Film capsules -- 1997-2001

The Pallbearer (PG-13) 103 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Friends' David Schwimmer leads funeral services for a schoolmate he doesn't remember. Barbara Hershey, Carol Kane and Gwyneth Paltrow co-star. Mild profanity and implied sex; for teens and adults.

Palmetto (R) 113 mins. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clip
An over-the-top variation of femme fatale seduction. Woody Harrelson plays an ex-con who is seduced into helping a slutty sexpot (Elisabeth Shue) extort money from her aged millionaire husband. Gina Gershorn co-stars as Woody's overly understanding girlfriend. Volker Schlondorff mis-directs. Rated R, with considerable sex, profanity, violence.

Panic (R) 86 min. Our rating: 2 Review In this romantic drama, William H. Macy stars as a stressed-out hit-man seeking therapy. while in the psychologist's waiting room, he meets an attractive woman and his life becomes even more complicated. Also starring Neve Campbell, Donald Sutherland, John Ritter and Tracey Ullman. Rated R, with adult language and violence.

Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Woods 150 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A brilliant, darkly disturbing documentary about the murder trials of three West Memphis, Ark., teens charged with the mutilation and cult murders of three 8-year-old boys. Directed by Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky. Creative Thinking International. Cabin Fever. Unrated, with disturbing photos, video and descriptions of murder and sexual mutilation.

Paradise Road (R) 114 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
A moving if conventional saga of women held prisoners by the Japanese during World War II, and the choir they formed to help them get through their ordeal. Glenn Close, Frances McDormand and Pauline Collins head an impressive international cast for writer-director Bruce Beresford. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with brief but unsettling violence.

The Parent Trap (PG) 124 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A stylish, well-made remake of Disney's popular 1961 film about twin sisters (both played by charming newcomer Lindsay Lohan) who scheme to reunite their divorced parents (Dennis Quaid and Natasha Richardson). Nancy Meyers directs. Disney. Rated PG, with modest profanity.

Passion of Mind (PG-13) 105 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
Demi Moore plays a woman in France who dreams every night that she's a woman in New York -- or is she a woman in New York dreaming she's in France? Despite good acting and spare direction, the script can't sustain what starts out as an intriguing premise. Starring Demi Moore, Stellan Skarsgard, William Fichtner. Directed by Alain Berliner. Paramount Classics. 105 minutes. Rated PG-13 for profanity, sexuality and partial nudity.

Patch Adams (PG-13) 115 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
Robin Williams can play this role in his sleep: the iconoclastic med student who challenges the medical school to treat patients more like people. Still, Williams has some funny material to work with, before he goes into teary-eyed mode. Starring Robin Williams and Bob Gunton. Directed by Tom Shadyac. Universal Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity, nudity and adult themes.

The Patriot (R) 158 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An engrossing but imperfect drama about a South Carolina colonist drawn into the American Revolution when his family comes under British guns. Mel Gibson stars for director Roland Emmerich. Columbia. Rated R, with much strong violence.

Paulie (PG) 92 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
A charming and funny tale of a parrot who can actually talk, who spends years searching for the little girl who raised him and goes through a number of adventures in the process. Funny and touching for kids and adults. Starring Gena Rowlands and Tony Shalhoub. Directed by John Roberts. DreamWorks Pictures. Rated PG, with mild profanity and violence.

Payback (R) 99 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A dark, nasty, and thoroughly engrossing crime thriller about a thief's violent efforts to get back what's his. Brian Helgeland, the co-writer of L.A. Confidential creates a stylish, latter-day film noir. Mel Gibson contributes an edgy, high-tension lead performance, ably supported by Gregg Henry, Maria Bello, James Coburn and Kris Kristofferson. Paramount. Rated R, with strong violence, profanity, drug use.

Pay It Forward (PG-13) 122 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Kevin Spacey, Helen Hunt and Haley Joel Osment co-star in the affecting saga of a Las Vegas eighth grader who creates a scheme to spread acts of kindness through the land. Mimi Leder directs. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity, brief violence and implied sex.

