown actors, giving the dialogue an authentic “documentary” feel. Sadly, there’s been so much hype about this instant cult fave that most people see it knowing too much to be truly affected by it. ‘Tis a pity, for those going in cold will reap the biggest chills. Now On Video “Shakespeare In Love” A little culture, a little comedy and a lot of fun mix in this “supposed” true story of William Shakespeare’s real life inspiration for “Romeo and Juliet.” The big winner at this year’s Academy Awards, “Shakespeare in Love” offers Gwyneth Paltrow as the Bard’s muse Viola, a woman who harbors a secret desire to act. Joseph Fiennes plays her blocked bard. The movie also boasts an amazing supporting cast with the likes of Ben Affleck, Simon Callow, Rupert Everett and Geoffrey Rush.
