Arizona Republic from Phoenix, Arizona • Page 71

Friday, October 17, 2003 SECTION More reviews inside i i 'Veronica Guerin' Cate Blanchett is well-cast as the title character, but this biopic lacks energy. P4. 'Wonderland' Tale of porn star's role in a multiple murder makes a grimly flat flick, considering the lurid subject. PS. 'Casa de los Babys' John Sayles' film about women waiting to adopt children is powerful and touching.

P6. Cate Blanchett talks with film writer Bill Muller about Veronica Guerin. P4. Preview editor, Vinton Supplee, 602.444.NEWS or vinton.suppleearizonarepublic.com the Arizona republic iH a A jLl Talented cast can't run with predictable Grisham r' By bill.mullerarizonarepublic.com I he verdict is in, and John Grisham is guilty. Guilty of what? Try illegal dumping of recycled story lines on an unsuspecting public.

Runaway Jury the latest Grisham potboiler made into a film is a prima facie case in rerun peddling, hardly distinguishable from the author's other novels. No matter what title Grisham uses The Firm, The Client, The Pelican Brief the plot is virtually the same: Evil, omniscient, surveillance-obsessed bad guys perpetrate a giant, overarching conspiracy, only to be tripped up by a young idealist. Runaway Jury is watchable, barely, because it features some 'Saw' messes By Bill Muller bill.mullerarizonarepublic.com Call it The Texas Chainsaw massacred. There are quite a few teeth missing from the latest, dull-bladed remake of The Texas Chain-saw Massacre, which trades suspense and chills for gore and sadism. This bloody, exploitative mess is the cinematic equivalent of a dumpster fire stinky but insignificant.

This downright unpleasant affair includes scenes in which: (a) the villain, Leatherface, rubs salt into an open wound of a victim dan-. gling, still alive, from a meat hook; (b) a skeevy sheriff (R. Lee Er-mey) fondles a dead woman; (c) our heroine savagely hacks off an attacker's arm with a meat cleaver. Director Marcus Nispel turns a sinister, creepy story into a below- Touchstone Pictures if i I fairly talented actors running down those familiar alleyways to uncover Grisham's pat ending. Gee, I wonder if those technology-loving sociopaths get their comeuppance this time? Set in New Orleans, Runaway Jury is filled with Grisham's usual ludicrous theatrics, again taken to the extreme.

The film stars Gene Hackman as Rankin Fitch (now there's a bad-guy name if ever I heard one), a consultant hired by gun companies to investigate potential jurors in a huge lawsuit that seeks to hold firearms manufacturers liable in a spree killing. (In the book, it's a cigarette lawsuit, but The Insider already chewed that tobacky.) Fitch who believes "trials are too important to be left up to juries" helps defense attorneys pick sym- See 'RUNAWAY Page P4 with 'Texas' average teen slasher flick. He displays very little patience, throwing away the shock of seeing Leather-face by eatiiring the chainsaw-wielding giant in nearly every other scene. Such poor efforts are nothing new. Since the original cult classic came out in 1974, there have been numerous attempts to capitalize on the name.

After all, who can forget the Renee Zellweger-Matthew McConaughey sequel? Um, that would be everyone. Anyway, the latest film stars WB refugee Jessica Biel (7th Heaven) as Erin, who blubbers her way through in a tight white T-shirt, conveniently dashing through sprays of water whenever vital to the plot. She's joined by a group of disposable, youngish pals who mostly end up running from the aforementioned power tool. Unlike the original film's spare 1,1 A story line, the remake includes numerous additional characters, locations and story twists. Did we really need the two freakish people in the trailer, who, by the way, have kidnapped a child? A meat rendering plant? The other kid, who helps Erin escape? Surprisingly, this is one Chain-saw movie in which the director forgot to yell, "Cut!" Reach Muller at (602) 444-8651.

i 'i, "if" 'Mambo Italiano' Coming-out comedy features every stereotype in the book, but few laughs. P6. REVIEW 'Runaway Jury' DIRECTOR: Gary Fleder. CAST: Gene Hackman, Dustih Hoffman, John Cusack, Rachel Weisz. PG-13, for violence and profanity.

Great Good Fair Bad Bomb i -MM CI ft 1 lade Rosenthal Above: Juror Nick Easter (John Cusack) has ulterior motives. Left: Jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) knows how to pick 'em. Fodder for Leatherface (from left): Eric Balfour, Jessica Biel, Mike Vo-gel and Erica Leerhsen. Van.RedinNew Line Productions MOVIE REVIEW The Texas Chainsaw Massacre DIRECTOR: Marcus Nispel. CAST: Jessica Biel, Jonathan Tucker, Erica Leerhsen.

RATING: for strong violence, profanity and drug content. Great Good Fair Bad Bomb Coming Sunday Sister's staying The actress who plays Sister in Late Night Catechism likes the Valley so much that she has bought a home here. In Opening next Friday Beyond Borders (R) Radio (PG) Scary Movie 3 (PG-13) September 11 (Unrated) Southlander: Diary of a Desperate Musician (Unrated) Sylvia (R) I If you like Courthouse dramas If trial-based thrillers like this week's Runaway Jury appeal to you, try a video of Anatomy of a Murder (1959), starring Jimmy Stewart as a defense attorney with lots of surprises for opponent George C. Scott. In The Verdict (1982), Paul Newman gives an Oscar-nominated performance as a struggling, i alcoholic lawyer who takes on a giant medical malpractice lawsuit.

John Cusack If you're a fan of Jury co-star Cusack, check out Max, in which he plays a Jewish art dealer who survives World War only to encourage the artistic hopes of a young Adolf Hitler. Other crucial Cusack: The Grifters, in which he's a con man, and Grosse Pointe Blank, playing a hit man attending his high school reunion. The 'Chainsaw' roar If you're a fan of the original Texas Chansaw Massacre, pick up the new special edition DVD, which has been "painstakingly restored from the original" 16mm negatives and includes commentary from director Tobe Hooper and actor Gunnar Hansen (Leatherface), as well as 30 minutes of deleted scenes and outtakes. And no cheating! Turn off all the lights, and you can count on a shrieking good time. Bill Muller Index Critics' Choice Film on the Web People Quick Flicks P2 P2 P2 P8 azjcentralcom For movie reviews, trailers, celebrity interviews and showtimes, go to movlesjacentral.com.

For film writer Bill Muller's look at the week's new movies, tune to 12 News Today between 6 and 7 a.m. New this week on video and DVD Anatomy 2 Blue Car Feedback Hey, Happy! Film facts At the box office In the Valley Kill Bill: Vol. I School of Rock Good Boy! fj Intolerable Cruelty Out of Time House of the Dead The Rundown Under the Tuscan Sun fj Secondhand Lions BEJ Lost in Translation Harkins Theatres Nationwide (last weekend's and total grosses) Kill Bill: Vol. I. $22.1 million (first week) School of Rock, 15.5 million ($39.7 million) Good $13.1 million (first week) Intolerable Cruelty, $12.5 million (first week) Out of Time, $8.6 million ($28.7 million) House of the Dead, $5.7 million (first week) The Rundown, $5.2 million ($40.3 million) Under the Tuscan Sun, $5 million ($28.3 million) Secondhand Lions, $3.3 million ($35.4 million) LT3 Lost in Translation, $2.8 million ($18.1 million) Entertainment News Wire The Hole Interstate 60 The Matrix Reloaded Mimic 3: Sentinel Naqoyqatsi List and reviews,.