EdRooney

Just in time for the start of the hockey season, MYSTERY, ALASKA comes along with it's tale of small town hockey with big city dreams. Directed by AUSTIN POWERS 1&2's Jay Roach and written by TV kingpin David E Kelley, ALASKA is just the type of film you might expect these two to make without any of the people and ideas involved that made their respected earlier works so memorable. While not a terrible film, MYSTERY is often lacking in so many areas and ideas, it's hard to love it.

Taking place in the small icy town of Mystery, the story concerns a commonwealth who's main concerns are knit caps and who will play in the community's weekly Saturday hockey game. A former resident(THE SIMPSONS's Hank Azaria), who has moved to New York and become a Sports Illustrated reporter, returns with news that the New York Rangers hockey team is coming to Mystery to play the local boys in a nationally broadcast event. Elated by the prospect of notoriety yet wary of the affect the publicity will have on the small community, the town sheriff (L.A. CONFIDENTIAL's Russell Crowe) - a former player himself, and the town judge (Burt Reynolds) join forces to whip the team into shape for the big game.

This being Mr. Kelley's second produced screenplay in three months, MYSTERY, ALASKA suffers from a bizarre comparison to the earlier script LAKE PLACID. While Kelley has a knack for characterization and tone, both scripts fall dangerously close to condescension and plagiarism. Anybody who saw the mildly amusing PLACID will recall Betty White's cringe inducing, profanity-laden dialog. In MYSTERY, we have another scene of an old woman cursing, adding to that a moment where a small child uses the F-word. Obviously, these moments are there to get a laugh. They don't, only coming off as desperate attempts to charm and shock when nothing else works. And as with PLACID, MYSTERY spends an inordinately amount of time on giving each and every character a backstory of somesorts. In PLACID it helped to fill an already skimpy 80 minute running time. In MYSTERY, it pushes the lethargic story to the 120 minute range. If it ain't SLAP SHOT, then I don't need a two hour hockey film. The endless story spiral is tiring and unneeded in both films. MYSTERY even has the gall to end the picture with big things happening to two characters we've barely met. It's hard to get excited when your third cousin gets a promotion, and it's even harder to achieve cinematic goosebumps over characters whom you couldn't even recall names for.

With Jay Roach, it's now clear who really makes the AUSTIN POWERS films so enjoyable, Mike Myers. The unpredictable nature of those successful comedies are long gone in MYSTERY. Working with a talented cast of unrecognized stars (Crowe, Azaria, Reynolds, Mary McCormack, Lolita Davidovich, and Colm Meaney ) and the setting of Alaska, Roach still manages to create a vastly uninteresting film. Flat and without vitality, it's shocking considering the film uses and abuses the same sports film clichés that have worked on me time and again. Roach doesn't seem to have a clue what to do with this film except keep his head down and stick to the script.

I have a deep affection for snow movies (FARGO, the recent JACK FROST, hell even THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) and Roach blows the cold weather setting with dismal and distancing cinematography. Shooting in a stark white environment and then dressing your actors in white outfits probably wasn't the best aesthetic choice Roach could have made. He also cannot seem to get an idea how to shoot the hockey scenes. With frenetic editing and bad camera angles, MYSTERY earns it's name just for trying to figure out who has the puck. Even last minute cameos by Mike Myers (who easily contributes the film's only funny line) and Little Richard cannot save MYSTERY from failing.

It's no secret that the film is formulaic. Released by Disney, MYSTERY often feels like a big bad adult version of THE MIGHTY DUCKS. Boiling it down, these types of films can only end two different ways. Either the team wins the big game or they don't. I was hoping Roach and Kelley could come up with something inventive for a climax, but they don't even bother. It's all one big audience pleasing film that forgot to please the audience.

