‘Josie’ insults teens in ad-satire attempt

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In Theaters

JOSIE AND THE PUSSYCATS. 95 minutes, PG-13, written and directed by Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan.

In what’s essentially a 95-minute commercial for literally dozens of products, the corporations that make those products and the retailers that sell them, Harry Elfont and Deborah Kaplan’s live-action remake of the 1970s cartoon “Josie and the Pussycats” is a sham.

The movie wants audiences to believe it’s using its rampant product placement as a satirical means of commenting on corporate America’s influence on teens, but don’t be fooled. The film is never anything more than a blatant advertisement for all that it hauls across the screen – from an AOL hotel to a Target-sponsored plane to never-ending cameos from Coke, McDonald’s, Hostess, Cheer, Starbucks, Kodak, Nike, Ivory Soap, Krispy Kreme Donuts and Motorola.

And I’m naming just a few.

Sound entertaining? It isn’t. What’s worse is that the film is so intent on cluttering the screen with its parade of products, it forgets it’s supposed to be about something – namely, Josie and the Pussycats.

Elfont and Kaplan do present a shell of a story in that their film follows Josie (Rachael Leigh Cook), Valerie (Rosario Dawson) and the brain-dead Melody (Tara Reid) as they suffer all the usual pitfalls of fame when they hit it big in the world of pop music. But that shell is so weakened by poor writing, poor acting and a wealth of bad decisions, “Josie” ultimately pulls off a feat no one saw coming – in comparison, it makes “Spice World” seem eminently watchable.

With Parker Posey, Alan Cumming, Missie Pyle and Paulo Costanzo wasted in weak supporting roles, “Josie and the Pussycats” never escapes the irony at its core. If it’s supposed to be a condemnation of corporate America’s eagerness to do anything to get a piece of the all-important teen dollar, then how do Kaplan and Elfont explain the existence of the film’s soundtrack? Or the Josie and the Pussycats dolls, toys, key chains, bubble gum and trinkets now appearing in stores?

They can’t. But what’s more insulting to the film’s target audience of preteen and teen-age girls is all this talk of how “Josie and the Pussycats” allegedly empowers girls, which is ridiculous. If Hollywood is truly interested in empowering young women, perhaps it should try doing so in a film that not only respects them, but which isn’t stacked to make a buck off them.

Sound radical? It will to Hollywood.

Grade: F

On Video and DVD

FINDING FORRESTER. 133 minutes, PG-13, directed by Gus Van Sant, written by Mike Rich.

After failing to deliver a watchable remake of Hitchock’s “Psycho,” Gus Van Sant scores with “Finding Forrester,” a good movie with good performances that goes a long way in making audiences feel, well, good about a whole lot of things, not the least of which is Mr. Van Sant and his future as a director of mainstream films.

His latest stars Sean Connery as William Forrester, a J.D. Salinger knockoff of a certain age who, in his youth, wrote the great American novel – and then stopped.

The film is less about why Forrester stopped publishing novels than it is about the relationship between Forrester and Jamal Wallace (Rob Brown), a gifted 16-year-old writer from the Bronx who meets Forrester on a dare, is intrigued by what he finds, and then struggles to form a relationship with the man.

Since this is a formulaic Hollywood tale, it’s no surprise that their lives are forever changed by the experience of coming to know one another. But what does surprise is how enjoyable the film is in spite of its predictability and how easily it recalls “Dead Poets Society” and “Good Will Hunting” – Van Sant’s other movie about a young genius who does well.

In his film debut, Brown easily holds his own opposite Connery; together they have a chemistry that creates interest even while Mike Rich’s script is content to only go through the motions. Better yet is Connery, who once again proves his versatility; indeed, his Forrester is wise yet vulnerable, a writer’s writer who respects Jamal’s talent enough to give it room to breathe, while gently coaxing it with useful insights into the craft.

With F. Murray Abraham, Busta Rhymes, Anna Paquin and April Grace rounding out a fine cast, “Finding Forrester” does an admirable job of keeping the schmaltz at bay while, at the end, delivering a genuine surprise: an effective, unbilled cameo by an actor Van Sant once directed to stardom.

Grade: B+

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays in Style, Thursdays in the scene, Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

THE VIDEO CORNER

Renting a video? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores.

Bamboozled ? B+

Finding Forrester ? B+

The Ladies Man ? D+

Bounce ? B+

Men of Honor ? C-

Space Cowboys ? B+

Girlfight ? A-

102 Dalmatians ? B+

The Legend of

Bagger Vance ? D

Kestrel?s Eye ? A

Red Planet ? C+

Rugrats in Paris ? B+

Time Regained ? B+

Charlie?s Angels ? B+

The Legend of

Drunken Master ? B+

Lucky Numbers ? D-

Remember the Titans ? D

Almost Famous ? A

The Crew ? D

The 6th Day ? C+

The Tao of Steve ? B+

Meet the Parents ? B+

Wonder Boys ? A

Bedazzled ? B-

Lost Souls ? F

Nurse Betty ? C+

Beautiful ? D

Book of Shadows:

Blair Witch II ? F

The Original Kings

of Comedy ? B+

The Watcher ? F

The Adventures of

Rocky and Bullwinkle ? D

Bless the Child ? D

Bring it On ? B+

Get Carter ? D-

Woman on Top ? B+

Urban Legends: Final

Cut ? D-

Whipped ? F-

Cecil B. Demented ? C

Dinosaur ? B

Dr. T and the Women ? D

The Eyes of Tammy

Faye ? B+

Jesus? Son ? A-

Solomon and Gaenor ? B+

What Lies Beneath ? B

Bait ? F

Battlefield Earth ? F-

Coyote Ugly ? C-

Disney?s The Kid ? B+

Me, Myself & Irene ? C+

Autumn in New York ? F

Hollow Man ? C-

The Art of War ? F

The Exorcist: The Version

You?ve Never Seen ? A

Godzilla 2000 ? B+

The Cell ? B

Road Trip ? D-

Saving Grace ? A-

Where the Money Is ? C+

The Virgin Suicides ? B+

Loser ? C-