Film capsules -- 1997-2001

The Saint (PG-13) 115 min. Reviewer's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Though it starts well, this action-thriller -- about a master thief caught up in an international plot -- loses its way in its second half with a plot that's both confusing and needlessly intricate. Starring Val Kilmer, Elisabeth Shue. Directed by Phillip Noyce. Paramount Pictures. Rated PG-13, with violence, profanity and sexual situations.

Save the Last Dance (PG-13) 110 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A teenage ballerina from rural Illinois discovers the world of hip-hop when she's forced to transfer to a high school in the Chicago inner city, in this trite, ridiculous film. Starring Julia Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas. Directed by Thomas Carter. Paramount Pictures. Rated PG-13, with violence, sexual content, rough language and brief drug references.

Saving Grace (R) 98 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A thin but amusing fable about a very proper English widow (Brenda Bleythen) who resorts to growing marijuana after discovering her late husband has left her deeply in debt. Craig Ferguson co-stars (and co-wrote the script). Nigel Cole directs. Fine Line Features. Rated R, with profanity and drug use.

Saving Private Ryan (R) 168 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Steven Spielberg's riveting, realistically violent combat drama played out against a D-Day backdrop, and a masterpiece on World War II heroism. Tom Hanks and Matt Damon co-star. DreamWorks. Rated R, with much intense violence, profanity.

Saving Silverman (PG-13) 90 min. Garner's rating: 1 Review · Clips
Dennis Dugan's inane, low-brow approach to a romantic comedy, as two buddies try to save a third -- Jason Biggs -- from a marriage he'll regret. Steve Zahn, Jack Black and Amanda Peet co-star. Columbia. Rated PG-13, with coarse humor and sexual innuendo.

Say It Isn't So (R) 93 min. Lee's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A boy-meets-girl comedy with a twist: The girl turns out to be his long-lost sister. A tasteless comedy filled with jokes about stroke victims and incest, some so audaciously rude that you can't help laugh. But it's a hit-or-miss comedy; the longer it goes on, the more it misses. Starring Chris Klein, Heather Graham and Sally Field. Directed by J.B. Rogers. Twentieth Century-Fox. Rated R, with nudity, profanity, sexuality, violence and tasteless humor.

Scary Movie (R) 90 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Keenen Ivory Wayans' silly, sophomoric comedy that takes aim at an easy target -- the Scream trilogy and other popular horror flicks of the 1990s. It's also incomparably smutty. Filmgoers experience the cinematic equivalent of being mooned. Miramax. Rated R, with drug use, profanity, violence, and strong sexual content.

Scary Movie 2 (R) 95 min. Not reviewed.
Keenen Ivory Wayans directs the sequel to last summer's horror spoof, parodying such supernatural thrillers as The Exorcist and What Lies Beneath. This time, a professor tricks four teens into visiting a haunted house. Starring Anna Faris, Shawn Wayans, Marlon Wayans, Tori Spelling and Andy Richter. Rated R.

Schizopolis (Not Rated) 100 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Filmmaker Steven Soderburgh defies all commercial logic -- along with a lot of narrative logic -- in this low-budget independent. He's created a surreal fantasy that manages to make no sense and a lot of sense, all at the same time. Soderburgh also co-stars. Northern Arts. Unrated, but of R quality with nudity, sex and profanity.

The School of Flesh (R) 101 min. Our rating: 9 Clips
Isabelle Huppert Dominique as a powerful Paris fashion executive first pays for sex with Quentin (Vincent Martinez), a male prostitute, then falls in love with the younger man who sees economic opportunity in the arrangement. Bubbling happiness turns to an angry boil in the inevitable clash. In French with subtitles. Directed by Benoit Jacquot. Stratosphere Entertainment. 105 minutes. Rated R, with nudity and some sexuality.

The Score (R) 123 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Robert De Niro, Marlon Brando and Edward Norton are at the top of their considerable games in this rousing heist film. De Niro is a reluctant veteran thief, Norton is the cocky upstart partner, and Brando is the fence who organizes the caper. Frank Oz directs, with talent and verve. Paramount. Rated R, with profanity.

Scream (R) 116 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
The teen-age slasher film is such a limited, short-sighted formula that any attempt to expand it has to be considered a plus. And veteran horror meister Wes Craven does just that in this new fright-night bloodbath. It won't win any new converts to the gore-fest concept, but it'll entertain and maybe even scare his regular fans. Neve Campbell, Skeet Ulrich and Courteney Cox co-star. Dimension Films. Rated R, with extensive violence, profanity and sexual content.

Scream 2 (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
More slice-and-dice mayhem that'll please the largely young audience that made Scream a smash hit. This time, killers strike at the survivors who are now on a college campus. Like the original, the sequel manages to poke fun at the narrow genre while reveling in it. Neve Campbell, David Arquette, Courteney Cox, Laurie Metcalf, Jada Pinkett and Omar Epps co-star for director Wes Craven. Dimension Films. Rated R, with profanity and much violence.

Scream 3 (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
The concluding chapter in the Scream slasher trilogy, and one with less suspense, humor and self-parody. Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox Arquette and David Arquette return for director Wes Craven. Dimension Films. Rated R, with violence and profanity.

Screamers (R) 107 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
A sci-fi thriller about soldiers on an isolated mining planet, battling miniature robots programmed to slice and dice human life forms. Peter Weller stars. Darkly violent sci-fi horror flick with profanity, for mature teens and adults only.

Screwed (PG-13) 90 min. Unreviewed. · Clips
An underappreciated chauffeur (Norm McDonald) and his best friend (Dave Chappelle) devise a plan of revenge against the driver's abusive employer. The bumbling duo's plan falls apart, leaving them with even bigger problems. Rated PG-13, with nudity, profanity, violence and adult situations.

