As docudramas go, Jobs works better as a profile of an innovative company than of the demanding entrepreneur who cofounded it (Apple would have provided a more apt title). Director Joshua Michael Stern opens with the launch of the iPod, a notable development, but not an especially dramatic one, before backtracking to the college dropout days of the oft-barefoot Steve Jobs (Ashton Kutcher), who comes across as more of a ladies' man than a visionary.
When a young Amish woman and her son are caught up in the murder of an undercover narcotics agent, their savior proves to be the worldly and cynical Philadelphia detective John Book. Harrison Ford is sensational as Book, the cop who runs head-on into the non-violent world of a Pennsylvania Amish community. The end result is an action-packed struggle of life and death, interwoven with a sensitive undercurrent of caring and forbidden love.
Leap Of Faith stars Steve Martin as Jonas Nightengale, a fraudulent faith healer who makes a living visiting small towns and giving hope in the form of prayer. Aided by his no nonsense manager, Jane (Winger), Jonas sets up his tent in a small suburb of Kansas where he soon learns that their hidden mikes, cameras and computers can't fool the neighborhood sheriff (Neeson). But, when Jonas is touched by a local waitress (Davidovich) and her disabled son Boyd (Haas), he learns something new about truth and what real miracles are made of.
Writer-director Woody Allen has produced yet another challenging and funny film, this time taking on the musical genre and bending it to his own unique vision. The result is one of the most charming films in recent years, as Allen assembles a typically sterling ensemble cast to evoke the romanticism of years past. This time, the large cast (including Alan Alda, Drew Barrymore, Goldie Hawn, Edward Norton, and Tim Roth) not only turn in funny and touching performances, but they sing the classic songs of the 1930s and 1940s themselves, and sing them very well.
