Film capsules -- 1997-2001

L.A. Confidential (R) 140 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Curtis Hanson successfully adapts James Ellroy's hard-boiled crime novel to the screen, detailing the entangled exploits of three diverse L.A. cops, circa 1950. Oozing style, wit and intelligence, it figures to remain a major factor throughout the upcoming Oscar season. Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce and Danny DeVito co-star. Warner Bros. Rated R, with strong profanity, sex and violence.

The Ladies Man (R) 90 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
Leon Phelps has his mojo working on every woman he meets, in this surprisingly funny expansion of a recurring skit character from Saturday Night Live. Starring Tim Meadows, Karyn Parsons and Billy Dee Williams. Directed by Reginald Hudlin. Paramount Pictures. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and violence.

Lakeboat (98) min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
David Mamet's screen adaptation of an early play, showing the influence on his youth of a summer on a Great Lakes freighter. Robert Forster's poignant portrayal leads a fine ensemble of actors for director Joe Mantegna. Rated R, with extremely profane language.

Lake Placid (R) 90 min. Garner's rating: 2 Review · Clips
A silly overly forced attempt at a horror-comedy, adapting the Jaws formula to a tale of a 30-foot crocodile, inexplicably loose in a lake in Maine. Bill Pullman, Bridget Fonda and Oliver Platt are among those who combat it. Steve Miner directs from a script by David E. Kelley (of TV's Ally McBeal and The Practice). Fox. Rated R, with strong violence and profanity.

The Land Girls (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
A richly detailed portrait of domestic life in World War II Britain, following the labor and loves of three young women who work a farm while the men are in uniform. Catherine McCormack, Rachel Weisz and Anna Friel co-star for director David Leland. Gramercy. Rated R, with nudity and sex.

Lara Croft: Tomb Raider (PG-13) 96 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An entertaining action-adventure, based on popular video games, about a disstaff variatiion of Indiana Jones, out to save the world from ancient curses and modern villains. A barely servicable plot and weak villains are overcome by Angelina Jolie's appealing, witty portrayal of the title character. Simon West directs. Paramount. Rated PG-13, with moderate violence and sexual suggestiveness.

The Last Castle (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A flawed drama of injustice and redress in a military prison, buoyed by the lead performances of Robert Redford and James Gandolfini as toe-to-toe adversaries. Rod Lurie directs. DreamWorks. Rated R, with violence and profanity.

The Last Days (Unrated) 88 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Documentary that recounts the memories of five Hungarian-born Jews who survived the final days of the Holocaust. Unrated, perhaps too intense for pre-teens.

The Last Days of Disco (R) 113 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A talky, pretentious drama of preppy ambitions and romances, set against the backdrop of Manhattan's disco scene, circa 1980. Written and directed by Whit Stillman in the style of his earlier works, Metropolitan and Barcelona, it stars Chloe Sevigny, Kate Beckinsale and Chris Eigeman. Gramercy. 113 mins. Rated R, with profanity and implied sex.

Last Resort (PG-13) 75 min. Not reviewed.
When a Russian woman (Dina Korzun) and her son (Artiom Strelnikov) go to Britain to meet her fiance, she mistakenly asks for asylum. When they're shipped off to a coastal resort, he becomes a hoodlum and she sets herself up for another heartbreak. Rated PG-13, with mature subject matter and some sexual situations.

Lawnmower Man II (PG-13) 93 min.
Sci-fi sequel stars Matt Fewer as a genius in a future world on the brink of lauching a global network of virtual-reality computers.

Leave It to Beaver (PG) 88 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A bland, unimaginative remake of the 1960s TV sit-com about a wholesome family whose adventures revolve around the interests of their two young boys. Christopher McDonald, Janine Turner, Cameron Finley and Erik von Detten co-star for director Andy Cadiff. Universal. Rated PG, with modest profanity and a couple of silly sex references.

Left Behind (PG-13) 110 min. Not reviewed. Clips
After millions of people vanish from Earth, a journalist and pilot attempt to solve the mystery. Starring Brad Johnson and Kirk Cameron. Based on the Christian novels of Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins. Rated PG-13, with violence.

Legally Blonde (PG-13) 96 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
An improbable but amusing sitcom about a pretty-in-pink California sorority girl who takes Harvard Law School by storm. The indominatable Reese Witherspoon holds the flimsy premise together through her determined talent and wit. Robert Luketic directs. MGM. Rated PG-13, with profanity and innuendo.

Legend of Bagger Vance (R) 127 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Robert Redford's exploration of golf as a metaphor for life, with Matt Damon as a washed-up former wunderkind in seach of his "authentic swing." Will Smith is the guardian angel sent to help him. Charlize Theron co-stars -- lusciously. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity and innuendo.

