Bovie Movie

Based on Antonia Fraser’s book about the ill-fated Archduchess of Austria and later Queen of France, ‘Marie Antoinette’ tells the story of the most misunderstood and abused woman in history, from her birth in Imperial Austria to her later life in France.

Robert De Niro gives one of his best comedy performances to date in this feel-good Mafia tale from Groundhog Day director Harold Ramis. De Niro stars as a Manhattan Mob boss whose stressful lifestyle causes him to seek undercover therapy from psychiatrist Billy Crystal. De Niro’s deadpan responses to the Freudian dissections, together with soon-to-be-married Crystal’s increasing entanglement with the “family” business, bring on the laughs thick and fast. There’s a clever script packed with fresh repartee, digs at GoodFellas and hilarious moments of joyous farce, and Ramis’s skilled timing allows the two dynamic leads to show their full comic potential. 

The directorial debut of Nacho Libre co-writer Mike White proves to be more than just a wilfully zany comedy. Starring Saturday Night Live alumnus Molly Shannon, this story of a lonely single woman who takes her canine obsession a step too far is a midlife crisis movie that leaves a slightly sour aftertaste. It begins with a tragedy when secretary Peggy (Shannon) finds her cute dog Pencil dying in the garden of her survivalist neighbour (John C Reilly). The loss is unbearable but the chain of events it kickstarts is absurd, as Peggy befriends a sexually ambiguous dog lover (Peter Sarsgaard) who inspires her to become increasingly radicalised by the animal rights movement until finally her whole life is facing ruin. The bleak undertones in the script make the back-from-the-brink “happy” ending feel contrived, but this uneven and dryly funny film retains a solid comedic core thanks to a fearless and sympathetic turn from Shannon. 

The tired format limps on here with Scary Movie 3 director David Zucker returning — but now well past his Airplane! prime. The intersecting parodies include the Saw films, The Grudge, War of the Worlds and The Village with nods to Million Dollar Baby and Brokeback Mountain thrown in for good measure alongside pop culture references to Oprah and Michael Jackson. Anna Faris gamely plays the naive, accident-prone Cindy Campbell for the fourth time, in a fatigued franchise that is still recycling the most ancient slapstick and toilet gags. Witless, obvious and completely devoid of anything remotely funny, even the most undemanding audience will find little to laugh at in this practically unwatchable dud aimed (presumably) at the post-pub DVD rental market. 

It may lack the imagination usually associated with the Jim Henson production studio, but this dogs from outer space caper is affable enough. Pitching its laughs squarely at younger kids, with all the flatulence jokes and general slapstick that entails, the story centres on lonely 12-year-old Liam Aiken, who is shocked to discover his new pooch, Hubble (voiced by Matthew Broderick), is actually an alien scout from the Dog Star, Sirius. What follows is a predictable lesson in friendship and loyalty, as the shaggy hound enlists the boy’s help to lick the neighbourhood dogs into shape before the arrival of Sirius’s leader, the Greater Dane (voiced by Vanessa Redgrave). Though the talking-pet scenario has been done many times before, and more successfully, there’s still amusement to be had watching the canine stars perform their tricks. Unfortunately, such simplistic shenanigans can’t carry an entire film, particularly when the comedy is ultimately buried by weak human actors and an avalanche of overplayed sentimentality. 

Bobby and Peter Farrelly have finally come up with the best film of their lowbrow careers — an intriguing mix of live-action and inventive animation starring arch slob Bill Murray. He plays Frank, a sloppy zoo worker with bad eating habits who becomes infected with a killer cold virus (voiced by Laurence Fishburne) intent on murdering him within 48 hours. Here’s where the audience gets to explore Murray’s animated innards, “the city of Frank”, and meet maverick police corpuscule Osmosis Jones (Chris Rock) and his cold-cure pal Drix (Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce). The biological puns on bodily functions and fluids are amusing though obviously aimed at the younger end of the audience, and yet there are some imaginative ideas — the stomach as an airport, with the colon as the launch pad; lawyers congregate inside a haemorrhoid and the Mafia relax in an armpit. Above all, credit should go to Marc Hyman’s script and to animation directors Piet Kroon and Tom Sito, as rarely have body parts been so funny. 

Dr Seuss’s cult children’s favourite How the Grinch Stole Christmas! gets the big-budget Hollywood treatment in this seasonal spectacular from director Ron Howard. Starring an irrepressible and almost unrecognisable Jim Carrey, it’s the magical and visually splendid tale of a miserable, green-furred mountain-dweller who’s out to wreck the extravagant festive celebrations in the kooky town of Whoville below. A vivacious delight capable of charming the most Scrooge-like viewer, this fantasy frolic is, in the end, such a heart-warmer it deserves to become a genre classic. However, parents should be warned that the often dark humour and Carrey’s madcap excesses may be too much for the very young. 

David Zucker has fallen a long way since his Airplane! heyday. This clunker of a comedy is utterly devoid of wit, despite the fact that great pains are taken to prepare us for every potential gag. Publishing researcher Ashton Kutcher finds himself housesitting for his boss (Terence Stamp), who also happens to be the scrupulous father of his heart’s desire, Tara Reid. But none of the misfortunes that befall Stamp’s prized home are the remotest bit amusing — least of all thug Michael Madsen’s antics. It’s hard to see how a cast this stellar could be attracted to a project this dire.