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Posted: 5:23 PM- Five Sundance film reviews:
"Fear(s) of the Dark"
(three stars out of four)
The stories in this anthology have two things in common: They are all animated in stark black, white and gray (with the occasional flashes of blood red), and they each play on primal fears ranging from spiders to abandonment. The vignettes, in styles as varied as Charles Burns' two-tone line images and the raw sketchwork of the French artist Blutch, are all arrestingly animated and disturbingly effective. (New Frontier)
"Triage: Dr. James Orbinski's Humanitarian Dilemma"
(three stars)
This Canadian documentary follows James Orbinski - the former president of the aid group Medicines Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) - as he returns to the African hotspots of Somalia and Rwanda where he witnessed civil war, genocide and massive suffering. Director Patrick Read doesn't go for easy tearjerking, in spite of footage that would easily allow it. Instead, he does the harder trick of enlivening Orbinski's intellectual debate with himself about the reach and the limits of humanitarianism. (World Documentary competition)
"American Son"
(three and a half stars)
Don't pigeonhole director Neil Abramson's drama as "an Iraq movie." The main character, Mike (Nick Cannon), is a newly minted Marine about to deploy to Iraq. But the combat he faces first is battling his past, as he takes a 96-hour leave to his home in Bakersfield, Calif. - dealing with his taciturn dad (Chi McBride) and step-dad (Tom Sizemore), the jealousy of his stuck-in-poverty best friend (Matt O'Leary) and a tender tentative romance with a college gal (Melonie Diaz). Eric Schmid's understated script and strong performances by Cannon and Diaz make Mike's internal war as ferocious as the one he'll soon fight in Iraq. (U.S. Dramatic competition)
"The Last Word"
(two stars)
The premise of Geoff Haley's dark comedy is oddly appealing: An L.A. writer who writes freelance suicide notes for other people falls for the sister of one of his clients. But the casting is off - Wes Bentley ("American Beauty," "P2") is too deadpan to be sympathetic, and Winona Ryder too vivacious to make her character's romance with this sad sack workable. Ray Romano, as a depressed composer, provides the movie's spark of humor. (U.S. Dramatic competition)
"Be Kind Rewind"
(three stars)
Get through the first half-hour, through the "yeah, right" set up of Jerry (Jack Black) getting magnetized and erasing every VHS tape in the rundown New Jersey store run by his buddy Mike (Mos Def), and everything will be fine. When Jerry, Mike and cute neighbor Alma (Melonie Diaz) have to re-enact the erased movies - with junkyard versions of "Ghostbusters," "2001," "RoboCop" and many other films - the do-it-yourself joys of writer-director Michel Gondry's whimsy shine through. (Premieres)