With Labor Day acting as the unofficial close of summer, it's time to start looking forward to fall. New classes, new foliage, and... new releases! This Friday there are lots of exciting movies on the way, with comedies from seasoned actors and action flicks from newcomers, all sure to tempt a moviegoer's palette.
My Five Wives
Director: Sidney J. Furie (Superman IV, Iron Eagle, Ladybugs)
Starring: Rodney Dangerfield, John Byner, Andrew Dice Clay
If you enjoy Rodney Dangerfield's sense of humor, My Five Wives is sure to please fans. Dangerfield not only stars in the film, but also co-wrote the screenplay, so prepare yourself for an overload of one-liners and cheap jokes. As with most Dangerfield films, the plot seems to be merely an excuse for him to engage in his antics and showcase his comedy routine. Here, he stars as a real estate developer who moves to Utah to build a ski resort... and somehow manages to acquire five wives while avoiding the mobsters who hope to spoil his developing plans. Your guess is as good as mine.
Nurse Betty
Director: Neil LaBute (In the Company of Men, Your Friends and Neighbors)
Starring: Ren?©e Zellweger, Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock
LaBute is known for his dark comedies, and Nurse Betty is no exception. What's new here, however, is a sense of humor similar to a Coen brothers movie blended with LaBute's thesis - that the human soul is empty. Zellweger plays Betty, a small-town Kansas waitress stuck in a loveless marriage to a car dealer. Her passion in life is a soap opera, A Reason to Love, and, more specifically, the hunky heart surgeon, Dr. David Ravell (Greg Kinnear). When Betty witnesses her husband's death due to a drug deal gone awry, she breaks down. Convinced that Dr. Ravell is a real person, she drives off in search of her destiny with him... in her late husband's Buick. Freeman and Rock play the team deployed to recover the heroin stashed (unbeknownst to Betty) in the trunk of the Buick, and the comedy that ensues is sure to be a hit.
The Way of the Gun
Director: Christopher McQuarrie
Starring: Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, James Caan, Taye Diggs, Juliette Lewis
Written and directed by McQuarrie (writer of The Usual Suspects), The Way of the Gun is reminiscent of the gangster movies that followed Quentin Tarrantino's feature debut. Here, Phillippe and Del Toro play two criminals who kidnap a surrogate mother hoping for ransom from the parents of the unborn baby. However, their plans are made complicated when the man sent to deliver the ransom catches them unawares. Knowing McQuarrie's reputation and the cult-success of The Usual Suspects, expect The Way of the Gun to stimulate and surprise you.
The Watcher
Director: Joe Charbanic
Starring: Keanu Reeves, James Spader, Marisa Tomei
Thanks to the success of The Matrix, Reeves has recently had the fortune to star in many recent films, including The Replacements. In The Watcher, he plays a serial killer who lures a former FBI agent (James Spader) out of retirement, enticing him with clues about his next victims and challenging him to play cat-and-mouse. It seems that Reeves, however, will never be able to live down Speed... does anyone else sense a role-reversal here?
