This week at the movies, we’ve got capsizing vessels ("Poseidon"), capsizing fortunes ("Just My Luck"), and goooooooooaaaaaals ("Goal!"). Which of these movies will score with critics?
As the Oscar-winning theme of "The Poseidon Adventure" put it, "there’s got to be a morning after." In this day and age, there’s got to be a big-budget quasi-remake. The latest is "Poseidon," Wolfgang Petersen‘s third boat movie ("Das Boot" and "The Perfect Storm" are the others.) Josh Lucas and Kurt Russell star as the leaders of a group trying to escape an overturned, sinking cruise ship. The critics say the film has some decent action scenes, but virtually no character development or good lines. At 36 percent on the Tomatometer, "Poseidon" is all wet.
Jacinda Barrett and Josh Lucas run from the critical tide.
There’s a Lou Reed album called "Growing Up in Public," and few embody those words like Lindsay Lohan. She’s the star of "Just My Luck," a screwball comedy about how a kiss reverses the fortunes of the world’s luckiest girl and the unluckiest guy. The film marks the end of Lohan’s teen queen phase; with this (and Robert Altman‘s "A Prairie Home Companion") she’s now playing adult characters. But critics say "Just My Luck" is still pretty juvenile, a lightweight rom-com that isn’t nearly sprightly enough. At 25 percent on the Tomatometer, the scribes say this one’s "Just" not that good.
More excitement than a Friday night at Bungalow 8.
We love inspirational sports flicks. We must, as the studios keep making them. The latest entry is "Goal!," the first in a trilogy about a kid from East L.A. who ends up in Britain’s Premier division. The scribes say this is a better-than-average, utterly predictable film with a good performance by Kuno Becker as the up-by-the-bootstraps (or is it cleatstraps?) footballer. At 54 percent on the Tomatometer, this one’s a draw.
"Goal!" is the best movie about kicking things since "Kickboxer 4."
Recent Wolfgang Petersen Movies:
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55% — Troy (2004)
48% — The Perfect Storm (2000)
77% — Air Force One (1997)
56% — Outbreak (1995)
97% — In the Line of Fire (1993)
Recent Lindsay Lohan Movies:
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100% — A Prairie Home Companion (2006)
42% — Herbie: Fully Loaded (2005)
13% — Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen (2004)
86% — Mean Girls (2004)
83% — Freaky Friday (2003)