Secrets & Lies (R) 142 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A powerful, naturalistic drama about the sparks that fly for a white working-class British woman and her family when a young black woman turns out to be her daughter. Brenda Blethyn and Marianne Jean-Baptiste co-star for talented British writer-director Mike Leigh. The film won top honors at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. October Films. Strong language.

See Spot Run (PG) 94 min. David's rating: 2 Review · Clips
At least Home Alone delighted in showing us elaborate setups alongside their slapstick results. The physical humor in See Spot Run is crippled by its lack of imagination -- its best gag comes from a bit involving a remote control and an electric pet collar. The rest of the jokes revolve around flatulence and defecation: This movie literally stinks. Rated PG.

Selena (PG) 128 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips

A sanitized but uplifting Hollywood saga about the young Mexican-American singer who was on the verge of mainstream stardom when she was shot at age 23 in a Corpus Christi motel. Jennifer Lopez and Edward James Olmos co-star in a film that blends elements of Coal Miner's Daughter and La Bamba. Gregory Nava directs. Warner. Rated PG, with mild profanity.

Senseless (R) 90 mins. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
In its title, Marlon Wayans new slapstick comedy offers truth-in-advertising. A silly exercise in rubber-faced, rubber-legged antics, it offers Wayans as a college student whose five senses are disrupted by a medical experiment. A few moments are hilarious, but it's generally a disappointing solo outing for the youngest Wayans brother. Penelope Spheeris directs; David Spade, Tamara Taylor and Rip Torn co-star. Rated R, Profanity, bathroom and sex humor.

Sense and Sensibility (PG) 135 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Adaptation of Jane Austin's classic 19th-century novel about a family dealing with near-destitution. Emma Thompson wrote the screenplay and co-stars with Alan Rickman. Ang Lee directs. Superb rendering of classic literary romance, for astute older children, on up.

Serendipity (PG-13) 90 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A tender, but funny fable of love at first sight, as well as a perfectly timed tribute to the setting of the tale: A romantic wonderland called Manhattan. John Cusack and Kate Beckinsale are well-matched as the film's charming central characters. Peter Chelsom directs. Miramax. Rated PG-13, with profanity and brief sex.

Series 7 (R) 85 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
An extremely dark comedy about a TV reality show, in which the contestants must kill each other to win. Starring Brooke Smith, Glenn Fitzgerald. Directed by Daniel Minahan. USA Films. 85 minutes. Rated R, graphic violence, profanity, sexuality

Set It Off (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
An equal-opportunity movie that shows that women can rob banks as well as men. Big deal. With its largely black cast, its parade of racial and economic injustice, a rap soundtrack and in-your-face attitude, and a decidedly skewed moral compass, the film is a less-convincing, distaff version of Dead Presidents. Directed by F. Gary Gray, it stars Jada Pinkett and Queen Latifah. New Line. Rated R, with constant profanity, violence, sex.

Seven Years in Tibet (PG-13) 131 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Jean-Jacques Annaud's stunning and stirring adaptation of Heinrich Harrer's memories of the years the famous Austrian mountaineer spent among Tibetan Buddhists as a friend of the then teen-age Dalai Lama. Brad Pitt stars with David Thewlis, B.D. Wong and Mako. TriStar. Rated PG-13, with violence.

Sexy Beast (R) 91 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A witty, inventive British gangster saga, about a former hoodlum who resists returning from sunny Spain for "one more job." Ben Kingsley is astonishing as the vicious hoodlum dispatched to return the errant mobster to the fold. Ray Winstone co-stars for impressive first-time director Jonathan Glazer. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence.

Sgt. Bilko (PG) 95 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
Steve Martin checks in as the ever-larcenous, noncommissioned officer who looks upon the service as an excuse to line his pockets and unline Uncle Sam's. Profanity; surprisingly clean military comedy; for viewers 10 and older.

Shadow Magic (PG) 119 min. Not reviewed. Review · Clips
In 1902, a Chinese photographer develops an interest in motion pictures. But because of the perceived threat to traditional society, he must hide his hobby from his employer and girlfriend. Rated PG, with some rough language. In Mandarin with English subtitles.

Shadow of the Vampire (R) 89 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A perversely funny pastiche of old-time filmmaking; a tale of the creation of the 1922 masterpiece Nosferatu, with a vampire star who is REALLY a vampire. Willem Dafoe and John Malkovich co-star for director E. Elias Merhige. Lions Gate Films. Rated R, with violence, drug use and sexual references.

Shaft (R) 98 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Hollywood finally gives us a '70s icon worth resurrecting -- the determined, super-cool New York cop named Shaft. And director John Singleton and company have come up with a movie -- and a cast -- worthy of the character's return. Samuel L. Jackson has attitude and style to burn, and Jeffrey Wright is a fabulous adversary. Paramount. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence and drug use.

Shakespeare in Love (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Romantic comedy based on the fictional premise that a real life love affair with a noblewoman inspired the playwright to write Romeo and Juliet. Starring Joseph Fiennes, Gwyneth Paltrow and Geoffrey Rush. Miramax. Rated R, with nudity, violence and adult themes.

Shallow Hal (PG-13) 113 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
An atypical and uneven Farrelly brothers comedy that seems to apologize for all their previous insensitive humor. Jack Black stars as a shallow fellow who loves only sexy women, but is hypnotized into believing a 300-pound girl looks like Gwyneth Paltrow. Peter and Bobby Farrelly co-direct. Jason Alexander co-stars. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with profanity and innuendo.

Shall We Dance? (PG) 118 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A charming Japanese comedy in the style of Strictly Ballroom, about a middle-age accountant whose answer to a mid-life crisis is to take dance lessons. Mazayuki Suo directs Koji Yakusho and Tamiyo Kusakari. Miramax. Rated PG. In Japanese, with English subtitles.

