Movie Review Archive - U

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Uncle Nino (PG)
Elderly Uncle Nino (Pierrino Muscarino) flies to America from Italy, much to the surprise of his nephew (Joe Montegna), his nephew's wife (Anne Archer) and their two children. After some initial resistance, Nino is able to teach them the importance of simple things and each other. Ms. Archer plays yet another long-suffering housewife. Sentimentality and predictability aside, this is a very good family film. Bring tissues. 103 minutes.

Unfaithful (R)
Director Adrian Lyne (Fatal Attraction and Indecent Proposal) explores familiar territory in his newest film, Unfaithful. Beautiful Diane Lane portrays Connie, a happily married mother of a young boy. She literally stumbles on a handsome younger man (Olivier Martinez) with whom she begins having an affair. Edward (Richard Gere), her hard working and adoring husband begins to suspect that something is wrong and hires a private detective to follow her. Based on a 1969 motion picture entitled La Femme Infidele, Unfaithful is an effective erotic thriller, though it is a bit predictable. 123 minutes.

An Unfinished Life (PG13)
Einar Gilkyson (Robert Redford), an aging cowboy who is consumed with guilt and regret, allows his estranged daughter in law and granddaughter, who are running away from an abusive boyfriend, to move in with him and his best friend who was mauled by a bear. Their lives are forever changed because even though they don't know it at first, these emotional and physical cripples need each other. Beautifully filmed in the Wyoming mountains. An old fashioned film in that the violence, situations and language are very mild for 2005. Unfortunately the story is somewhat contrived and predictable. Also, many characters and situations don't ring true. The boyfriend is an almost laughable caricature and Gilkyson, in his late sixties, easily beats up not one but three men in their twenties. As I left the theater, I walked by a gentleman who was about Redford's age. He blurted out to me, "The best picture I've ever seen! Did you like it?" Afraid that he'd kick the crap out of me, I nodded in agreement. Also starring Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez. 107 minutes.

United 93 (R)
Directed by Paul Greengrass, the man that gave Ireland's 1972 civil rights march gone bad the same frighteningly realistic documentary style treatment in Bloody Sunday. Two of the worst/most memorable days of my life were 9/11 and the day that the president was shot. I'm not saying whether it was President Lincoln, McKinley, Kennedy or Reagan for fear of dating myself. Then again I've been dating myself for years. But seriously folks...... I have to make a joke because this film is so horrific. It is such a hard-nosed re-creation of the events of September 11th, 2001 that I put off seeing it for two weeks and I left the theater quite shaken. 90 minutes.

The Upside Of Anger (R)
Terry (Joan Allen), a single, alcoholic mother, trades barbs with her four daughters and her ex-ballplayer DJ boyfriend Denny (Kevin Costner). Great ensemble cast. The situations and dialogue are so believable that the audience feels like "a fly on the wall". Written and directed by Mike Binder who also appears as Denny's radio show producer. Allen and Costner make this look easy which is really difficult. Also starring Erica Christensen. 113 minutes.