The Peacemaker (R) 122 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
A smart, glossy, action-packed thriller from director Mimi Leder in which a U.S. intelligence officer (George Clooney) and a government nuclear scientist (Nicole Kidman) try to stop an Eastern European terrorist from detonating a nuclear bomb. Directed by Mimi Leder of TV's ER, the film is the first from DreamWorks. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Pearl Harbor (PG-13) 175 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips Michael Bay's extravagant, often-breathtaking, sometimes-trite, old-fashioned Hollywood spectacle, an ultra-romanticized wartime epic about "the date that will live in infamy. Ben Affleck and Kate Beckinsale star in a film that owes much more to "Titanic" than to "Saving Private Ryan." Touchstone, 175 mins. Rated PG-13, with battle violence.

Pecker (R) 87 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
John Waters' new comedy is hilarious good fun, the sweetest slice of subversion yet from the cinema's grand master of bad taste. In his latest satire, Waters contrasts the pretentions of the New York art world with the quirky realities of working-class life in Baltimore. Edward Furlong and Christina Ricci co-star. Fine Line. Rated R, with strong sexual content and nudity.

The People vs. Larry Flynt (R) 130 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips Milos Forman's brilliant and funny new film about the obscenity trials of the outrageously slimy publisher of Hustler magazine. In it, Flynt (Woody Harrelson) responds to a Supreme Court ruling by saying, "If they'll protect a scum bag like me, then they'll protect all of you." Courtney Love co-stars as his lover, a young stripper turned drug addict. Columbia. Rated R, with profanity, nudity, sex, violence and drug use.

A Perfect Murder (R) 107 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow and Viggo Mortensen form a lethal triangle in this contemporary remake of Alfred Hitchcock's Dial M for Murder. Warner Bros. Rated R, with violence, profanity and strong sexual content.

The Perfect Storm (PG-13) 129 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Wolfgang Petersen's intense, storm-tossed adventure that takes its place among the great tales of man against the sea. Based on a true incident -- and Sebastian Junger's best-selling book -- it details the courage, foolhardy daring and heroic efforts of Glouchester fishermen, pleasure sailors and U.S. Coast Guard rescuers trapped in one of the most horrendous storms ever to hit the North Atlantic. George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg head a fine cast. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with much realistic, man-versus-nature violence.

Permanent Midnight (R) 95 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
A dark and darkly funny story of wretched excess, recounting the life of TV writer Jerry Stahl and his descent into heroin addiction. Starring Ben Stiller and Elizabeth Hurley. Directed by David Veloz. Artisan Entertainment. Rated R, with profanity, nudity, graphic drug use and adult themes.

Persuasion (PG) 103 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
This highly praised, made-for-British-television version of Jane Austen's tart novel stars Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds as the estranged lovers. Nothing to offend, but it's too subtle and literary for younger children.

The Phantom (PG) 108 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
The comic strip hero created 60 years ago continues his fight against greed, corruption and murder. Billy Zane stars.

Phantoms (R) 90 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Dean Koontz's "Phantoms" is a schlocky mishmash of horror film cliches, tossed together from various monster movies, mad-scientist flicks, and satanic thrillers. Peter O'Toole and Ben Affleck co-star for director Joe Chappelle. Dimension, 90 mins.

Phenomenon (PG) 117min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
Jon Turteltaub's new film is proof positive of the star power of the charismatic John Travolta. Without him, I doubt many people would be drawn to this superficial fable about a modest man struck with uncommon intelligence. And those that would be, wouldn't sit still for its slim plot and obvious, emotional manipulations. Kyra Sedgwick, Robert Duvall and Forest Whitaker co-star.

Pi (R) 85 min. Garner's rating: 8 Clips
Thriller about a young computer-nerd who is pursued by sinister forces after discovering a numerical formula that may unlock the secrets of the universe, including the stock market. Starring Sean Gullette, and Mark Margolis. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Picture Perfect (PG-13) 102 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Impressive performances by Jennifer Aniston and Jay Mohr and polished direction by Glenn Gordon Caron elevate this otherwise modest romantic comedy. Aniston plays an advertising director who makes up a bogus boyfriend to get ahead at her company. Mohr stars as the pretend boyfriend who recognizes the arrival of true affection. Kevin Bacon, Olympia Dukakis and Illeana Douglas co-star. 20th Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with profanity and sexual situations.

The Pillow Book (Unrated) 126 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Peter Greenaway's latest, and most accessible film; a strange but fascinating study of polar opposites. It's about a Japanese woman who lusts for fine calligraphy and satisfying sex, and it establishes an ongoing competition of word and image, man and woman, ideas and instinct, art and commerce, the austere and the sensual, calm and violence, and east and west. Vivian Wu and Ewan McGregor co-star. Gramercy. Unrated; with full-frontal nudity and strong violence.