I really wanted to get into the spirit of MYSTERY, ALASKA, but the filmmakers kept me away. Roach can go back to the psychedelic world in the colorful AUSTIN POWERS films, and Kelley can continue writing heady stuff for THE PRACTICE and the other one million shows he has created. Both men obviously have talent, but this film doesn't help that argument. Coming so soon after John Sayles's thought provoking and decidedly more entertaining Alaska odyssey LIMBO, MYSTERY, ALASKA seems like a slapshot across the face.----------------- 3

Elizabeth Parsons(Ashley Judd) lives the perfect life. Her husband (Bruce Greenwood "The Sweet Hereafter") is a successful businessman, she has a precocious four year-old boy, and her child's nanny is a caring, loving woman who places the child's needs before hers. Out on a weekend retreat in a boat on a nearby lake, Elizabeth wakes up one quiet night covered in blood, with footsteps leading outside to the water. Her husband is missing and Elizabeth is suspect number one. Sent to jail for the murder of her husband, Elizabeth pleads her innocence and becomes increasingly aware that she might have been framed. Upon parole six years later, Elizabeth begins to track down the suspects who might be able to explain what happened on the boat that night and why she cannot find her son. In pursuit of her is a crusty old parole office (Tommy Lee Jones) who also becomes aware that Elizabeth just might be telling the truth about her innocence.

Directed by noted filmmaker Bruce Beresford, it should be established that even this man has a spotted record. For every brilliant "Driving Miss Daisy", Mr. Beresford has made a "Silent Fall" to bring his ego back into check. He can be a powerfully manipulative director, and as junkily tangy as "Double Jeopardy" is, it's also a return to form for the director after past failures.

You can think of this film as "Fugitive" lite. A thriller who's conventions are nothing new, but approached with a freshness and grace that many other contemporary films cannot seem to muster. Shot with gorgeous widescreen luster and written with some cleverness by Douglas Cook and David Weisberg, "Jeopardy" is the kind of autumn diversion that makes moviegoing so much fun. You can't really tell what's going to happen next, but you know exactly where you're headed.

The screenplay by Douglas and Weisberg gives star Ashley Judd exactly what she needs right now. One of the more naturally gifted performers in her age bracket, Ms. Judd fits perfectly in the role of convicted murder Elizabeth. It would be hard to top her career defining performance in "Ruby In Paradise", and lord only knows she's been floundering ever since. "Jeopardy" puts Judd front and center, right where she belongs. Granted, the film does feature some awfully abrupt plotlines. A small one involving Elizabeth never really fighting the charge of murder, and her subsequent time in jail are handled rather poorly, as if the filmmakers wanted to get going right away, liberally tossing aside narrative to get there. It's to Judd's credit that this familiar material works at all. She's a fine actress, and the right role will make her a superstar.

With Tommy Lee Jones, the appearance in this picture is a bit dumbfounding. Quite literally the same Sam Gerard role he played in "The Fugitive" and the spin-off "U.S. Marshals". Jones seems to be slumming for a paycheck in "Jeopardy". I'm at a blank to describe any other reason to why Jones would appear in such a role. He's a unique actor with such a loyal fan base, I can only imagine a nation of fans feeling bored by the actor's work here. This isn't his finest moment.

Besides the obvious "Fugitive" parallels, "Jeopardy" also features a very specific nod to George Sluizer's "The Vanishing". Anybody who saw that film will easily recall the horrific resolution to the picture. While "Jeopardy" doesn't end anywhere near as downbeat as Sluizer's classic, one scene involving a coffin and a familiar camera move will surely drive the audience wild with claustrophobia. It's tough to tell if it's homage or stealing. Either way, it's that kind of moxie that makes "Jeopardy" rise above the conventions and remain a satisfying movie.

