Film capsules -- 1997-2001

Wag The Dog (R) 100 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
Nothing like a little war to divert the public's attention. That's the darkly funny premise of Barry Levinson's hilarious satire on politics, spin control, the press and show business. Robert De Niro, Dustin Hoffman and Anne Heche co-star. Rated R, with profanity.

Waiting for Guffman (R) 84 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review
This comedy from director, co-writer and star Christopher Guess does for small-town life what This Is Spinal Tap did for heavy metal: It makes it very, very funny. Fake documentary technique is applied to a sesquicentennial pageant in the fictional town of Blaine, Missouri. Guest co-stars with Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, and Lewis Arquette. Castle Rock. Rated R, with profanity and violence.

Waiting to Exhale (R) 120 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Portrait of the friendship among four women (Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon), directed by Forest Whitaker. Terry McMillan co-wrote this adaptation of her novel. Profanity, sex and nudity. A sex-and-relationships women's picture, for mature teens and adults.

Waking Life (R) 97 min. Garner's rating: Review · Clips
A bizarre, existential rap, disguised as an off-beat feature cartoon for adults. Richard Linklater directs. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with profanity and adult issues.

Waking Ned Devine (PG) 91 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Wry comedy about how a winning lottery ticket influences the residents of a tiny Irish village. Starring Ian Bannen, David Kelly and Fionella Flanagan. Fox Searchlight. Rated PG, with brief nudity.

A Walk on the Moon (R) 105 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
A drama about the turmoil in a family when a bored housewife (Diane Lane) has an affair during a summer in the Catskills. Liev Schreiber, Viggo Mortensen and Anna Paquin co-star for first-time director Tony Goldwyn. Miramax. Rated R, with profanity, sex and nudity.

A Walk to Remember (PG) 100 min. Our rating: 4 Clips
Teen pop star Mandy Moore stars as the once-heckled daughter of a minister in the lowlands of North Carolina in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel. When she and the scion of a wealthy family are thrown together in the town's Christmas pageant, sparks fly. Warner Bros. Rated PG, with some adult thematic elements and language, and sensual material.

Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation (Unrated) 75 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review
This is a fabulous collection of inventive shorts from England's most popular animation studio. Most are the work of the award-winning Nick Park, who has directed four stop-motion shorts -- and won Academy Awards for three of them. (He couldn't win four because he competed against himself in 1989.) Two of Park's winners form the core of The Best of Aardman Animation. They are: Creature Comforts, his five-minute gem in which zoo animals are interviewed about life in captivity; and A Close Shave, a half-hour adventure featuring Wallace and Gromit, an amiable and innocent cheese-eating human and his far more intelligent pet dog. Unrated.

Warriors of Virtue (PG) 102 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
Move over Power Rangers, these guys want to teach you: drugs are bad; protect natural resources; watch out for peer pressure; don't trust sexy women; and, most important, kick heads when the chips are down. With Mario Yedida, Dennis Dun and Chao-Li Chi. Directed by Ronny Yu. MGM. Rated PG, with fantasy-action violence and some foul language.

The Wash (R) 94 min. Not reviewed. Clips
In this D.J. Pooh-directed comedy, Dee Loc (Snoop Dog) and Sean (Dr. Dre) are roommates working at a car wash run by the ill-tempered Mr. Washington (George Wallace). As if the two weren't in enough trouble--chasing the ladies during work hours, hustling customers with side-scams -- Mr. Washington gets kidnapped and the roommates have to figure out how to get him back. Rated R, with pervasive rough language, drug use, some sexuality and violence.

Washington Square (PG) 115 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An adaptation of the Henry James novel about the conflict between a young, socially inept heiress (Jennifer Jason Leigh) and her wealthy, widowed father (Albert Finney) after she's courted by a gold-digging wastrel (Ben Chaplin). Agnieszka Holland directs with an expert's eye for period detail. Hollywood Pictures. Rated PG.

The Watcher (R) 105 min. Our rating: 2 Review · Clips
A flat and empty thriller about an FBI agent who has quit the bureau -- only to be pulled back in by the killer he could never catch, who begins stalking the agent. Starring Keanu Reeves, James Spader. Rated R, with profanity, graphic violence.

