Broken English would be completely dreadful and repetitive if it was not for the ideal casting of Parker Posey as Nora Wilder. The film is a New York based romantic dramedy written and directed by Zoë Cassavetes daughter of actress Gena Rowlands.

Nora Wider (Posey) is a thirty something lonely single woman who smokes and drinks excessively. She hates her job and cannot find the right man. Nora’s best friend Audrey (Drea de Matteo) has been happily married for five years to Mark (Tim Guinee). Nora attends their anniversary party where she is bombarded with questions about her miserable personal life from her mother Vivien (Rowlands).

Vivien takes it upon herself to set Nora up on a date with the son of one of her friends. Of course, the man has issues and ends up leaving Nora half way thru their first date.

Nora, depressed and alone again, runs into Julien (Melvil Poupaud) a visiting Frenchmen. Julien intensely pursues Nora even though she tells him to get lost. Eventually, Nora caves in and the couple spends the weekend together.

When things are finally going her way, Julien drops a bomb saying he must go back to
France. Julien invites Nora to come along with him, but she is fearful of leaving her unhappy life. Time goes by and Nora realizes that Julien is the only one who can make her happy so she jumps on an airplane with her best friend, but will she be able to find him in such a large city as
Paris?

As Nora, Parker Posey reminds me of a cheerleader for a lack luster team. She shined above everyone so much that the remainder of the cast seemed dull. Melvil Poupaud’s strong, silent, intense type works well as a stand alone character, but it was difficult for me to accept him as falling head over heels in love with Nora at first sight. He is too perfect for the imperfect Nora.

Zoë Cassavete’s screenplay is full of clichés. There is nothing different or special. If it wasn’t for Parker Posey’s performance this would just be another run of the mill romantic comedy.

Rated: PG-13

Bella is a gentle introspective film by Mexican born director Alejandro Gomez Monteverde. It stars Mexican heartthrob Eduardo Verastegui and newcomer Tammy Blanchard. The film was the surprise winner of the 2006 People’s Choice award at the Toronto Film Festival. Bella skillfully details both sides of a highly emotional issue in such a leisurely way that I barely noticed it until the end.

Jose (Verastegui) is a soccer star on his way to a press conference to announce his new big contract. Suddenly, a young child runs out in front of his car. He runs her over and kills her. Jose spends the next several years in jail.

Fast-forward to bustling New York City. Jose is the head chef at his brother’s restaurant. Jose’s brother, Manny (Manny Perez) is a hard task master expecting his employees to be as perfect as himself. Nina (Blanchard), a waitress at Manny’s restaurant, is late for work again. In front of all of the employees, Manny fires Nina without allowing her to explain her reason for being delayed.

Feeling sorry for Nina, Jose chases after her leaving his brother without a head chef for the lunch time rush. When Jose catches up to Nina, she explains she was tardy because of morning sickness. Throughout their day together Jose tries to convince Nina to keep the baby. He takes Nina to his parent’s home showing her that a loving close family is possible. Then they go to the beach where Nina shares her painful childhood involving the death of her father. Jose seems desperate to save the life of the unborn child to atone for the life that he took.

Throughout the majority of the film Verastegui has a full unkempt beard and long hair. He looks dirty. Someone on the street even mistakes him for a homeless person. I know the beard represented his depression and haunted past, but it was too much. I would not eat a meal made by anyone with such poor hygiene. Besides the facial hair, Verastegui’s performance was spot on and captivating. Tammy Blanchard as Nina was delightful to watch. She had noticeable chemistry with Verastegui. I could feel and see her struggle over her decision. I’m looking forward to seeing more from her in the future.

This was a risky and heavy topic to tackle for first time director Monteverde. This film flowed so smoothly and seamlessly that the profound message was almost lost. The movie is only an hour and a half long, but it felt slow and long. It definitely could have used some testosterone. I hope Monteverde has learned that he does not have to walk on egg shells to appease everyone when focusing on a taboo issue.  

Overall, the film was thought provoking and touching, but not for everyone.

Rated: PG-13 

DVD features include a making of documentary and interviews with the cast and director.

Penelope is a lovely coming of age story based in London staring Christina Ricci, James McAvoy, Peter Dinklage, Catherine O’Hara, and Reese Witherspoon. The talented cast brings this intelligent heart warming tale alive.

The Wilhern family is blessed with money and a high social standing, but they also have a dark secret. Several generations ago the unapproving head of the family broke up a love affair. The lovers were avenged by a curse put on the next Wilhern female descendent. Penelope (Ricci) happens to be the unlucky lady. The curse left Penelope with a pig-like nose and ears. The only way to break the curse is for Penelope to find true love with another blue-blood. To protect her daughter’s feelings and the family’s good name, Penelope’s mother Jessica Wilhern (O’Hara), fakes Penelope’s death and then hides her away in the family mansion. Penelope grows up alone in her own fairly-tale like bedroom.

Penelope’s story is hot gossip throughout the years and big cash for any reporter who can catch a picture of her. One of these reporters, Lemon (Dinklage) sneaks into the mansion, but is soon caught by Jessica. Lemon makes it his life work to capture Penelope’s photograph.  As Penelope becomes of age her mother invites possible husbands to the mansion. Every suitor leaves the home screaming from the sight of Penelope. The family almost gives up hope until Max (McAvoy) arrives. Max has an automatic rapport with Penelope, but he is also hiding a secret. Max, a gambling addict short on money, is being paid by Lemon to capture the first photograph of Penelope.