Shanghai Noon (PG-13) 110 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
An amusing genre-blender, mixing Jackie Chan's Hong Kong action style with Hollywood's cowboy tradition, typified by his amusing co-star, Owen Wilson. Tom Dey directs. Touchstone. Rated PG-13, with action violence and a few sex and drug jokes.

She's All That (PG-13) 91 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Robert Iscove's slight but likable adolescent comedy, a "Pygmalion" of the classroom with Freddie Prinze Jr. as the hot-shot senior class president and Rachael Leigh Cook as the plain art student he elevates to prom queen. Miramax. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity, mildly implied sex.

She's So Lovely (R) 100 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A rough-hewned serio-comic romance about a volatile relationship, depicted over 10 years. Though flawed in its central narrative, it offers wonderful bits of dialogue and inventive free-spirited performances by Sean Penn, Robin Wright Penn and John Travolta. Nick Cassavetes directs from a screenplay written by his late father, John Cassavetes. Miramax. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence and rape.

She's the One 95 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Writer-director-actor Ed Burns (of The Brothers McMullen) presents another smart and funny saga about sibling rivalry, this time throwing in a humorous relationship between the men and their retired father. Matters are further complicated for all three men by romances gone awry. Burns co-stars with Jennifer Aniston, John Mahoney, Cameron Diaz, Mike McGlone and Maxine Bahns. Strong profanity and sex.

Shine (PG-13) 105 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Has a movie ever been better named? Despite much dark and painful emotional turbulence, this stunning Australian film ultimately glows with a passion for music -- and a passion for people. No wonder it's already showing up on many year-end polls and has already earned five Golden Globe nominations. The film profiles a talented pianist, his collapse into emotional despair and his restoration to the concert stage. Geoffrey Rush, Armin Mueller-Stahl and John Gielgud co-star for director Scott Hicks. Fine Line. Rated PG-13, with profanity, brief nudity and implied sexual content.

The Shipping News (R) 111 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
A powerful, poetic tale of redemption, with Kevin Spacey as a beaten-down loser who gets a second chance at life when he returns to his rugged ancestral home in Newfoundland. Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore and Gordon Pinsent co-star for director Lasse Hallstrom. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity, violence, adult issues and sex.

Shooting Fish (R) 105 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Comedy about two con-artist orphans (Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman) trying to get themselves a home -- of stately English variety. Kate Beckinsale of Cold Comfort Farm stars as the smart medical student who's onto their scam. Rated R, with vulgarity and bathroom humor.

Shower (PG-13) 92 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
An affectionate story of fathers and sons and family, set in a bathhouse threatened with redevelopment, in modern-day Beijing. Zhang Yang writes and directs. Song Classics. Rated PG-13, with profanity and nudity. In Mandarin, with English subtitles.

Shrek (PG) 89 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
A wonderful, wacky, warped fairy tale for all ages, with state of the art animation and expertly exploited voice performances by Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow and Cameron Diaz. DreamWorks. Rated PG, with some crude humor.

Sidewalks of New York (R) 107 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
Ed Burns (The Brothers McMullen) directs, writes and stars in this amiable if lightweight romantic comedy about contemporary New Yorkers -- either married to, divorced from, or dating each other -- dealing with sex, romance and commitment. Heather Graham, Stanley Tucci, Brittany Murphy and Rosario Dawson also star. Rated R, with profanity, sexuality and adult themes.

The Siege (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis star in this action thriller about an outbreajk of terrorism in New York City that leads to a declaration of martial law. Co-starring Annette Bening. Rated R, with profanity, graphic violence and nudity.

Siegfried and Roy (Unrated) 47 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A superficial, self-serving promo film for the glitzy Las Vegas magicians. The large-format film combines imaginative 3-D graphics and jumping tigers, along with snippets of their flamboyant magic act. Brett Leonard directs. Imax. Unrated.

Simon Birch (PG) 110 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Drama set in small town in Maine during the 1960s. Starring Joseph Mazzello, Ian Michael Smith, Ashley Judd. Rated PG, with mild profanity and brief violence. Buena Vista.

A Simple Wish (PG) 95 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A fairy godfather, Murray (Martin Short), is sent to help out Anabel, winningly played by Matilda star Mara Wilson, who desperately wants her father (Robert Pastorelli) to get a Broadway role. Instead Murray turns dad into a statue. Also starring Kathleen Turner. Directed by Michael Ritchie. Universal. Rated PG, for language and fantasy violence.

A Simple Plan (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Sam Raimi's dark drama about two brothers in rural Minnesota who stumble upon $4 million, but soon find they weren't as lucky as they might have thought. Bill Paxton and Billy Bob Thornton are fabulous as the brothers. Bridget Fonda and Brent Briscoe co-star. Paramount. Rated R, for violence and language.

Simply Irresistible (PG-13) 95 min. Our rating: 5 Review
Amanda does not seem to be able to make a go of the restaurant she inherited from her mother. Then Tom and a mysterious crab seller comes into her life and good things begin to happen -- both at work and in love. Starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, Sean Patrick Flanery. Directed by Mark Tarlov. 20th Century Fox. Rated PG-13, for language.

The 6th Day (PG-13) 124 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
In Roger Spottiswoode's routine, futuristic thriller, Arnold Schwarzenegger plays a guy trying to retrieve his life after a clone has taken his place with his wife and daughter. Tony Goldwyn, Michael Rapaport and Robert Duvall co-star. Columbia. Rated PG-13, with violence, sexual suggestiveness and profanity.

Six Days, Seven Nights (PG-13) 98 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A familiar, mildly amusing saga of a mismatched couple finding adventure and romance after a plane crash on a tropical island. Harrison Ford and Anne Heche elevate the mundane script with their undeniable charm and good humor. Ivan Reitman directs. Touchstone. 98 mins. Rated PG-13, with profanity, brief violence and sexual references.