The Waterboy (PG-13) 86 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Adam Sandler suits up in this comedy about a lowly college football team go-fer who displays a surprising talent for the game. Co-starring Kathy Bates, Henry Winkler, and Fairuza Balk.

Way of the Gun (R) 105 min. Our rating:4 Review · Clips
A limp, uneven film noir about two losers who kidnap a surrogate mother before she delivers her baby to rich parents, then find their ransom scheme quickly falling apart when the woman announces she wants to keep the baby. Starring Ryan Phillippe, Benicio Del Toro, Juliette Lewis. Directed by Christopher McQuarrie.

The Wedding Planner (PG-13) 102 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A contrived romantic comedy with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey, displaying very little chemistry. She's a wedding planner who falls in love with the groom of the wedding she's organizing. Adam Shankman directs. Columbia, 102 mins. Rated PG-13, for profanity

The Wedding Singer (PG-13) 95 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Adam Sandler's comic vocal performances are the mild highlight in this uneven comedy about a love-sick wedding singer, circa 1985. Drew Barrymore co-stars for director Frank Coraci.

Welcome to Sarajevo (R) 100 mins. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clip
The film initially explores the brutal shelling of Sarajevo through the eyes of the cynical journalists, assembled there in 1992 to cover the bloodshed in the former Yugoslavia. Starring Stephen Dillane, Woody Harrelson and Marisa Tomei. Rated R with wartime violence, profanity.

Welcome to the Dollhouse (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
In this insightful black comedy, Heather Matarazzo plays a bright but unattractive seventh-grader facing the horrors of junior high school. Violence, sex, profanity. cruel humor and sexual issues; for mature teens and adults only.

Western Not rated. 125 min.
Manuel Poirier's comedy about two men -- Paco, a seductive Spaniard, and Nino, a humble Russian immigrant -- who travel together through Brittany. In French with English subtitles.

What Dreams May Come (PG-13) 113 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
A visually stunning but emotionally flawed tale of a romance that spans heaven and hell. Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, Cuba Gooding Jr. and Max Von Sydow co-star for director Vincent Ward. Polygram. Rated PG-13, with violence and nightmarish moments.

What Lies Beneath (PG-13) 130 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Robert Zemeckis's flawed but stylish Hitchcockian thriller about a marriage caught in the dark shadows of an earlier indiscretion. Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer co-star. DreamWorks. Rated PG-13, with violence and sexual innuendo.

Whatever (R) 112 min. Our rating: 8 Clips
Two teenage girls indulge their rebellious urges in New York Dity's art underground during the early '80s. Starring Liza Weil, Chad Morgan and Frederic Forrest. Sony Classics. Rated R, with profanity, sex, drug use and some violence.

Whatever It Takes (PG-13) 92 min. Garner's rating: 2 Review · Clips
A bland, boring teen romance that recycles the saga of a boy with a crush on the class babe, when he ought to notice the charming girl next door. Shane West and Marla Sokoloff co-star for director David Raynr. Columbia. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity and sexual references.

What Planet Are You From? (R) 100 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
Gary Shandling and Annette Bening star in this romantic comedy about a conquest-minded extraterrestial who comes to Earth. In order to dominate the universe, he must impregnate a woman, but he soon finds himself struggling with the same dating problems that most Earthlings have. Co-starring John Goodman and Ben Kingsley. Rated R, with profanity and sexual issues.

What's the Worst that Could Happen? (PG-13) 95 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A so-so comedy with a dubious moral undertow, about the conflict that develops between a house burglar (Martin Lawrence) and his victim, an unscrupulous business tycoon (Danny DeVito). Sam Weisman directs. MGM. Rated PG-13, with innuendo and profanity.

What Women Want (PG-13) 126 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Mel Gibson is appealing and funny in his romantic-comedy debut as a womanizing ad executive who is given the ability to hear what women are thinking. Helen Hunt and Marisa Tomei co-star for director Nancy Meyers. Paramount. Rated PG-13, with moderate profanity and sexual issues.

