In 2005, average in every way private Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is selected to take part in a secret military experiment to put him in hibernation for a year along with a woman named Rita (Maya Rudolph). The slumbering duo is forgotten when the base they are stored on is closed down and are left in stasis until 2505. When they finally wake up, they discover the average intelligence of humans has decreased so much that Joe is now the smartest man in the world.
This quietly daffy comedy should have been an indie hit, but ended up ignored by audiences. Too bad; it's a wonderfully sustained caper movie about friends whose career choice is all wrong. Low-key Anthony (Luke Wilson) and high-strung Dignan (Owen C. Wilson--the two actors are brothers) are brought into a life of crime by Dignan's ambition to be a small-time thief. After a few amusingly laid-back trial burglaries, they (and a third buddy) find themselves over their heads when they hook up with an experienced crime boss (James Caan).
Girl power (or if you prefer, woman power) gets a goofy boost in My Super Ex-Girlfriend, a breezy rom-com that's as fun as it is forgettable. As devised by former Simpsons writer Don Payne and directed by comedy veteran Ivan (Ghostbusters) Reitman, the premise is certainly promising, and much of that promise is gamely fulfilled.
The winning comic finesse of Reese Witherspoon drives Legally Blonde 2: Red White and Blonde. It's astonishing that the sequel could possibly be daffier than the first movie, but Legally Blonde 2 leaves reality behind like an unflattering outfit. Unemployed lawyer Elle Woods (Witherspoon) sets off to our nation's capitol to ban cosmetics testing on animals, after discovering that her beloved chihuahua's own mother is being used as a test subject.
When her boyfriend (Davis) ditches her simply because she's "too blonde," a beautiful fashion major (Witherspoon) vows to do anything to get him back, even if it means going to law school Elle Woods (Reese Witherspoon) is a self-absorbed sorority president and fashion major who expects to marry her college sweetheart Warner (Matthew Davis).
For every TV-into-movie success like The Fugitive, there are dozens of uninspired films like The Mod Squad. Happily--and surprisingly--this breezy update of the seminal '70s jiggle show falls into the first category, with Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore (who also produced), and Lucy Liu starring as the hair-tossing, fashion-setting, kung fu-fighting trio employed by the mysterious Charlie (voiced by the original Charlie, John Forsythe). When a high-tech programmer (Sam Rockwell) is kidnapped, the angels seek out the suspects, with the daffy Bosley (Bill Murray in a casting coup) in tow.
Master jewel thief Miles Logan (Martin Lawrence, Life, Bad Boys) has a big problem. A $20 million problem. Recently released from prison for the botched heist of a huge diamond, he's anxious to retrieve the hot rock which he hid at a construction site two years earlier. Unfortunately, his hiding place is now at the center of a recently completed high-security police precinct.