The Legend of Cryin' Ryan (NR) 90 min.
This family-oriented ghost story gently probes the issue of child abuse. The film was filmed in Fairport and Seneca Falls last summer and used a largely unknown cast and a crew mainly from the Rochester area.

The Legend of Drunken Master (R) 102 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
This classic Hong Kong martial arts film, first released in Asia in 1994, showcases Jackie Chan's spectacular acrobatic skills and stellar stunt work. Chan battles a host of bad guys, but his finest moment comes at the film's brilliant climax: a 20-minute continuous fight scene inside a steel mill, which took four months to shoot. Stars: Jackie Chan, Ti Lung, Anita Mui and Ken Lo. Directed by Lau Ka Leung. Dimension Films. Rated R, with violence.

Les Miserables (R) 131 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Liam Neeson gives a towering performance as Jean Valjean, the hero of Victor Hugo's Les Miserables. And director Bille August gives the epic 19th-century novel, set in France in the early 1800s, a handsome, moving new screen adaptation. Uma Thurman and Claire Danes are poignant as Fantine and Cosette, the mother and child who change Valjean's life.

Lethal Weapon 4 (R) 120 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A manipulative blend of comedy and action with Mel Gibson and Danny Glover that follows the LW formula. It's as though they're making two different movies at times, but fans of the series' over-the-top special-effects will be happy. Directed by Richard Donner. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity, graphic violence and nudity.

Liar Liar (PG-13) 86 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Jim Carrey is back on track with this appealing comedy that puts the actor's manic style into a smarter setting. He plays a conniving lawyer who is forced to tell the truth for 24 hours. Along the way, he also learns how to be a father. Jennifer Tilly, Maura Tierney and Amanda Donohoe co-star for director Tom Shadyac. Universal. Rated PG-13, with profanity, breast jokes and other sexual humor.

Liberty Heights (R) 127 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
The fourth -- and one of the best -- of director Barry Levinson's semi-autobiographical Baltimore films. He employs an affectionate, funny coming-of-age tale to examine teenage experiences with the racism and anti-Semitism of the mid-'50s. Like its predecessor, Diner, it also has a great '50s soundtrack. Starring Ben Foster, Adrien Brody and Joe Mantegna. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity and sexual innuendo.

L.I.E. (NC-17) min. Not reviewed. Clips
A hard, truthful story of a teenager adrift in suburban Long Island, befriended by a pederast after his mother dies. Brian Cox brings chilling humanity to the role of this creepy father figure, and Paul Franklin Dano is the addled adolescent. NC-17, with sexually explicit language and themes, profanity and violence.

Life (R) 105 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
A heartfelt story with comic elements, about a pair of men wrongfully convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison. Given the two stars, it's disappointing that it's not funnier but they hit the serious notes without getting sentimental, creating strong characters of depth. Stars Eddie Murphy and Martin Lawrence. Directed by Ted Demme. Universal Pictures. Rated R with profanity and graphic violence.

The Life and Times of Hank Greenberg (Unrated) 89 min. Our rating: 7 Review
A documentary about the Jewish baseball player who came close to breaking Babe Ruth's single-season home run record. During the 1930s and '40s he was a source of pride for American Jews.

Life as a House (R) 145 min. Our rating: 9 Review · Clips
Kevin Kline stars as an architect who loses his job and finds out he has cancer. But he builds his dream home, reconnects with his ex-wife and rebuilds a relationship with his delinquent son. Rated R, with rough language, sexuality and drug use.

Life is Beautiful (PG-13) 114 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Robert Benigni co-wrote, directed and stars in this story about one man's response to the Holocaust and his attempt to keep the horror of their concentration-camp existence from his young son. In Italian with English subtitles. Rated PG-13, with profanity, nudity and violence.

A Life Less Ordinary (R) 103 min. Garner's rating: 8
Review · Clips
A delightfully warped comedy that seems to blend It Happened One Night with Raising Arizona. Ewan McGregor and Cameron Diaz co-star as unlikely lovers, brought together by the strangest angels ever dispatched from the heavenly host. Holly Hunter and Delroy Lindo co-star for director Danny Boyle. Fox. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Light It Up (R) 105 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A diverse group of students take a wounded cop hostage to demand improvements at their rundown high school and face death at the hands of a SWAT team. Excitable characters don't necessarily guarantee an exciting film, as this movie proves. Stars Usher Raymond, Vanessa L. Williams and Judd Nelson. Directed by Craig Bolotin. 20th Century-Fox. 105 minutes. Rated R, with profanity and graphic violence.