The 6th Man (PG-13) 107 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
Marlon Wayans and Kadeem Hardison co-star in this sentimental comedy about a deceased basketball star who helps his younger brother lead the Washington Huskies into the NCAA tournament. Uneven but likable, the film blends a special-effects sports comedy with a sudsy meditation on death and grieving. Randall Miller directs. Touchstone. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity.

The Sixth Sense (PG-13) 107 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A moody supernatural tale about a boy who communicates with ghosts. Modestly successful, it is considerably elevated by a terrific final twist. Stars Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment and Toni Collette. Directed and written by M. Night Shyamalan. Hollywood Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity and spooky trauma.

The Skulls (PG-13) 97 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A poor student is tapped for a rich, exclusive secret society at Yale -- and then must choose between wealth and influence and the truth about a friend's death. Confused? Hey, this one is all skull and no brain. Starring Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker and Craig T. Nelson. Directed by Rob Cohen. Universal Pictures. 97 minutes. Rated PG-13, with profanity, violence and nudity.

Slackers (R) 87 min. Garner's rating: 0 Review · Clips
Dewey Nicks' film is the umpteenth teen or college sex-and-gross-out comedy, and as stupid and inane as a movie can get, a colossal waste of time and celluloid. Devon Sawa, Jason Schwartzman and James King co-star. Screen Gems. Rated R, with gross jokes, sex and nudity.

Slam (R) 100 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A black rapper from the mean streets of Washington, D.C., learns that the rhyme is mightier than the razor in this engrossing new urban drama about a poet-in-the-making from director Marc Levin. Real-life poet Saul Williams stars. Trimark. Rated R, with strong profanity, brief sex and violence.

SLC Punk! (R) 97 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Irreverent coming-of-age movie about youth on the loose in conservative Salt Lake City during the 1980s. Starring Matthew Lillard, Michael A. Goorjian, Annabeth Gish and Chris McDonald. Directed by James Merendino. Rated R, with profanity, drug use and violence.

Sleepers (R) 152 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson tackles a dense, heavily populated story of injustice and revenge involving four lifelong Hell's Kitchen friends, and achieves only moderate success. A stellar cast -- including Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman, Brad Pitt, Kevin Bacon and Jason Patric -- is a big plus. Warner.

Sleepy Hollow (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A highly stylized, ultra-violent new version of the 18th nry. Johead ongton Irving tale about a mysterious headless horseman who rides through the countryside, decapitating the citizenry. Directed by Tim Burton. Rated R, with strong violence and gore.

Sliding Doors (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Paltrow is Helen, an up-and-coming advertising executive who starts her day by getting fired. And from that point on, Sliding Doors tells two parallel stories -- one about Helen's life after missing the train, the other, after catching it.

Sling Blade (R) 140 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Writer-director Billy Bob Thornton's haunting fable, in the Southern Gothic tradition, a tale that takes filmgoers on a rare and deeply emotional journey alongside an avenging angel. He is a former mental hospital patient named Karl Childers, portrayed memorably by Thornton. Dwight Yoakam and John Ritter co-star. Thornton has earned much-deserved Oscar nominations for both script and performance. Miramax. 140 mins. Rated R, with coarse language and violence.

Slums of Beverly Hills (R) 91 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
An up-and-down comedy, set in the '70s, about a wacky, nomadic family staying one step ahead of the rent collectors on the fringes of Beverly Hills. Natasha Lyonne offers a winning portrayal of the central character, a smart but confused teen-age girl, looking for guidance. Alan Arkin co-stars for first-time writer-director Tamara Jenkins. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with profanity and frequent sexual references

Small Soldiers (PG-13) 100 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
Dolls go to war in Joe Dante's new and highly derivative summer action comedy. Gung-ho commando dolls (like G.I. Joes) jump off toy store shelves to battle action figures representing invading Gorgonite monsters. Think Gremlins and Toy Story, but aim lower. Denis Leary and Phil Hartman co-star. DreamWorks. Rated PG-13, with fairly strong action violence. (Despite the toy theme, the film isn't really for children under 10 or so.)

Small Time Crooks (PG) 95 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A light, breezy comedy about hapless criminals who set out to rob a bank -- and wind up making millions in the cookie business instead. Allen has a terrific cast and a script full of jokes to keep things moving in a film that celebrates the joy of a good punch line. Starring Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman and Hugh Grant. Directed by Woody Allen. DreamWorks Pictures. Rated PG, with mild profanity and adult themes.

A Smile Like Yours (R) 99 min. Our rating: 7 Review
Greg Kinnear and Lauren Holly play a San Francisco couple who go through the torturous infertility clinic routine, come out stressy, then resume doing what comes naturally. Despite its distinctly newfangled subject, this is a genuinely old-fashioned romantic comedy -- sweet, gentle, sentimental, quite modest. Kinnear sets a new standard for adorable. Paramount Pictures. Rated R, adult content.

Smilla's Sense of Snow (R) 120 min. Reviewer's rating: 4 Review Clips
A tedious thriller without thrills, about a woman who uncovers a conspiracy after the seemingly accidental death of a child. Starring Julia Ormond, Gabriel Byrne and Richard Harris. Directed by Bille August. Fox Searchlight. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity and graphic violence.

Smoke Signals (PG-13) 89 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A touching, humorous, insightful story about two young Native Americans, coming of age on a journey to retrieve a father's ashes. Purported to be the first film by and for Native Americans, it's directed by Chris Eyre from a high-quality script by noted Indian writer Sherman Alexie. Adam Beach, Evan Adams and Gary Farmer co-star. Miramax. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity and violence.

