Claire Forlani

After his wife dies, rising-star chef Rob (Scott) lets his career slide. His celebrity friend Gordon Ramsay urges him to get back in the game, as does his preteen daughter (Gibbs). So he buys the country pub his wife had her eye on and sets out to turn it into a home for honest British cuisine, including his signature trifle. The disgruntled village is also home to snooty-sexy American food critic Kate (Forlani), whose wannabe suitor, swishy landowner James (Hepworth), sets out to sabotage the pub. And then drunken TV critic Guy (Callow) pays a visit.

Continue reading: Love's Kitchen Review

The smart script for Boys and Girls, written by the humbly-credited "Drews", succeeds in part because Ryan and Jennifer nurture their unique friendship for nearly all of the film. While the inevitable Hollywood ending may be in viewers' minds from the get-go, The Drews and director Robert Iscove keep us guessing if this pair might ever connect with each other, and the sweet performances by Prinze and Forlani keep us interested.. The couple's interplay, and the machinations of their separate, frustrating lovelives, are satisfying enough that a sunshiny ending is not required.

Continue reading: Boys And Girls Review

Just about the time the fur was really flying between Microsoft and the Justice Department in 1999, screenwriter Howard Franklin ("The Man Who Knew Too Little") seized the day and scurried over to MGM with the kind of pitch that integrity-free studio execs love to hear: 25 words or less and based on an earlier, successful movie.

It must have gone something like this: What if we ripped off "The Firm," except instead of having a company full of evil lawyers trying to corrupt the hero, we'll feature a monopolizing Microsoft clone? We could get a low-rent, pretty boy matinee idol to play the college grad geek (he'll have no credibility, but what the hell? he'll bring in the teenage girls!) and he'll stumble on to a giant technology conspiracy masterminded by a very thinly veiled Bill Gates surrogate!

And thus was born "Antitrust," a transparent thriller from the recycle bin, transcribed into a laptop computer and retrofitted with an MP3 soundtrack, MTV editing and a cast of beautiful people where the nerds should be.

Continue reading: Antitrust Review

When Jackie Chan was in his low-budget, Hong Kong action-comedy prime, it was easy to forgive his better movies for simplistic plots and mediocre (sometimes downright bad) acting because enjoying them came down to two things: Chan's comedic charm and the dangerous, awe-inspiring, ingeniously choreographed fights and stunts that he always performed himself.

When Chan started making $60- to $100- million Hollywood films, it was reasonable to begin expecting more, but the star just hasn't lived up to those higher expectations except when sharing the load with ad-libbing, scene-stealing Owen Wilson in the buddy pictures "Shanghai Noon" and "Shanghai Knights."

But "The Medallion," which is a Hong Kong production made with Hollywood money, feels like the return of good ol' cheesy, charismatic, pardonably haphazard Jackie Chan -- even if the daredevil actor has finally begun accepting the inevitable ravages of age and injury.

Continue reading: The Medallion Review