Pink Flamingos (NC-17) 100 min. Unreviewed.Clips
The gross-out comedy classic starring the late 300-pound cross-dresser Divine, is headed to a theater near you, and as director John Waters himself would say, duck. Divine, tired of the media limelight as the "filthiest person alive" retires to a quiet life with her mentally feeble mother (Edith Massey), delinquent son (Danny Mills) and traveling companion (Mary Vivian Pearce). But their peaceful life is disrupted when the proprietors of a stolen baby/drug ring (Mink Stole and David Lochary) try to take Divine's title away by living an even filthier existence. In the end, Divine eats dog poop, proving that he is the queen of filth.

Pitch Black (R) 95 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
Space travelers crash-land on a planet where killer aliens come out at night -- just as the planet is about to be plunged into eclipse-induced darkness. Starring Radha Mitchell, Vin Diesel and Cole Younger. Directed by David Twohy. USA Films. 95 minutes. Rated R, with profanity and graphic violence.

A Place Called Chiapas (U) 90 min. Unreviewed.
Documentary about the 1994 Zapatista uprising in southern Mexico. Unrated.

Place Vendome (U) 117 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
Nicole Garcia's elegant but slow-moving French drama about intrigue, thievery, romance and betrayal in the Parisian diamond business. An obtuse, confusing narrative, its only effective momentum comes from the fascinating central performance by the superb Catherine Deneuve. Empire Pictures. Unrated. In French, with English subtitles.

Planet of the Apes (PG-13) 110 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
The apes are back on top of the food chain. And, with Tim Burton at the helm, there's no monkeying around. Mark Wahlberg is the human astronaut in a topsy-turvy world, while Tim Roth is a fabulous chimp adversary. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with strong violence.

The Player's Club (R) 144 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review
The central character is Diana Armstrong (LisaRaye), a young woman who pays for her college courses by bumping and grinding under the stage name of Diamond. Although the money is good, the club is a dangerous place to work. If it doesn't ruin Diana, it may get blown up around her.

Playing By Heart (R) 121 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A touching and funny romantic comedy about an intertwined set of characters, each going through their own relationship problems, as played out by a terrific ensemble cast. Starring Sean Connery, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart and Dennis Quaid. Directed by Willard Carroll. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity, sex and adult situations.

Playing God (R) 93 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A sloppy, slapdash melodrama about a physician who has lost his license and goes to work for a mobster. David Duchovny and Timothy Hutton co-star for novice director Andy Wilson. Touchstone. Rated R, with gory violence, profanity and drug use.

Play It to the Bone (R) 125 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Ron Shelton's clumsy comedy about boxing, a rare failure from Hollywood's king of the sports movie. Woody Harrelson and Antonio Banderas star as washed-up boxers given a chance at redemption. The script, though, is more like a tired retread of White Men Can't Jump. Touchstone. Rated R, with strong, coarse language, violence and sex.

Pleasantville (PG-13) 124 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An amusing saga about two Technicolor '90s teens (Tobey Maguire and Reese Witherspoon) who are zapped into a '50s TV sitcom. Joan Allen, William H. Macy and the late J.T. Walsh co-star for writer-director Gary Ross. New Line Cinema. Rated PG-13, with profanity and sexual innuendo.

The Pledge (R) 124 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Sean Penn's potent drama about a retiring cop who can't shake his involvement in his last case -- the brutal rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl. Jack Nicholson is at the top of his game, and gets able support from Robin Wright Penn, Benicio Del Toro and several others. Warner Bros. Rated R, with gruesome violence.

Plunkett & Macleane (R) 101 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
Two men in 18th century England team up to rob stage coaches and the rich, supposedly to finance a plan of beginning new lives in America. Stars Robert Carlyle, Jonny Lee Miller and Liv Tyler. Directed by Jake Scott. Rated R, with some strong violence, sexuality and language.

Pokemon: The First Movie (G) 85 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A full-length feature about the characters from the popular Nintendo game and TV show, young people who catch and train friendly monsters for battle, as they go up against a mutant Pokemon that wants to rule the world. With a 20-minute short, Pikachu's Vacation. Featuring the voices of Veronica Taylor and Philip Bartlett. Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama. Kids' WB. Rated G.

