Austin American-Statesman from Austin, Texas • 52

Visionary, or not It's splittingfcritics and it's bound to split moviegoers, too. Look for a review of Lars von Trier's Cannes-winning 'Dancer in the starring Bjork and Catherine Deneuve, in next week's Movies and More. Austin Friday, September 29, 2000 111 I II I I II ill i fi. iri and A charming exploration of 'Love Sex' Comic, poignant, film captures how one couple connects By Alison Macor Special to the American-Statesman Writer-director Valerie Breiman claims to be an "equal opportunity exploiter" when it comes to depicting the foibles of men and women on-screen, and she succeeds charmingly in "Love Sex." Chronicling the rocky long-term romance between journalist Kate Welles (Famke Janssen) and painter Adam Levy (Jon Favreau), "Love Sex" captures many of the couple's highs and lows with comic deftness and poignancy. What it fails to do, however, is flesh out the story around these two characters.

Their prickly relationship is served up like an astronaut's breakfast, vacuum-packed and oddly sealed off from the rest of their lives. Friends, colleagues and former flames parade across the screen like cardboard cutouts, which puts a lot of pressure on the leads particularly Janssen to carry the story. 1 4--f-' 11 assxssu Gladys RiosAA-S The disarmingly sexy Favreau clearly has the chops to drive the story, but the weight of the taie falls to Janssen, who has worked diligently in movies as diverse as "Rounders" and "X-Men" to transcend her former Bond girl status. Jans-sen's skills as a comic actress are appealing, but her performance during "Love Sex's" dramatic moments doesn't ring true. Kate first experiences the heady intoxication of new love in the fourth grade, when Bobby Morton struts over, Steve McQueen-like, and 'Love Sex' Starring: Famke Janssen, Jon Favreau Director Valerie Breiman Screenwriter Valerie Breiman MPAA rating: Not rated; contains sexual situations, strong language Running time: 1 hour, 22 minutes to the 1 slugs her in the arm.

Later, away from the schoolyard jeering of his pals, Bobby leans his forehead against hers and stares soul-fully into her eyes. "When I look at you like this, it looks like you only have one eye," Bobby says dreamily. Kate spends the next two decades choosing men who are variations on her idealized fourth-grade boyfriend. While their romantic murmurings have evolved somewhat, their ability to relate to Kate on an intellectual and emotional level hasn't progressed much beyond Bobby's primitive gestures. But "Love Sex" isn't a movie about what jerks men can be.

More often than not, Kate is equally implicated in her past relationship debacles, and the film is as much about the viability of long-term monogamy as it is an affectionate if myopic examination of the idiosyncratic ways in which one couple connects. opens today at the Dobie Theatre.) heart By Chris Garcia American-Statesman Film Critic Only fools and sports writers can tease poetry from fists thrashing flesh and bone. Fortunately, filmmaker Karyn Kusama is neither. But she is a boxer, and in her brawny urban melodrama "Girlfight" Kusama dresses the sport up in the attire an insider would none at all. She strips boxing to its essence a prosaic contest of strength, drive and skill highlighting the craft of calculated pum-meling.

Kusama's storytelling is equally bareknuckled, and fresh. "Girlfight," which shared top honors at this year's Sundance Film Festival, is lean and lithe, yet peppered with surprising emotion drawn not from victories in the ring but from the triumph 4p. if -fL-x of love. UiriTlgnt g0 jt-s a boxing love story, one whose romantic if heart beats louder and truer than Rocky Balboa's plaintive yelps of "Adrian!" Kusama's unlikely pugilist is a teen-age girl, who parlays her molten temper into boxing dynamite. Michelle Rodriguez, cutting a dazzling figure in her first acting role, plays Diana Guzman, a raw product of a broken family in the Brooklyn projects.

Despair and anger find articulation in her sharpshooting fists. This doesn't go over well at school, where Diana's a repeat offender, force-feeding chumps knuckle sandwiches when ordered. And troubles at home are simmering, ready to boil. Diana has nothing but resentment for her dead-end father (the fine Paul Calderon), who drove her mother to suicide with abuse. In her unyielding glare, he can do no right.

She rebuffs his wan attempts at parental guidance and keeps her little brother. Tiny (Ray Santiago), under her wing. Tiny is her link to the boxing world. Watching him train at a Brooklyn Athletic Club gym, she spies an outlet for her errant pugnacity. Opposition to her donning gloves is perfunctory, and that's a strength in Kusama's mindful script.

Grizzled regulars razz Diana See And in, F4 With surprising emotion, 'Girlfight' takes the cliched boxing movie and deals it a TKO Cass Bird Jon Favreau and Famke Janssen in 'Love Despite fumbles, Titans' ends up a winner 4l XT rc.f Denzel Washington delivers another solid performance as a headstrong coach determined to make his racially divided team work together the Titans" is painted by numbers, in broad brushstrokes and crowd-pleasing colors. You know exactly where it's going and how it's going to get there, but darn it if it doesn't work. The year is 1971 in Alexandria, Remember JX the Titans' way of life. The once- tranquil community is in a state of upheaval because of the forced integration of two all-black high schools and an all-white school. Tensions are not just palpable, they're incendiary.

When African American coach Herman Boone (Denzel Washington) ar rives to take over as head coach of the T.C. Williams High Titans, he's in double jeopardy. The white community hates him and the black community expects miracles. "I'm not Jesus Christ or Martin Luther King or the Easter Bunny," he tells them. "I'm a high school football coach." Not only is Boone's appointment as head coach dividing the populace, but it also usurps the power and authority of popular coach Bill Yoast (Will Pat-ton), a white man with seniority and a loyal following.

"I'm worried about my boys," Yoast drawls early on to his new, un- See Titans', Back page By Steve Uhler Special to the Amencan-Statesman Years ago I saw a painting that really moved me. A panorama of Monument Valley, it was rendered in glorious rust-orange hues, topped with a crimson horizon as the last rays of the sun filtered through perfect clouds. I remember admiring it only to have it pointed out to me that it was actually painted by numbers. Incredulous, I stepped closer and squinted. Sure enough, I'd been taken in.

It had been painted by numbers. But I had been moved. Disney's uplifting and immensely enjoyabie "Remember Tracy Bennet Denzel Washington gives Coach Boone the conviction and charisma audiences have come to expect from the Oscar-winning actor..