When Night is Falling (NR) 105 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review
Camille (Pascale Bussieres), a professor at a Protestant college, is engaged to Martin, a fellow professor. But when she meets Petra (Rachael Crawford), a circus performer, Camille questions her life and sexuality. Unrated, but with R-level nudity and sexuality.

When the Cat's Away (R) 95 min. Our rating: 7 Review
A slight but diverting Parisian slice of life, about a young woman who loses her cat and makes new friends trying to find it. Starring Garance Clavel. Directed by Cedric Klapisch. In French, with English subtitles. Sony. Rated R, with profanity, nudity and sexuality.

When We Were Kings (PG) 90 min. Garner's rating: 10 Review
At a time when commentators decry the absence of heroes in American life, Leon Gast's Oscar-winning documentary joyfully and compellingly submits the name of Muhammad Ali. If today's young generation and generations to come see only one film about Ali, it should be this rousing entertaining film about the so-called Rumble in the Jungle -- that autumn night in 1974 when Ali regained the heavyweight crown by defeating George Foreman in Zaire. Gramercy. Rated PG, with mild profanity and in-the-ring violence.

Where the Heart Is (PG-13) 127 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
A comedy-drama with Natalie Portman as a pregnant 17-year-old who endures enough country angst to fill a dozen Nashville jukebokes. Ashley Judd and Stockard Channing are fine in support, but the over-crowded plot is a soap-opera trash compactor. Fox. Rated PG-13, with profanity, sexual innuendo and violence.

Where the Money Is (PG-13) 95 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
This story -- about a nurse who persuades an aging bank robber to try one more big score -- falls apart in the second half and only works as well as it does because of its stars, not its flimsy script. Starring Paul Newman and Linda Fiorentino. Directed by Marek Kanievska. USA Films. 95 minutes. Rated PG-13, with profanity, partial nudity and violence.

Whipped(R) 85 min. Our rating: 1 Review · Clips
Three friends knowingly date the same woman in this sorry excuse for a film. It's especially disappointing to see Amanda Peet, so good in ``The Whole Nine Yards,'' waste her time with this mess. Starring Amanda Peet, Brian Van Holt, Jonathan Abrahams, Zorie Barber and Judah Domke. Directed by Peter M. Cohen.

The White Balloon (NR) 85 min. Garner's rating: 8 Review
Jafar Panahi directs 7-year-old Aida Mohammadkhani as a young girl who loses her mother's household money in the hubbub of Tehran on the eve of the New Year holiday. Unrated, but G quality; in Farsi with English subtitles.

White Squall (PG-13) 128 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
Jeff Bridges stars in the adventure-filled 1961 ordeal of a sea captain and a teen-age sailing-school crew whose ship is sunk in a freak storm. Profanity, sexual innuendo, intense drownings and slaughter of a dolphin; not suitable for pre-teens.

The Whole Nine Yards (R) 101 min. Garner's rating: 6 Review · Clips
Comic mobsters continue to be the Hollywood order of the day in Jonathan Lynn's sloppy but mildly amusing new enterprise with Matthew Perry as a hen-pecked Montreal dentist whose life turns upside-down when a former Chicago hit man (Bruce Willis) moves in next door. Warner Bros. Rated PG-13, with profanity and brief breast nudity.

The Whole Wide World (PG) 105 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
The true story of a short-lived romance between a West Texas school teacher and the town's resident eccentric writer, pulp magazine regular Robert E. Howard of Conan-the-Barbarian fame. A touching heartfelt drama, it is also a remarkable and rare portrait of the creative process and the struggles and satisfactions of a vivid imagination. Dan Ireland directs Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger (in the film that preceded her Jerry Maguire breakthrough). Sony Classics. Rated PG.

Why Do Fools Fall in Love? (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
An overly complicated but tuneful and entertaining bio-pic on the life and times of early rock sensation Frankie Lyman. Even though Lyman was only 25 when he died, he had already accumulated three wives -- and their stories are told here. Halle Berry, Vivica A. Fox, Lela Rochon and Larenz Tate star for director Gregory Nava. Warner Bros. 112 mins. Rated PG-13, with profanity and implied sex.