Snake Eyes (R) 99 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
A technical tour-de-force about the efforts of a corrupt cop (Nicolas Cage) to unravel an assassination plot. Gary Sinise, John Heard, Carla Gugino and Stan Shaw co-star. Brian De Palma directs. Paramount. Rated R, with strong profanity, violence and sex.

Snatch (R) 104 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An amusing portrait of demented British hoodlums and low-lifes, involved in diamond-fencing and fight-fixing, from writer-director Guy Ritchie; and much in the tradition of his earlier outing, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels. Brad Pitt, Benicio Del Toro and Vinnie Jones are in the ensemble this time. Screen Gems. Rated R, with strong violence, rough language and nudity.

Snow Day (PG) 90 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
When a Syracuse school is snowed in, a group of students hijack the city's only plow to keep the school closed. Chevy Chase and Chris Elliott star. Rated PG, with mild profanity and light comic violence.

Snow Dogs (PG) 99 min. Our rating: 6 Review · Clips
Predictable children's film about a Miami dentist (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who inherits a dogsled team and heads to Alaska. While there, he butts heads with a gruff local (James Coburn). Should be fun for the kids, but not parents. Directed by Brian Levant. Disney. Rated PG, with mild crude humor.

Snow Falling on Cedars (PG-13) 126 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A richly photographed but slow-paced adaptation of David Guterson's novel about a murder trial on a Washington State island in 1950 that reverberates with anti-Japanese sentiment, guilty memories of internments, and unrequited love. Ethan Hawke, Max von Sydow and Youki Kudoh co-star for director Scott Hicks (of Shine fame). Universal. 126 minutes. Rated PG-13, with violence, profanity and implied sex.

Soldier (R) 105 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
Soldier hews to a steady, consistent line in telling the futuristic story of a dehumanized soldier pressed into heroic service. That the movie isn't much fun and that it is unrelentingly grim and violent makes its brief 99 minutes rather tough going. Starring Kurt Russell, with Jason Scott Lee. Warner Bros. Rated R, with violence.

Solo (PG-13) 93 mins. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A modest action adventure with Mario Van Peebles as an android fighting machine who combats banana republic rebels and develops a heart. William Sadler co-stars as a vicious human soldier who comes up against him. Norberto Barba directs. Some profanity and violence.

A Soldier's Daughter Never Cries (PG-13) 125 min. Our rating: 6 Clips Fictionalized account of writer James Jones' family life as seen through the eyes of his daughter. Starring Kris Kristofferson, Barbara Hershey and Leelee Sobieski. October Films. Rated PG-13, with profanity and adult themes.

Some Mother's Son (R) 111 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Terry George puts a human face on Ireland's infamous "Troubles." And it's the face of a mother. Helen Mirren stars in this powerful drama as a mother who tries to solve the 1981 hunger strike that threatens her son and other IRA prisoners. Fionnula Flanagan co-stars. Castle Rock. 111 mins. Rated R, with violence and profanity.

Someone Like You (PG-13) 100 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
Ashley Judd plays a TV producer who falls in love with Greg Kinnear. Once he dumps her, she does some research and comes up with a philosophy that compares gender relations to the behaviors of wildlife. Both star for director Tony Goldwyn. 20th Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with sexual content including dialogue and language.

Songcatcher (PG-13) 113 min. Not rated.
Janet McTeer stars as a turn-of-the-century musicologist who leaves her university post to join her sister in a very musical Appalachian community. They don't want her recording their roots songs, and she wants nothing of their backward ways -- until Aidan Quinn arrives. Rated PG-13, with sexual content and an intense scene of childbirth.

Soul Food (R) 114 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
A warm-hearted, sometimes melodramatic story of a black American family, regularly reuniting over the family dinner table. Vanessa Williams, Irma P. Hall, Mekhi Phifer and Brandon Hammond co-star. 20th Century Fox. Rated R, with profanity, sex, and brief violence.

Sound and Fury (U) 80 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An incisive, heartfelt documentary about a family's struggles when technology provides an opportunity for deaf children to hear. Josh Aronson directs. Next Wave Films. Unrated.

The Source (Unrated) 88 min. Unreviewed.
Chuck Workman's documentary about the Beat movement and its central figures. Includes interviews with Allan Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, Gregory Corso, Philip Glass, Ken Kesey, Ed Sanders and Lawrence Ferlinghetti. Music by Thelonious Monk, Ornette Coleman, the Rolling Stones and Sonic Youth. Unrated, with profanity and scenes of drug use.

South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut (R) 90 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
Incredibly foul and foul-mouthed, this film version of the Comedy Central cable-TV hit also happens to be wildly funny at times. But this story of what happens when the kids sneak into an R-rated movie is not -- repeat, not -- for kids. Featuring the voices of Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and Isaac Hayes. Directed by Trey Parker. Paramount Pictures. 90 minutes. Rated R, with profanity, graphic violence and strong sexual content.

Space Cowboys (PG-13) 129 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An entertaining space adventure about four old-timers in space, in the tradition of John Glenn. Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee Jones, Donald Sutherland and James Garner create appealing chemistry. Eastwood directs. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with profanity and brief comic nudity.

Space Jam (PG) 95 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Sports legend Michael Jordan co-stars with Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the rest of the Warner Bros. Loonies in this blend of live-action and cartoons about an all-important basketball game. Kids and basketball fans will have fun, but veteran Looney Tune watchers will long for the creative anarchy of the Warner glory years. Joe Pytka directs. Rated PG, with modest, cartoon violence.

The Spanish Prisoner (PG) 110 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Portrait of a precise and fascinating scam game involving industrial theft; stylishly written and directed by David Mamet. Campbell Scott, Steve Martin and Rebecca Pidgeon co-star. Sony Classics. Rated PG, with only mild profanity (a unique change for a Mamet script).