Limbo (R) 126 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An eccentric drama of survival in the wilds of Alaska. Stars David Straitharn and Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio. Written and directed by John Sayles. Screen Gems. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

The Limey (R) 90 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
An ex-con from England travels to Los Angeles to investigate the death of his daughter. Stars Terence Stamp, Peter Fonda and Lesley Ann Warren. Directed by Steven Soderbergh. Artisan Entertainment. Rated R, with violence and profanity.

Little Nicky (PG-13) 84 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
In this comedy, Adam Sandler stars as the son of Satan who comes to New York City to locate his evil brothers. The problem is that he'd like to be good, especially after he meets an angelic girl. Harvey Keitel is Pop. Rated PG-13, with sexual humor, drug use, profanity.

The Little Vampire (PG) 90 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
An amusing children's tale about a human boy who befriends a family of misunderstood vampires, and helps them try to revert to human form. The lovable Jonathan Lipnicki stars for director Uli Edel. New Line. Rated PG.

Little Voice (R) 99 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A fable of a fragile Northern England girl (Jane Horrocks) who hardly ever speaks, but carries within her a powerful talent as a singer. Brenda Blethyn plays her blowzy, motormouth mother, while Michael Caine is fabulous as a failed show biz promotor who sees the girl as a ticket back to the big time. Mark Herman directs. Miramax. Rated R, with strong profanity and sexual references.

The Little Mermaid (G) 95 min. Garner's rating: 10 Article · Clips
Reissue of the 1989 animated feature film based on a tale by Hans Christian Andersen, it is the tuneful tale of a teen-age mermaid who falls in love with a human. Disney. Rated G.

Live Flesh (R) 98 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An adaptation of a Ruth Rendell mystery about an ex-con's difficult road to redemption, by director Pedro Almodovar (Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down). In Spanish with English subtitles. Rated R, with strong sexuality and language, and some drug use.

Living Out Loud (R) 100 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
In this adult comedy Holly Hunter and Danny DeVito play a bitter divorcee and an elevator operator who fall in love. Co-starring Martin Donovan, Tamlyn Tomita and Queen Latifah. Rated R, with sexual activity, nudity, some language, and adult themes.

Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
The Quentin Tarantino influence has finally made it across the sea. Witness this very funny, very violent, and altogether wonderful British crime caper about four young men who devise a scheme to get out from under a huge debt to gangsters. Guy Ritchie writes and directs. Gramercy. Rated R, with strong violence and profanity.

Lolita (R) 140 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review
Jeremy Irons stars as the anguished pedophile Humbert Humbert in this version of the Vladimir Nabokov. Rated R, aberrant sexuality, violence, nudity, language.

Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring (PG-13) 178 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Peter Jackson's vivid and imaginative retelling of the first part of the J.R.R. Tolkien fantasy about a young hobbit who tries to save Middle Earth by destroying an all-powerful ring of evil. Elijah Wood and Ian McKellen co-star. New Line. Rated PG-13, with strong violence and fearful villains.

Loser (PG-13) 98 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A restrained college-age romantic comedy about a country-boy "loser" and his love for a street-savvy fellow student who's having an affair with their professor. Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari and Greg Kinnear co-star for writer-director Amy Heckerling. Columbia. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity, sex and drug references.

The Loss of Sexual Innocence (R) 101 min. Clips
Writer-director Mike Figgis (Leaving Las Vegas) weaves together the story of Adam and Eve's fall from grace with snapshots from a man's life. Starring Julian Sands, Saffron Burrows, Stefano Dionisi, Jonathan Rhys Meyers and Rossy De Palma. Rated R, with nudity and graphic violence.

Lost and Found (PG-13) 98 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A Los Angeles restaurateur who wants to win the heart of a beautiful musician kidnaps her small dog so that he can return it and be the hero. Starring David Spade, Artie Lange, Sophie Marceau, Martin Sheen, Patrick Bruel and Mitchell Whitfield. Directed by Jeff Pollack. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13 for language, sexual situations and nudity.

Lost Highway (R) 135 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
If you were to ask for a one-line description of the new film Lost Highway, about the best I could do is to say it's a David Lynch film -- a celluloid Rorschach test with a plot propelled by Kafka-inspired dream logic, populated with often-disturbing characters who jump out of the dark corners of the human psyche. With Patrica Arquette, Bill Pullman and Balthazar Getty. Rated R, with extensive nudity, profanity and violence.

Lost In Space (PG-13) 129 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
The '60s version never dreamed of having the spectacular special effects of this digital-age movie, or the sci-fi hardware designed to satisfy audiences weaned on Star Wars and Alien. The new Lost in Space also brings the family relationships into the '90s.