The Widow of Saint-Pierre (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Patrice Leconte's moving 1850 saga about the relationship that develops among a military officer, his wife and his prisoner, a condemned murderer awaiting execution. Juliette Binoche and Daniel Auteuil co-star. Lions Gate Films. Rated R, with violence, sex and adult themes. In French, with English subtitles.

Wild America (PG) 110 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
A formulaic story of teen-age brothers who decide to become nature filmmakers and head out with a camera, film and no training to try their hands at it. Based on a true story. Starring Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Devon Sawa and Scott Bairstow. Directed by William Dear. Warner Bros. Rated PG, with violence and mild profanity.

Wilde (R) 116 min. Our rating: 5 Review · Clips
Stephen Fry stars in this portrait of Oscar Wilde based on Richard Ellmann's much-praised biography. Co-starring Jude Law, Vanessa Redgrave and Jennifer Ehle. Samuelson Entertainment. Rated R, with strong sexuality and language, and emotional violence.

Wild Man Blues (PG) 104 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review ·
Barbara Kopple's amusing, insightful documentary, following Woody Allen and his jazz band on a jazz tour of Europe. The music is fun; but the film's real treasures are the glimpses of the witty, neurotic behind-the-scenes life of Allen and his love, Soon-Yi Previn. Fine Line. Rated PG, with moderate profanity.

Wild Things (R) 113 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
John McNaughton's sex thriller is either a steamy film noir gone to seed or a softcore porno flick with delusions of grandeur. Neve Campbell and Denise Richards co-star as teen-age sex kittens, entangled in a menage a trois and murder with their high school guidance counselor (Matt Dillon). Kevin Bacon co-stars as a cop. Columbia. Rated R, with violence, teen sex and nudity.

Wild Wild West (PG-13) 107 min. Garner's rating: 3 Review · Clips
A clumsy, sluggish, silly updating of the cult TV show that blends Western motifs with sci-fi gimmicks. Will Smith works hard to enliven the proceedings, but it's not enough. Kevin Kline, Salma Hayek and Kenneth Branagh offer supporting performances that aren't among their best work. Barry Sonnenfeld directs. Warner Bros. 107 minutes. Rated PG-13, with profanity, violence and gratuitous sexual references.

William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet (see Romeo and Juliet)

William Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (see A Midsummer Night's Dream)

The Wind in the Willows (PG) 87 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review
The Wind in the Willows will already be familiar to fans of Kenneth Grahame's 1908 classic book, or of the Disney animated featurette, The Adventure of Mr. Toad. In the book, Toad, Rat, Mole and Badger live along an English country stream, and must battle a pack of troublesome weasels from the nearby Wild Wood.

Windhorse (U) 105 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Director Paul Wagner's documentary-style drama about the effects of Chinese oppression on a Tibetan family. Unrated, with violence and scenes of torture.

The Wind Will Carry Us (U) 118 min. Not reviewed.
In a socially critical film from director Abbas Kiarostami, three men from Tehran, Iran, travel to a village in Iranian Kurdistan. There they meet a young boy and wait upon a "grand event" -- the death of a local woman. Unrated.

Wing Commander (PG-13) 98 min. Our rating: 4 Review · Clips
A blend of everything from Star Wars to Top Gun, this film is much less engaging than the video game on which it is based, as young pilots try to save the universe from invading aliens. Stars Freddie Prinze Jr. and Matthew Lillard. Directed by Chris Roberts. 20th Century-Fox. Rated PG-13, with profanity and violence.

The Wings of the Dove (R) 102 min. Our rating: 9 Review · Clips
Iain Softley's potent and emotionally complex adaptation of Henry James' powerful later novel. A particularly superb Helena Bonham Carter co-stars with Linus Roache and Alison Elliott in a sensual drama depicting how love is soiled by greed in the England of 1910. Miramax. Rated R, with nudity and sexual situations.

The Winslow Boy (G) 104 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
David Mamet's adaptation of Terence Rattigan's play about a father's fight to clear his son's name in Edwardian England. Nigel Hawthorne, Rebecca Pidgeon and Jeremy Northam co-star. Sony Classics. Rated G.