Spawn (PG-13) 94 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
A gloomy comic-book mentality collides with a huge wave of digital effects in this latest cinema saga of a caped crusader in the shadowy tradition of Batman and The Crow. Michael Jai White and John Leguizamo star for director Mark A.Z. Dippe. New Line. Rated PG-13, with frequent violence and nightmarish imagery.

Species II (R) 93 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Aliens looking for love hitch a ride to Earth on a manned mission returning from Mars. Rated R, with violence, nudity, sex and strong language.

Speed 2: Cruise Control (PG-13) 110 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Jan De Bont's latest slam-bang fest and the summer's second blockbuster sequel. This time, instead of a Los Angeles city bus, the setting is a Caribbean cruise ship. But the setting is the only aspect of the new Speed that can be considered an upgrade. In nearly every other way, Cruise Control disappoints. Sandra Bullock returns, but with none of the resourcefulness show displayed in the original. Jason Patric and Willem Dafoe co-star. Twentieth Century Fox. Rated PG-13, with violence and profanity.

Sphere (PG-13) 132 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
The new sci-fi thriller Sphere does a few things remarkably well -- and a lot of things wrong. Dustin Hoffman, Sharon Stone and Samuel L. Jackson co-star in the Michael Crichton tale about a mysterious, giant spaceship, discovered in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean. Barry Levinson directs. Rated PG-13 with profanity, violence.

Spice World (PG) 93 min. Garner's rating: 2 Review · Clips
The Spice Girls, pop culture's latest, pre-fab flash-in-the-pan singing group, stars in a silly, superficial day-in-the-life movie. Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Victoria Adams and Richard E. Grant co-star for director Bob Spiers. Columbia, Rated PG with mild sexual references, pregnancy sequence.

The Spitfire Grill (PG-13) 111 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
A touching, if somewhat pat, story of the effects of the arrival of a young female ex-convict in a small town in Maine. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Alison Elliott, Marcia Gay Harden. Directed by Lee David Zlotoff. Columbia Pictures. Rated PG-13, with profanity and violence.

Sprung (R) 105 min. Our rating: 3 Review · Clips
Like the more honest Love Jones and the funnier Booty Call, Sprung seeks to shed light on the love lives of ambitious young African-Americans. Rusty Cundieff, Joe Torry, Tisha Campbell, Paula Jai Parker. Directed by Rusty Cundieff. Trimark. Rated R, for language, sexuality and nudity.

Spy Game (R) 123 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A senior CIA agent, on the verge of retirement, must battle the bureaucracy to save a protege who has been captured. Unfortunately, that single sentence makes this pokey movie sound much more exciting than it proves to be. Starring Robert Redford and Brad Pitt. Directed by Tony Scott. Universal Pictures. Rated R, with profanity, graphic violence and sexuality.

Spy Hard (PG-13) 85 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
In the latest wacko parody film, Leslie Nielsen plays Agent WD40, a k a Dick Steele, spoofing the James Bond and Mission: Impossible genre. With Andy Griffith, Nicollette Sheridan and Charles Durning.

Spy Kids (PG) 85 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
An amusing family film about two kids who help their spy parents get out of a jam. Imagine a blend of Pee-Wee's Playhouse and a James Bond flick. Antonio Banderas and Carla Gugino are the parents, while Daryl Sabara and Alexa Vega play the kids. Robert Rodriguez writes and directs. Dimension Films. Rated PG, with moderate cartoonish violence.

Star Kid(PG) 101 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
While some films of this type explore universal themes and trigger warm memories for older viewers, Star Kid is strictly on a par with an after-school TV special. With Joseph Mazzello. Rated PG.

The Star Maker (R) 113 min.
A slick Roman entrepreneur confers the possibility of movie immortality by making peasants pay for screen tests. Italian filmmaker Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso) directs. Nudity, sex, profanity, violence. In Italian with English subtitles.

Star Maps (R) 99 min. Unreviewed Clips
A male hustler dreams of celebrity while selling maps to the homes of the stars. Douglas Spain stars; writer Miguel Arteta directs. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with strong sexuality, language and violence.

Starship Troopers (R) 130 min. Garner's rating: Review · Clips
A mindless, heartless, nihilistic sci-fi adventure about young militarists shipped off to battle giant interplanetary insects. If the Nazis ever had to battle bugs, this would have been their training film. Aimed at 10-year-olds, it's about as violent as a film can be that's not rated NC-17. Paul Verhoeven directs Casper Van Dien, Dina Meyer and Denise Richards. TriStar Pictures. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and gobs of mindless gore.

Star Trek: First Contact (PG-13) 112 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Directed by Jonathan Frakes (who plays Commander Riker, AKA ''Number One''), this is a grittier, harder-edged Trek than we've previously seen. Writers have brought back The Borg, a group of cybernetically enhanced aliens who absorb cultures that get in their way. The film's drama is generated by guest stars James Cromwell, Alfred Woodard, and Next Generation regular Patrick Stewart. Filmgoers with even a moderate interest in Trek concepts will find much to amuse, excite and perhaps scare them. Rated PG-13, with violence and scary, slimy aliens.

Star Trek: Insurrection (PG) 103 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
The ninth Star Trek film -- with just enough of the standard formula, the space action, and the techno-babble to appeal to the regulars; but not much else. Patrick Stewart, F. Murray Abraham and Anthony Zerbe co-star for actor-director Jonathan Frakes. Paramount. Rated PG, with strong violence (of nearly a PG-13 quality).

Startup.com (R) 103 min. Our rating: 7 Review
This documentary follows a fledgling Internet company's trajectory from nothing to tentative success, then back down the opposite side to empty office desks that no longer even have lamps. Directed by Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim. Rated R, with rough language.

