DVD Corner

Each week, BDN film critic Christopher Smith will contribute reviews to DVD Corner

“THE WEDDING DATE”: A cute, formulaic romp with Debra Messing as Kat Ellis, a desperate Virgin Atlantic employee who hires a gigolo for $6,000 so she can save face at her sister’s wedding in London, where Kat’s ex-fiance, Jeff (Jeremy Sheffield), happens to be best man. Since it’s Jeff who dumped Kat, she finds it unthinkable to show up at the wedding alone. Call her crazy, but in spite of all that she has going for her – her sense of humor, her charm, her looks, a successful career – her self worth is nevertheless placed on who she’s with, not who she is. Poor Kat. But along comes Nick Mercer (Dermot Mulroney), a smooth wedge of Wellington with a Brown education to match his bedroom brown eyes. Nick is, as they say, a professional escort, which in Kat’s case doesn’t necessarily mean sex for cash, but the sort of guy who can look good on her arm, read a situation, understand his part in it, flirt with her just enough to make Jeff jealous, and provide the necessary mortar to make sure nothing crumbles during their long weekend abroad. It crumbles. Obvious echoes of “Pretty Woman,” “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” “Bridget Jones’ Diary,” and “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” which also starred Mulroney, run throughout, and while much of it fails to be new or believable, “Date” still entertains. The chemistry between Messing and Mulroney is undeniable, sometimes the dialogue is bright, and the stock characters are appealing. As for Messing, she’s a movie star. This is her first starring role in a movie and she proves consistently watchable – even if the material isn’t exactly fresh, and even if she is only playing a variation of her character Grace from “Will and Grace.” Is there something deeper for her to reveal? Don’t bet against her. Grade: B

“SIN CITY”: An oddly overlooked, blistering potboiler infused with high-end style. The look is sexy and disarming, often beautiful and then, in an instant, drop-dead ugly. The good news? None of it comes at the expense of substance. Inspired by Frank Miller’s popular series of graphic novels, this violent, sometimes boldly funny film taps into the meanest of genres – the hard-boiled detective novel and pulp fiction, as well as the film noir movement they inspired. Three stories hold it together – “Yellow Bastard,” “The Hard Goodbye” and “The Big Fat Kill.” All are a nonlinear rush, with directors Miller, Robert Rodriguez and guest director Quentin Tarantino taking good care of you along the way. The film features an excellent cast in Bruce Willis, Clive Owen, Benecio Del Toro, Brittany Murphy, Rosario Dawson and an almost unrecognizable Mickey Rourke in the comeback role to beat this year. The stories they inhabit are concerned with the state of the world’s rotting underbelly, a seething infestation of crooks and other vermin that needs a good cleaning. It gets one, but not before heads fly and limbs are lopped. Grade: A-

“THE BROWN BUNNY”: A movie whose content and press almost got the best of it. Here is the film in which Chloe Sevigny famously fellates writer, director and star Vincent Gallo, for three minutes onscreen. Here is the movie in which Gallo, furious at Roger Ebert’s negative review, publicly put a curse on that critic’s colon. Sorting it all out comes down to this – the movie isn’t as cuddly as its title suggests (far from it), but on a voyeuristic level, it does create a mood of loneliness, generating interest within the nagging tedium. This curious, wholly self-involved road movie stars Gallo as Bud Clay, a motorcycle racer on a cross-country quest to forget his girlfriend (Sevigny). Along the way, we get long stretches of road, long stretches of Gallo’s profile, short stints in which he meets an odd array of women, including, in one scene, former supermodel Cheryl Tiegs, who quickly gets down to business. Considering the lack of dialogue (and communication), the movie might as well be silent. For much of the film, it seems as if Gallo is trying to achieve something that isn’t there – a meaningful movie. But then he does something unexpected. In the film’s closing moments, he unleashes a surprise that gives it weight. Those who hang in there might argue that it comes too late. Grade: C

Other Reviews

“UNDECLARED: THE COMPLETE SERIES”: The forces behind “Freaks and Geeks” struck again with this clever Fox college comedy, with one unaired episode included here. Jay Baruchel (“Million Dollar Baby”) plays freshman Steven, who pines for the girl (Carla Gallo) across the dorm. Charlie Hunnam, Monica Keena and Loudon Wainwright III also star. Noteworthy guest stars include Will Ferrell, Mary Kay Place and Tom Welling (“Smallville”).

“I LOVE LUCY: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON”: If you appreciate the famous image of Lucille Ball stomping around in a vat of grapes, this latest four-disc DVD set of her classic sitcom includes the episode it came from: “Lucy’s Italian Movie.” It figures into a prolonged story arc that takes Lucy Ricardo (Ball), Ricky (Desi Arnaz) and Fred and Ethel Mertz (William Frawley, Vivian Vance) on a trek across Europe. John Wayne and Charles Boyer are among the season’s guest stars.

“THE ANDY GRIFFITH SHOW: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON”: Viewers were comfortable with Sheriff Andy Taylor (Griffith) and his Mayberry neighbors by the time this gentle sitcom hit year three, but another classic home-screen character was about to be introduced. During this year of the show, Jim Nabors made his debut as Gomer Pyle, the gas-station worker who would enter the Marine Corps in his own spinoff series. Another episode marked the arrival of the mountain family the Darlings. Don Knotts, Frances Bavier and Ronny Howard also star in the five-disc DVD set.