(Wes Craven's) Wishmaster (R) 90 min. Unreviewed Clips
Robert Englund and Tony Todd reprise their roles as Freddy Kreuger and Candyman in this thriller about a jeweler who unwittingly unleashes an evil genie. LIVE Entertainment.

The Winter Guest (R) 110 mins. Garner's rating: 8
Review
Alan Rickman's icy but intriguing character study, focusing on eight residents of a bleak Scottish town, looking for a little warmth from each other on the coldest day of the year. Emma Thompson and her real-life mother, Phyllida Law, co-star. Fine Line. Profanity, nudity, adult issues.

Winter Sleepers (Unrated) 124 min. Not reviewed.
Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run) directs this art drama, which examines the complex lives of residents of a skiing village. In German with English subtitles. Unrated, but with adult issues and sexual situations.

With a Friend Like Harry (PG-13) 102 min. Our rating: U Review
In this Hitchcock-styled French thriller, Harry (Sergi Lopez) befriends a couple of French travelers in the rural countryside. Boy, do they regret meeting him. Laurent Lucas and Mathilde Seigner co-star. Rated R with language, some violence and a scene of nudity.

Wizard of Oz (G) 111 min.
Follow the Yellow Brick Road once again on the big screen in this reissue of the 1939 classic. Starring Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Billie Burke, Margaret Hamilton and Frank Morgan.

Witness to Hope (Not rated) 120 min. Our rating: 8 Review
A well-made feature documentary on the life and times of Karol Wojtyla, better known as Pope John Paul II. Feature made by Catherine Wyler, filmmaker who is also artistic director of the High Falls Film Festival.

Wonder Boys (R) 112 min. Garner's rating: 9 Review · Clips
Curtis Hanson's refreshingly quirky comedy-drama about a college professor whose life is going to hell in a hand basket. Michael Douglas has seldom been better as the rumpled teacher whose problems continue to mount. Tobey Maguire, Robert Downey Jr. and Frances McDormand co-star. Paramount. Rated R, with profanity, brief violence, sexual references and drug use.

Wonderland (R) 108 min. Not reviewed.
Director Michael Winterbottom follows three generations of one family -- including daughter Gina McKee -- through London's traditional Bonfire Night celebrations. The movie was filmed on location in super-16mm with a hand-held camera. USA Films. Rated R, with strong language and violence.

Woman on Top (R) 93 min. Garner's rating: 4 Review · Clips
Penelope Cruz shines in an otherwise-lackluster film about sex, romance and food. She plays a talented Brazilian cook, trying to find a new life for herself in San Francisco. Fina Torres directs. Fox Searchlight. Rated R, with brief sex, profanity and innuendo.

Woo (R) 80 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Romantic comedy about rambunctious woman, accustomed to calling the shots, who goes on a blind date with a straitlaced lawyer. Starring Jada Pinkett and Tommy Davidson. Rated R.

The Wood (R) 115 min. Garner's rating: 7 Review · Clips
An amiable coming-of-age tale. Three young African American men at a wedding reflect on their deep friendship and amusing adolescence during school days in Inglewood, Calif. Stars Omar Epps, Taye Diggs and Richard T. Jones. Written and directed by Rick Famuyiwa. Paramount. Rated R, with strong profanity and other offensive language, sexual content and brief nudity.

The World Is Not Enough (PG-13) 128 min. Our rating: 7 Review · Clips
Pierce Brosnan returns in his third and most successful outing as James Bond. Agent 007 combats terrorists intent on disrupting the world's petroleum supplies. Robert Carlyle, Judi Dench and Sophie Marceau offer good support, while the sexy, lightweight Denise Richards is utterly unbelievable as a nuclear physicist. Directed by Michael Apted. MGM. Rated PG-13, with typical action violence and sexual innuendo.

Wrongfully Accused (PG-13) 94 min. Unreviewed. Clips
Leslie Nielsen runs for his life in this comic spoof of The Fugitive (and other cinematic targets). Rated PG-13.