Star Wars IV (Special Edition) (PG) 126 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
The restored, 20th-anniversary reissue of the phenomenally popular sci-fi fantasy; a landmark Hollywood saga from the creative, high-tech mind of George Lucas. Though a few visual additions -- and a fabulous, brief Jabba the Hut scene -- are the drawing cards, the film is best enjoyed on the big screen, anyway. Harrison Ford, Alec Guinness, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher star. 20th Century Fox. Rated PG, with relatively mild action violence.

Star Wars V: The Empire Strikes Back (Special Edition) (PG) 124 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
Veteran director Irvin Kershner has kept creator George Lucas' pop-fantasy elements, but has enriched characterizations in this second movie of the Star Wars trilogy. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are more mature and assured, and more at home with Lucas' wonderful comic-book situations. Newcomer Billy Dee Williams brings wit and class as a scoundrel friend of Han Solo; James Earl Jones is heard again as the voice of the evil Darth Vader. 20th Century Fox. Rated PG.

Star Wars VI: Return of the Jedi (Special Edition) (PG) 133 min. Reviewer's rating: 9 Review
Now it's all clear: Star Wars was George Lucas' film, The Empire Strikes Back was Joseph Campbell's story and Return of the Jedi is the Jim Henson chapter of the trilogy. Jedi is often considered the weakest link in the three Star Wars films. In its Special Edition form, it features more intricate battle scenes, an expanded sequence at the palace of Jabba the Hutt and a new tour of the galaxy at the end. With Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. Directed by Richard Marquand. Rated PG.

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (PG) 130 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
In this eagerly awaited prequel, Liam Neeson , Ewan McGregor and Samuel L. Jackson play Jedi knights who train the young boy, Anakin Skywalker, who will grow into the evil Darth Vader. Yoda and the droids return (or is that preturn?), and a lot of new special-effects creatures are introduced. Rated PG.

State and Main (R) 102 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
David Mamet's amiable comedy about life in a small New England town after a rambunctious Hollywood movie crew arrives. Alec Baldwin, William H. Macy, Sarah Jessica Parker and Philip Seymour Hoffman co-star. Fine Line. Rated R, with profanity and sexual innuendo.

Stealing Beauty (R) 118 mins. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Bernardo Bertolucci's new film offers young woman's earnest coming-of-age story, shimmering between poetry and pretension in the golden sun of Tuscany.Though its literary allusions and rarefied dialogue sometimes become too precious, the film offers much to savor, especially a remarkable, career-generating performance by Liv Tyler. Jeremy Irons, Sinead Cusack, Donal McCann and Jean Marais co-star.

Steel (PG-13) 115 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Shaquille O'Neal stars as a crime fighter who hits the streets of Los Angeles after his personally designed, top-secret Army weapons end up in the hands of street gangs. Rated PG-13.

Stepmom (PG-13) 124 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon star in this drama exploring the relationship that unexpectedly develops between an older woman and her ex-husband's current young wife. Costarring Ed Harris. Sony. Rated PG-13, for language and adult themes.

Stigmata (R) 102 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Supernatural thriller about an agnostic woman whose unexplained injuries are reminiscent of those suffered by Jesus during his crucifixion, but may actually be Satanic in origin. Starring Patricia Arquette, Gabriel Byrne and Jonathan Pryce. MGM. Rated R, with violence and nudity.

Stir of Echoes (R) 110 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
Psychological thriller starring Kevin Bacon as a man who is haunted by feelings that a murder has occurred near him after he is hypnotized at a neighborhood party. Co-starring Illeana Douglas, Kathryn Erbe, Zachary David Cope and Liza Weil. Artisan. Rated: R, with violence and profanity.

The Story of Us (R) 96 min. Garner's rating: 5 Review · Clips
A serio-comic variation of Scenes from a Marriage, with mixed results. Bruce Willis and Michelle Pfeiffer co-star as spouses on the outs, trying to find ways to jump-start their marriage. Director Rob Reiner generates a mish-mash of flashbacks, and tries to force too much contrived humor on a fairly serious topic. Rated R, with profanity and relatively modest sex.

The Straight Story (G) 111 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review · Clips
David Lynch's remarkable film, based on the true story of an Iowa senior who rides his lawnmower across the midwest to visit his estranged, gravely ill brother. Richard Farnsworth stars -- magnificently. Sissy Spacek co-stars. Disney. Rated G, not because it's for children, but because it gives no offense.

Striptease (R) 105 mins. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An amusing comedy-drama, set in the world of Florida strip bars. Demi Moore plays a single mom who dances topless to get money to fight a child custody battle. But her fight entangles her with a degenerate congressman and the powerful state sugar cane lobby. Burt Reynolds, Ving Rhames, Armand Assante and Robert Patrick co-star for writer-director Andrew Bergman. The film is adapted from Carl Hiaasen's popular novel. Castle Rock.

Stuart Little (PG) 92 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A little mouse brings big excitement to his adopted human family in this adaptation of the popular E.B. White novel. Michael J. Fox voices the mouse, Stuart Little, while Nathan Lane is heard as his nemesis, Snowbell the Cat. The human cast includes Geena Davis, Hugh Laurie and Jonathan Lipnicki. Rated PG.

The Substance of Fire (R) 101 min. Our rating: 8 Review · Clips
A strongly acted film version of the Broadway play, about an aging publisher whose encroaching madness threatens his family business. Lots of talk, but too much of it doesn't add up to enough, despite galvanizing performances. Starring Ron Rifkin, Tony Goldwyn, Timothy Hutton and Sarah Jessica Parker. Directed by Daniel Sullivan. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity and sexuality.

The Substitute (R) 124 min.
Tom Berenger plays a soldier who poses as a teacher in a tough urban school to uncover the thugs responsible for assaulting his girlfriend. Diane Venora co-stars.