Pokemon: The Movie 2000 (G) 103 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A second big-screen Pokemon adventure, in which the heroes restore order to the globe's weather by freeing three captured Pokemon birds. Let the merchandising begin. Kunihiko Yuyama and Michael Haigney direct. Warner Bros. Rated G.

Pokemon 3 (G) 93 min. Our rating: 6 Review · Clips
Pokemon 3 is strictly an entry-level movie for the little ones. The dialogue is simple, all the problems get worked out and there is a happy ending. Starring the voices of Veronica Taylor and Eric Stuart. Directed by Kunihiko Yuyama and Michael Haigney. Warner Bros. Rated G.

Polish Wedding (PG-13) 101 min. Unreviewed Clips
Lena Olin and Gabriel Byrne star in this comedy as the heads of a Polish-American family living in Detroit who must deal with their high-spirited daughter (Claire Danes). Rated PG-13, with adult themes, sensuality, and language.

Pollock (R) 122 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review
A potent, beautifully acted portrait of the tortured but talented 20th century artist, Jackson Pollock, directed by Ed Harris, who also delivers an Oscar-nominated performance. His co-star, Marcia Gay Harden, is also -- justifiably -- Oscar nominated. Sony Classics. Rated R, with strong profanity.

Ponette (Not rated) 92 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
The loss of a loved one and the existence of God are the tough issues that confront a 4-year-old after the death of her mother. This remarkable French film addresses the poignant theme with deep feeling. Victoire Thivisol is astonishing as the struggling preschooler. Jacques Doillon directs with sensitivity. Arrow Releasing. Unrated, with adult issues involving the death of a parent. In French, with English subtitles.

Pootie Tang (PG-13) 97 min. Not reviewed. Clips
In this comedy, Lance Crougher stars as Pootie Tang, a crime fighter and recording artist who speaks in an indecipherable language. He must battle the evil Dick Lecter (Robert Vaughn), head of a huge corporation that tries to get kids to smoke, drink and eat fast food. Chris Rock stars. Rated PG-13, with sexual situations, profanity and drug use.

The Portrait of a Lady (PG-13) 144 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Jane Campion's surprisingly dull and pretentious adaptation of the Henry James novel about a young expatriate American woman (Nicole Kidman) who fall victim to manipulative people in European society. Martin Donovan and Barbara Hershey are fine in support, though John Malkovich is distractingly mannered. John Gielgud and Shelley Winters contribute cameos. Gramercy. Rated PG-13, with adult issues, brief nudity and sex.

The Postman (R) 177 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
An interminable post-apocalyptic tale, frought with directorial self-indulgence, about one man trying to turn the tide of tyranny. Starring Kevin Costner, Will Patton, Larenz Tate. Directed by Kevin Costner. Rated R, graphic violence, nudity, profanity.

Practical Magic (PG-13) 105 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Griffin Dunne's mediocre mishmash of female-bonding comedy, schmaltzy romance and blessedly brief horror about latter-day witchcraft. Sandra Bullock, Nicole Kidman, Stockard Channing, Dianne Wiest, and Aidan Quinn co-star. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with profanity and strong moments of violent abuse.

The Preacher's Wife (PG) 124 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A charming, if overlong, Christmas film that adapts the classic Bishop's Wife to a modern black gospel setting. Denzel Washington, Whitney Houston and Courtney B. Vance co-star. Houston also contributes 10 songs, mostly gospel. Penny Marshall directs. Touchstone. Rated PG, with modest profanity.

A Price Above Rubies (R) 102 min. Garner's rating: 6 Clips
Renee Zellweger of Jerry Maguire plays an unhappy Hasidic Jew seeking self-discovery in this film from director Boaz Yakin. Co-starring Allen Payne and Christopher Eccleston.

The Price of Glory (PG-13) 118 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
The concept of the pushy sports father gets a working over in this new boxing drama starring Jimmy Smits. Jon Seda, Clifton Collins Jr. and Ernesto Hernandez co-star for first-time director Carlos Avila. New Line. Rated PG-13, with ring violence, profanity and drug use.

Primal Fear (R) 126 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Richard Gere plays a hotshot attorney defending a young man accused of murdering an archbishop; Frances McDormand co-stars. Hard-edged thriller with rough violence and sex, profanity and nudity; for viewers 17 and older.