Lost Souls (R) 102 min. Our rating: 2 Review · Clips
At times Lost Souls is just a jumble of images with no real purpose. There are churches, priests, snarling dogs and Satanic symbols (including the old reliable 666), but not much story to hold it together. Besides that, it's just plain dull. Even its star, Winona Ryder, seems bored. Also stars Ben Chaplin and John Hurt. Directed by Janusz Kaminski. New Line. Rated R, with violence and rough language.

The Lost World: Jurassic Park 134 min. (PG-13) Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A darker, rougher and tougher sequel to the box-office king. Steven Spielberg has made a riveting, exciting, high-grade creature feature, with lots of stompin' and chompin' goin' on. Before it's over, we even get to watch a roaring T-rex wreak havoc on a major U.S. city. Jeff Goldblum, Juilanne Moore, Pete Postlethwaite and Vince Vaughn co-star. Universal. Rated PG-13, with profanity and strong, frequent violence.

Love and Basketball (PG-13) 117 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An engaging sport-romance, following a neighboring boy and girl through high school and college and beyond, as they share a passion for basketball and volatile relationship. Omar Epps and Sanaa Lathan co-star for capable first-time writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood. New Line. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity and sexual innuendo.

Love and Death On Long Island (R) 79 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review
Written and directed by newcomer Richard Kwietnowski (from a novel by Gilbert Adair), "Love and Death" effortlessly engages the audience in the musty life of De'Ath, a British novelist so hidebound in his ways that he doesn't even own a television. A widower approaching senior citizenship, he makes no accommodations to the modern world, losing himself in the scholarship necessary to write the kind of high-minded novels people buy for their shelves.

Love and Other Catastrophes (R) 79 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
Clerks meets Friends in Melbourne, in this entertaining but flawed low-budget romantic comedy from Australia. Co-writer Emma-Kate Croghan directs Alice Garner and Frances O'Connor in a story about the relationships of five college friends. Rated R, with strong language, drug use and implied sexual activity.

A Love Divided (NR) 98 min. Not rated.
When the Catholic wife of a Protestant man sends their eldest daughter to a Protestant school, the local priest forcibly removes the girl, in this drama set in 1950s Ireland. The ensuing controversy rips their village apart. Based on a true story, the film has been compared to a made-for-TV movie.

Love Jones (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An amiable first film from writer-director Theodore Witcher, this romantic comedy focuses on the sparks that fly between two creative young adults in Chicago. Nia Long plays an aspiring photographer, fresh on the rebound from a failed love affair. Larenz Tate portrays a poet, struggling to write his first novel. New Line. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and sexual content.

The Love Letter (PG-13) 90 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
A weak, soggy romantic comedy about a woman who finds an unsigned love letter that triggers longing she has kept long suppressed. The only thing viewers will be suppressing is the urge to yawn. Starring Kate Capshaw, Tom Selleck and Ellen DeGeneres. Directed by Peter Ho-Sun Chan. DreamWorks Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity, partial nudity and adult themes.

Love Stinks (R) 99 min. Our rating: 2 Review A television comedy writer (French Stewart) falls in love, but the relationship sours because he won't commit. Co-starring Bridgette Wilson, Tyra Banks, Bill Bellamy and Jason Bateman. Independent Artists. Rated R, for language and sexual content.

Lovers of the Arctic Circle (R) 112 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
A feverish sense of destiny galvanizes this tale of a love that spans decades and continents. Both stars bring urgency and conviction to this intensely romantic text. The cinematography is hauntingly imaginative. In Spanish with English subtitles. Stars Fele Martinez and Najwa Nimri. Directed by Julio Medem. Fine Line Cinema. 112 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. Rated R, for sexual situations and brief language.

Love! Valour! Compassion! (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Terrence McNally's comedy-drama set in a summer house as eight gay men work out various entanglements and relationships -- and two of the men combat AIDS. Jason Alexander and John Glover lead the ensemble for director Joe Mantello. Fine Line. Rated R, with profanity and nudity.

Lucie Aubrac (R) 120 min. Our rating: 5 Review
True story of a French couple's love and their participation in the Resistance during World War II. In French with English subtitles. Rated R.

Lucky Numbers (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A flat and distasteful comedy about low-life hustlers who try to rig the Pennsylvania lottery. John Travolta and Lisa Kudrow lead a strong cast saddled with unappealing and unamusing characters. Nora Ephron directs against her norm -- and it shows. Paramount. Rated R, with strong profanity and implied sex.

The Luzhin Defence (R) 106 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
This film features eccentric chess master Alexander Luzhin (John Turturro), who is torn between his obsession with chess and his passion for Natlia (Emily Watson), the independent-minded daughter of Russian aristocrats. Rated PG-13 with some sensuality and thematic elements.