SubUrbia (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Director Richard Linklater and writer Eric Bogosian team up for this overly long, but often incisive film that spotlights one night in the lives of a handful of suburban 20-year-olds. The creators rather obviously establish the characters as a microcosm of a generation trying to define its goals and values in the last years of the 20th century. Giovanni Ribisi, Steve Zahn and Parker Posey co-star. Sony Classics. Rated R, with strong profanity, drug references and brief violence.

Sugar and Spice (PG-13) 95 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A witless comedy about a group of cheerleaders who rob a bank to pay for the pregnancy of one of them. Starring Marley Shelton, James Marsden and Mena Suvari. Directed by Francine McDougall. New Line Cinema. Rated PG-13, with rough language and sex related humor.

Suicide Kings (R) 107 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Christopher Walken plays a mafioso who is snatched by five Long Island preppies in hopes of trading him for the kidnapped sister of one of the lads. Co-starring Denis Leary, Laura San Giacomo, Jay Mohr, Johnny Galecki and Henry Thomas. Rated R, with profanity and extreme violence.

Summer Catch (PG-13) 108 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A teen-oriented sex-and-baseball movie, with young hunks looking to score on and off the field. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard head the cast of a saga that pitches more cliches than strikes. Mike Tollin directs. Warner Bros., 108 mins. Rated PG-13, with implied sex and innuendo.

Summer of Sam (R) 136 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
Spike Lee's flashy, provocative portrait of a segment of the Bronx, is torn apart by fears during the murder spree of serial killer David "Son of Sam" Berkowitz. John Leguizamo, Adrien Brody and Mira Sorvino co-star. Touchstone Pictures. Rated R, with strong violence, sex, nudity, profanity and drug use.

Sunday (R) 100 min. Unreviewed
Strangers meet and spend the day together dancing on the edge of fantasy in this film exploring isolation and lies. Rated R, with adult themes, nudity and profanity.

Sunset Park (R) 99 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Rhea Perlman coaches a Brooklyn basketball team that doesn't much care for female leadership.

Sunshine (R) 180 min. Our rating: 9 Review · Clips
Fiennes gives a stunning performance as three generations of men who suffer through three periods of political upheaval, the Austrio-Hungarian Empire, Nazism and Communism. Also stars Jennifer Ehle, Rosemary Harris. Paramount Classics. Rated R, with sexuality, nudity, violence and rough language.

Supercop (R) 82 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
High-kicking Jackie Chan topples a gang leader in this 1992 classic dubbed for its big U.S. release.

Supernova (PG) 101 min. Unreviewed. Clips
A hospital starship in the 22nd century rescues a stranger who terrorizes the crew with a mysterious space artifact as the ship is pulled into the orbit of a star brewing toward a supernova explosion. Starring James Spader, Lou Diamond Phillips, Angela Bassett, Robin Tunney, Wilson Cruz, Robert Forster and Peter Facinelli. Directed by Alan Smithee (Walter Hill). MGM. Rated PG-13, with action violence, sensuality and some nudity.

Superstar (PG-13) 82 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Mary Katherine Gallagher's bespectacled Catholic school girl from Saturday Night Live with the small plaid skirt and the big dreams gets the overblown big-screen treatment in this slight, silly comedy. Molly Shannon and Will Ferrell co-star. Directed by Bruce McCulloch. Paramount. Rated PG-13, with profanity.

Surviving Picasso (R) 125 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An opulent portrait of the most potent artist of the 20th century, reflected in the story of the only woman to survive her affair with him, emotionally intact. Anthony Hopkins and Natascha McElhone co-star for the Merchant-Ivory production team. One major flaw: Rights could not be acquired for any Picasso art -- and those magnificent images are sorely missed. Warner Bros. Rated R, with profanity, sexual situations and nudity.

Suzhou River (U) 85 min. Not reviewed.
Garnering comparisons to Hitchcock's Vertigo, this film features a young woman who learns that her boyfriend is scheming to kidnap her. After she leaps to her death and he is released from prison, he encounters a woman who looks just like her. In Mandarin and English with English subtitles.

Sweet and Lowdown (PG-13) 110 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review
Director Woody Allen's bittersweet comedy about a fictional jazz musician in the mid-1930s. Sean Penn plays talented but troubled guitarist Emmet Ray. Co-starring Samantha Morton and Uma Thurman. Rated PG-13, with profanity, graphic violence and adult themes.

The Sweet Hereafter (R) 110 min. Our rating: 10 Review · Clips
Based on Russell Banks' celebrated novel about the aftermath of a fatal school bus crash on a small town. Stars Ian Holm, Sarah Polley and Bruce Greenwood. Rated R, with sexuality and some language.

Sweet November (PG-13) 119 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A sudsy remake of a 1968 romance about an eccentric girl who welcomes a guy into her apartment for one month, promises to make him a better man, and than plans to cut him loose. Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves co-star for director Pat O'Connor. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with profanity and implied sex.

Swingers (R) 96min. Garner's rating: 8 Review · Clips
A clever, funny twentysomething romantic comedy set in the retro-world of nightclub lindy-hoppers and cocktail sippers. Created by and starring Jon Favreau. Vince Vaughn and Ron Livingston co-star for director Doug Liman. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity.

Switchback (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review
Jeb Stuart's serial-killer thriller works much too hard at cleverness. The result is an overworked, overly contrived narrative whose only lasting appeal is a mysterious, colorful performance by Danny Glover. Dennis Quaid also stars. Paramount. Rated R, with profanity and much violence.

Swordfish (R) 102 min. Lee's rating: 7 Review · Clips
This espionage con-game thriller stars John Travolta -- in his popular slimeball "Pulp Fiction" mold -- as a spy engineering a big-time government heist. Hugh Jackson, right co-stars. Rated R with violence, language and some sexuality/nudity.