Christina Ricci brings her sweet and naive side out as Penelope. Her huge sparkling eyes captured me. James McAvoy, the IT man of the moment, portrayed his struggles between needing money and not wanting to hurt Penelope with honest realism. I do have to say I could not stand his hair, throughout the movie I wanted to give him a buzz cut. Catherine O’Hara was fantastic as ever. She is a comic genius that does not receive the recognition she deserves. Reese Witherspoon role was small, but when she was in a scene she stood out among the rest.  

This is the first film for director Mark Palansky and I was fairly impressed. The film flowed smoothly and I was never board. It could of easily come off as hokey, but it never did.

I highly recommend this cute little Independent film. It teaches several life lessons in an entertaining non-cheesy way. This is a film the whole family can enjoy.  

Rated PG

 DVD extras: “The Making of a Modern Day Fairy Tale” and behind the scenes for Twilight.

Mamma Mia (2008) is a scenic and joyful musical event that should not be missed. The film’s all-star cast includes Meryl Streep, Pierce Brosnan, Amanda Seyfried, Colin Firth, Stella Skarsgard, Dominic Cooper, Christine Baranski, and Julie Walters. After watching this film you will speed-dial your travel agent and book your next vacation to the Greek Isles.  

Mamma Mia tells the tale of lost and renewed love thru some of ABBA’s greatest hits. Donna (Streep) is the owner of a run down resort hotel in Greece and a single mother raising Sophie (Seyfried) who is a stunning twenty-year-old set to marry her sweetheart Sky (Cooper). The day before the wedding Donna’s long lost friends from her 70’s disco group, which include Rosie the “loan wolf” (Walters) and the vain Tanya (Baranski), arrive to help celebrate. As Donna is renewing her friendship, Sophie’s surprise guests appear: Sam Carmichael (Brosnan) an architect, Harry Bright (Firth) a rich English banker, and Bill (Skarsgard) a nomadic novelist. From reading her mother’s diary Sophie discovered that one of these three men is her biological father. The problem is how to decide which man is her dad, but she soon realizes this task is not as easy as it seems.

Amanda Seyfried stands out as the sweet innocent Sophie. Amanda’s angelic looks match her beautiful voice. This film will launch her into super stardom. Meryl Streep proves once again why she is such a respected actress. It’s a given that Streep will receive another Oscar nomination for this role. Veteran actors Walters and Baranski provide most of the comedic relief. They are both wonderful in their own right. The men did not fair as well. Every time Pierce Brosnan opened his mouth to sing I cringed. He was completely tone deaf and looked out of place. Colin Firth held his own in the singing department and for us lucky ladies he ended up in another wet white shirt.

The rookie Phyllida Lloyed directs Mamma Mia and her inexperience shows. The flow of the film is choppy at times. The transition from dance numbers to dialog is not as smooth as it could have been. The helicopter shots during The Winner Takes It All were disorganized and seemed out of place.

The film is a fun carefree experience that should not be taken seriously. The movie is better then Hairspray, but it does not quite reach the level of Grease. If you are fond of musicals and are looking for a good campy time check out this film.  
 Rated PG-13

Cassandra’s Dream (2007) is a London based film written and directed by Woody Allen now out on DVD. This crime drama stars Ewan McGregor and Colin Farrell as two brothers in need of fast cash and who are willing to do anything to obtain it.

Ian (McGregor) and Terry (Farrell) are two middle-class English brothers chasing after their financial dreams. Ian, the more stable and prosperous of the two, is a capitalist who is working on a scam to buy hotels in California. Terry is a local mechanic struggling with drug, alcohol, and gambling addictions. The brothers pool their money together and buy a small sailboat which they name Cassandra’s Dream after one of Terry’s winning race dogs. Ian becomes infatuated with Angela, a local gold digger actress (Hayley Atwell). Ian tries to impress Angela by driving fancy cars (borrowed from Terry’s shop) and buying her expensive gifts with Terry’s gambling winnings. Quickly Terry’s winning streak comes to an end when he owes 90,000 pounds. The brothers go to their Uncle Howard (Tom Wilkinson), a rich plastic surgeon arriving back home from a business trip in Asia, asking for money. Uncle Howard agrees to help them with their money problems only if they agree to kill a business associate who is going to make Howard’s illegal activities public. The brothers are so desperate for money they agree to do their Uncle’s dirty work, but they are not prepared for the consequences of their actions.

I was fairly disappointed with Woody Allen’s effort with this movie. The film seemed to be a side project, which contained no meaning or importance to the director. A local High School theater company could of done better. The actors were left to stumble through their lines which was most apparent in the under the tree scene when Uncle Howard is asking the brothers to kill his business associate. Tom Wilkinson carried the scene with struggled improvisation.

From the very beginning the musical score (Philip Glass) was over the top. The music was on the verge of annoying and distracting. The score took away from my connection and empathy with the main characters. The musical score was more appropriate for a fight scene or a car chase not an emotional dark drama. 

The film would of benefited from a role reversal between Farrell and McGregor. Farrell’s portrayal of a sensitive and damaged workingman is just not convincing. McGregor, notable the better actor of the two, would of made Terry believable and provoked sympathy from the viewers.

I was excited to watch a new offering from a great director/writer, which also contained one of my favorite actors, but I was disappointed. The film was sloppily put together from the writing, directing, and even the music. I wouldn’t call this film a nightmare, but it’s not a pleasant dream either.

Rated PG-13