In theaters

LIFE AS A HOUSE, directed by Irwin Winkler. Written by Mark Andrus. 128 minutes. Rated R.

Irwin Winkler’s “Life as a House” stars Kevin Kline as George Munroe, a divorced, middle-aged, out-of-work architect trying to fix his broken relationships before cancer fixes him.

With only four months to live, the task at hand is monumental – George took a wrecking ball to his relationships long ago. But he’s nevertheless a man with a plan. He believes that by tearing down his old shack of a house and building his dream home with the help of his 16-year-old son, Sam (Hayden Christensen), he also can rebuild what’s left of his disappointing life and reconnect with himself and his family before it’s too late.

He certainly has some hammering to do. As this well-acted yet overly sentimental film goes through the range of its melodramatic motions, it makes certain that George has to pound through layers of emotional bedrock before getting through to anyone.

His main problem isn’t just the cancer threading through his system or his chilly relationship with his ex-wife, Robin (Kristin Scott Thomas), who’s suffering through a conveniently muddy second marriage to a jerk named Peter (Jamey Sheridan).

Instead, George’s real problem – and the one he most wants to fix – is his relationship with Sam, a troubled, self-loathing, drug-addicted wreck whose idea of fun is to hang himself in his bedroom closet as a means for sexual pleasure – and whose idea of making quick money involves becoming a male prostitute.

Peppered with body piercings and a shock of blue hair, Sam, by all appearances, has nothing in common with his more conservative father. But as this predictable film lays the purple foundation of its story and starts to pick away at it, there’s never a question of how it will all turn out.

With Mary Steenburgen as George’s frisky neighbor and Jena Malone as Sam’s feisty love interest, “Life as a House” has good intentions, a fine supporting cast and a few genuine moments sandwiched between the cheese of Mark Andrus’ script. But since Winkler is more interested in manufacturing emotions than he is in creating something real, much of his film feels like a connect-the-dot Lifetime original movie that somehow bulldozed its way onto the big screen.

Grade: C

On video and DVD

JURASSIC PARK III, directed by Joe Johnston. Written by Peter Buchman, Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor. 90 minutes. PG-13.

Joe Johnston’s “Jurassic Park III” gives only passing mention to the series’ last film, 1997’s “The Lost World,” before behaving as if it never existed.

It features the return of Sam Neill as paleontologist Alan Grant, a man who makes the brave announcement that “no force on Earth or heaven will get me back on that island” just moments before he climbs into a plane and leaves for Isla Sorna with a group of fools led by Paul and Amanda Kirby (William H. Macy and Tea Leoni).

The reason for Grant’s change of mind is simple – the recently divorced Kirbys have agreed to underwrite his research if he gives them an aerial tour of the island’s prehistoric inhabitants. Of course, they have other things in mind, which I’ll leave for you, but none of it ever matters as much as getting everyone on the ground so they can become dinosaur snacks.

As such, “Jurassic Park III” offers audiences a fair amount to chew on, especially since the raptors are back in action and smarter than ever, good ol’ T. rex is stomping about but, frankly, looking a little shopworn, and two new species – the huge, carnivorous spinosaurus and the winged pteranodons – are up for sparking the action with their own brand of trouble.

Watching the film – a lean, well-oiled 90 minutes – one would think no technical advances have been made since 1993’s “Jurassic Park”; everything looks the same. But then, if you happened to see “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within” or the recent “Waking Life,” you know there have been enormous leaps forward in computer animation. So why don’t Johnston’s dinosaurs look better?

After scaring up a surprising $180 million at the summer box office, perhaps they will when “Jurassic Park IV” hits theaters.

Grade: B-

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, 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-DVD Corner

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

Hedwig and the

Angry Inch ? A

Jurassic Park III ? B-

Lost & Delirious ? C-

Rush Hour 2 ? D

The Score ? B

American Outlaws ? F

Ghost of Mars ? C-

Pearl Harbor ? D

Summer Catch? C-

Bread and Roses ? A-

Divided We Fall ? A

Made ? B

Pootie Tang ? D+

Osmosis Jones ? C-

Dr. Suess’ How the Grinch

Stole Christmas ? D+

Planet of the Apes ? C-

America’s Sweethearts ? D+

crazy/beautiful ? B

Tomb Raider ? D+

Doctor Zhivago

(DVD debut) ? A-

The Golden Bowl ? C+

Legally Blonde ? B+

Shrek ? A-

Aimee & Jaguar ? A

The Animal ? B

Swordfish ? C

With a Friend Like Harry ? A-

Dr. Dolittle 2 ? C-

Dumbo (DVD debut) ? A

Final Fantasy:

The Spirits Within ? C+

Freddy Got Fingered ? BOMB

Monty Python and

the Holy Grail ?B+

Angel Eyes ? C+

Cats & Dogs ? B+

Star Wars: The Phantom

Menace (DVD debut) ? B

Town & Country ? C+

Bridget Jones’s Diary ? A-

One Night at McCool’s ? C-

Snow White and the Seven

Dwarfs (DVD debut) ? A+

Heartbreakers ? B+

The Mummy Returns ? D

Along Came a Spider ? C-

Citizen Kane

(DVD debut) ? A+

A Knight’s Tale ? C

Amores Perros ? A

Crocodile Dundee in

Los Angeles ? C-

Driven ? D

The Luzhin Defense ? B+

Startup.com ? A-

The Widow of St. Pierre ? A-

Spy Kids ? A-

Blow ? D+

Someone Like You ? D

The Dish ? A-

Exit Wounds ? D

Memento ? A-

The Tailor of Panama ? A-

Joe Dirt ? D+

See Spot Run ? F

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate

Factory (DVD debut) ? A-

Hannibal ? C+

Say it Isn’t So ? D

15 Minutes ? D+

Blow Dry ? C+

Enemy at the Gates ? C