Primary Colors (R) 143 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Mike Nichols' brilliant satire on modern political life, loosely based on Bill Clinton's 1992 run for the presidency. The cast -- a fabulous one -- includes John Travolta, Emma Thompson, Kathy Bates, Billy Bob Thornton and impressive newcomer Adrian Lester. Elaine May wrote the insightful, enticing screenplay. Universal. 143 mins. Rated R, with profanity.

The Prince of Egypt (PG) 97 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
DreamWorks' extravagant, daring and often-breathtaking new version of the Exodus story of Moses. Breathtaking visuals and the vocal characterizations of Val Kilmer, Ralph Fiennes, Michelle Pfeiffer and Sandra Bullock overcome a less-impressive song score. DreamWorks. Rated PG, with biblical violence, including deadly plagues.

The Princess and the Warrior (R) 115 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
An intense German film about the intertwined fates of two troubled souls, the movie stars Franka Potente (Run Lola Run) in an outstanding performance as Sissi, a quiet psychiatric nurse who is hit by a truck and is saved by the angry and violent crook Bodo, played by Benno Fuermann. Directed by Tom Tykwer. Sony Pictures Classics. Rated R, with disturbing images, rough language and sexual content. In German, with English subtitles.

The Princess Diaries (G) 115 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Julie Andrews makes a welcome return to the big screen in this otherwise modest teen comedy about a nerdy girl who blossoms after she learns she's European royalty. Anne Hathaway is the girl; Andrews is her queenly grandmother. Veteran Garry Marshall gives the project a humorous polish. Disney. Rated G.

Princess Mononoke (PG-13) 135 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
A physically gorgeous, thematically dark fable of human nature encroaching on nature. Brooding, occasionally bloody and often abstract, it's a film that explores animation's dramatic potential in wondrous ways. Features the voices of Billy Crudup, Claire Danes, Minnie Driver, Gillian Anderson and Billy Bob Thornton. Directed by Hayao Miyazaki. Miramax. Rated PG-13, with violence.

Prisoner of the Mountains (R) 99 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
This Oscar-nominated Russian film updates a 19th-century story by Leo Tolstoy to tell of two Russian soldiers captured during a fight with Muslim rebels in Chechnya. Central theme: hard lessons learned by a soldier who becomes a prisoner of war. The film can take its place among the better anti-war efforts and offers a glimpse into an exotic part of the world. In Russian with English subtitles. Starring Oleg Menshikov and Sergei Bodrov Jr. Directed by Sergei Bodrov. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

(Howard Stern's) Private Parts (R) 109 min. Marino's rating: 5 Review · Clips
It's no surprise that the most memorable character in shock-jock Howard Stern's film is a porcine radio bureaucrat named Pig Vomit. It's also no surprise that the film boasts a few raunchy routines that are deliciously comic. What is surprising is that much of it is a poky bore. With Howard Stern, Robin Quivers and Mary McCormack. Directed by Betty Thomas. Rated R, with nudity and profanity.

La Promesse (R) 93 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
A gritty and affecting Belgian drama by Luc and Jean-Pierre Dardenne about a 15-year-old boy who develops a conscience -- and loses a father. After spending his childhood helping his father run illegal enterprises smuggling immigrants, the boy begins to see the exploitation. Impressive adolescent Jeremie Renier stars. New Yorker. Unrated, but of R standard. In French, with English subtitles.

Proof of Life (R) 135 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Taylor Hackford's potent thriller about a kidnapped executive in a Latin American company, his beleaguered wife, and the professional who comes to try to retrieve the victim. Russell Crowe, Meg Ryan and David Morse co-star. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity and strong violence.

Psycho (R) 105 min. Garner' rating: 7 Review · Clips
Gus Van Sant directed this scene-by-scene remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic thriller. Starring Vince Vaughn, Anne Heche and Julianne Moore. Also featuring Viggo Mortensen and William H. Macy. Rated R, with nudity, implied sex, violence.

Purple Noon (PG-13) 118 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
This re-release of Rene Clement's classic thriller has Alain Delon as a baby-faced bad boy sent to bring his rich pal (Maurice Ronet) back home from his permanent Mediterranean vacation.

Pushing Tin (R) 115 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
The rivalry between two hot-shot air-traffic controllers is at the heart of this disappointing comedy, which is never as edgy as it would like to believe. Starring John Cusack and Billy Bob Thornton. Directed by Mike Newell. 20th Century Fox. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and violence.