Reviews

Films

Speed Racer

Directed by Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski, starring Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon

Speed Racer is a young man born with natural racing instincts. His goal is to win The Crucible, a cross-country car racing rally that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer.

The young man is loyal to the family business, run by his parents Pops and Mom. Pops designed Speed's car, the Mach 5. The owner of Royalton Industries makes Speed a lucrative offer, but he rejects it, angering the owner.

Speed also uncovers a secret that top corporates, including Royalton, are manipulating the top drivers to gain profit. If Speed won't drive for Royalton, the mogul will make Mach 5 fail in the race. Speed finds support from his parents and his girlfriend Trixie and enters the race in partnership with his one-time rival, Racer X, seeking to rescue his family's business and the racing sport's spirit.

More than the story of the Racer family, Speed Racer is the visual autobiography of the Wachowskis and their pit crew of computer-nerd Einsteins, using the tools of their trade to transform the movie medium, says Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine.

For a movie about velocity, the excitement factor is low and the races feel like a drag, says Claudia Puig, USA Today. Liu Wei

Baby Mama

Directed by Michael McCullers, starring Amy Poehler, Tina Fey

Successful and single businesswoman Kate Holbrook finally decided to have a baby at 37, after years of putting her career ahead of personal life. But her doctor tells her that her chances of getting pregnant are one in a million.

She is so desperate that she will tolerate the presence of a surrogate - South Philly working girl Angie in her life. And when pregnant Angie moves into her employer's spotless apartment, the contrasting foibles of class, socio-economics, and wardrobe choices are all too broadly sketched by the two femme comrades.

It's a movie that deals in emotion and attempts to pass counterfeit goods. There's nothing there. And yet by the deprived standards of the modern romantic comedy, one would have to say, well, it's not bad, says Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle.

Austin Powers screen mastermind Michael McCullers is the guy behind this sorta same-sex parenting satire, as SNL's Tina Fey and Amy Poehler do an extreme odd couple for laughs duet, ripping into the burgeoning baby consumer industry, says Prairie Miller, NewsBlaze. LW

Made of Honour

Directed by Paul Weiland, starring Patrick Dempsey, Michelle Monaghan

There is nothing to complain about in Tom's life. He is sexy, successful, has great luck with the ladies. He knows he can always rely on Hannah, his delightful best friend who he has known since college.

Things change when Hannah goes overseas to Scotland on a six-week business trip, during which Tom is stunned to realize how empty his life is without her. When Hannah comes back, Tom is told that she is engaged to a handsome and wealthy Scotsman and is going to move overseas. Hannah asks Tom to be her maid of honor. He accepts the role reluctantly, with an attempt to stop the wedding and win her back.

The romantic comedy Made of Honour adds tart satirical flavors to a cotton-candy formula without sabotaging the sugar rush, says Stephen Holden, New York Times.

Dempsey and Monaghan - and the rest of the cast, for that matter - give it their all, but it just isn't enough to lift this formulaic nonsense out of the stew of mediocrity in which it merely simmers from start to finish, says Bill Zwecker, Chicago Sun-Times. LW

(China Daily 05/15/2008 page20)