filmland / By Charlie Myers

Coronation of Cheadle — Great performances buoy Talk to Me, Becoming Jane

(Aug. 23, 2007)  Note: Thanks to Jay Herzog for his literate but totally misguided reviews the past two weeks. (Just kidding, except for the literate part.) Also, apologies to my editor — I really did think about going toSuperbadbut it was fourth in a list of four. I’ll try to improve, honest.

Talk To Me

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Previews

Opening Friday, Aug. 24, is Mr. Bean’s Holiday , the latest of Rowan Atkinson’s comic capers as the title character. This time, Bean wins a trip to France that goes astray, resulting in general comic clown chaos. Rated PG for brief mild language. 100 m. At the Broadway.

Perhaps more to my taste, because of the cast if nothing else, is the comedy The Nanny Diaries , starring Scarlett Johansson as a poor college graduate who takes a position as a nanny to a posh family on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. The parents, played by Laura Linney and Paul Giamatti, don’t make her life easy. Rated PG-13 for language. 117 m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

Balancing the comic offerings, Resurrecting the Champ stars Samuel L. Jackson as an ex-boxer now inhabiting skid row in Denver, with only his memories of once being ranked No. 3 in the world keeping him going. Discovered by a second-tier sportswriter (Josh Harnett) in search of the big story, the two find that they need each other. Rated PG-13 for some violence and brief language. 121 m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

On the vengeance front, War stars Jason Statham as an FBI agent seeking revenge on the person who killed his partner and family. He suspects the legendary assassin Rogue, played by Jet Li. Bring your testosterone. Rated R for sequences of strong bloody violence, sexuality/nudity and language. 113 m. At the Broadway and Mill Creek.

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