Paramount Pictures seems to be the only studio in town to have an incredible knack for churning out decent to great adult-themed fare ("Kiss The Girls", "Payback", "Simple Plan") for the off weekends of the year. "Double Jeopardy" should be yet another mid-priced success story for them. A reasonably competent thriller with a good cast, a watertight script, and a director with a definite affinity for the conventions of the genre. You cannot ask for much more than that.----------- 8/10

"The Sixth Sense"

When Bruce Willis decides to act, it's an important occasion. When slogging through misfires like "Mercury Rising" and pure junk like "Armageddon", Willis never gets a chance to show the more dramatic side to his personality. "Sixth Sense" is the first product of the new Willis-no-guns philosophy that Bruce recently has made public. While it aspires to be "The Exorcist" for 1999, "Sixth Sense" can only muster the atmosphere of an off episode of "X-Files". A downright incomprehensible thriller that is too concerned with mood to care about the laughable story.

The real star of the picture is young Haley Joel Osmet (the easy bio is to say Forrest Jr. in "Forrest Gump"). He plays a young boy named Cole who has the ability to see the dead. The life-challenged repeatedly harass and torture him to a point when the entire world the surrounds Cole views him as a freak. While his mother (gifted Toni Collett) cannot understand the secrets Cole keeps, a child psychiatrist (Willis) finds himself drawn to help the young child. The two set out to crack the mystery of why Cole is the chosen one.

Written and directed by first-timer M. Night Shyamalan, the film has all the trappings of a debut movie. It's careful with every detail, visually flat, and has trouble sustaining interest throughout. What the film does just right is creating some creepy moments. Moments that could have forced the film to take a more disturbing note, thereby making the movie memorable. What Shyamalan does is punctuate each heightened situation with a orchestral bang or any other Dolby scare tactic used by every modern film to grab a scare. I keep wondering why directors do this. Sure, it gets a jolt out of the audience, but it's an easy one that isn't earned. A real horror film shouldn't have to lower itself to get a fright out of the audience. In the end, "Dolby scares" do more harm than good. "Sixth Sense" had the goods to really disrupt the audience, instead it hits all the same notes.

Bruce Willis swearing off action films might be the worst mistake Willis has made. His best work has been in this genre (the "Die Hard" series) and giving it up leaves him with a plethora of father and psychiatrist roles to play for the rest of his career. We meet a kinder, gentler Willis in "Sixth Sense". It's a performance that isn't among the actor's best, yet is far from an embarrassment. Willis plays his character rather muted, never once opening up for the big emotions. You could say that was his character, but I suggest that Willis just doesn't know how to play anyone who doesn't have an urgent situation to take care of. I love Willis, but "Sixth Sense" doesn't require much from the actor except pursed lips and a really obnoxious hairpiece. Ten year old Haley Joel Osment, on the other hand, has a remarkable depth and range for a child his age. It is his acting that grounds "Sense" emotionally. I enjoyed his work here very much, and a simple scene of mother and son bonding in a shopping cart clearly showed the chemistry Osment shared with on-screen mom Collett.

A victim of crass Disney mismarketing, "Sixth Sense" isn't really much more than a light thriller with demonic overtones. Shyamalan's script often goes on wild tangents. Scenes with Willis and his wife (shockingly unused Olivia Williams, seen last in "Rushmore") that are supposed to pay off at the end of the picture are left wide open for questions dealing with simple logic. Another moment in which Osment helps a little dead girl to justice seems from a different movie. The entire film appears to make little sense, yet to question what you're watching is obviously not the point. Shamalyan's script is also without dialog, just characters delivering speeches to each other. It's all tiring after an hour or so.

Like this summer's "Arlington Road", the entire film hinges on a last minute plot twist. A twist that is supposed to knock you off your feet. While I was surprised by the ending, it's such an illogical and implausible plot turn that it's hard not to laugh at it. Coming out of the film I was disappointed in the PG-13 "Sense". The next film to try this plot (Scorsese's next, "Bringing Out The Dead", features a similar idea) should just try to take the material more seriously, give it a chance to creep us out instead of forcing it. "Sixth Sense" is just another forgettable thriller.---------- 3