MOVIE REVIEWS

Robin Hood
By John P. McCarthy
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Filmmakers can have myriad reasons for revisiting stories and characters that have captivated moviegoers in the past -- all of which become moot if the new work engages on its own terms. Regrettably, that's not the case with Robin Hood (Universal), the latest collaboration between director Ridley Scott and star Russell Crowe.

Unlike their 2000 Oscar-winner Gladiator Robin Hood lacks energy and emotion. Despite approaching the legend from a novel angle, this enervating adventure prompts the question, "Why bother?"

Credit Scott and screenwriter Brian Helgelund for offering a serious piece concerning civil rights, set amid the mayhem and machinations of 13th-century Anglo-French politics. There's nothing frivolous or egregious about the effort, yet the social-justice theme gets tamped down along with the swashbuckling and entertainment value.

The action begins prior to Robin Longstride (to use his Saxon surname) becoming an enemy of the crown. Toward the end of his service as an archer on King Richard the Lionheart's (Danny Huston) decade-long Crusade, he has the temerity to criticize the monarch for slaughtering innocent Muslims. Following Richard's death shortly thereafter, Robin deserts, returning to England with the assumed identity of a slain knight.

Together with a small cohort, he travels to Nottingham where he's welcomed as the son of local nobleman Sir Walter Loxley (Max Von Sydow). This ruse entails posing as husband to Lady Marion (Cate Blanchett), who has been struggling to manage the family's feudal estate despite the exorbitant taxation imposed by Richard's doltish brother John (Oscar Isaac) and John's scheming aid Godfrey (Mark Strong).

Since these exactions have angered landowners and further impoverished the common folk, civil war looms, so someone must stand up for all that is just and unify the realm. Robin -- whose late father helped draft a human rights charter before being executed -- fits the bill.

In addition to telling Robin's back story, the key innovation is presenting Marion as the opposite of a dainty damsel. She's a courageous fighter, quick to take up arms. Unfortunately, this feminist twist doesn't translate into stirring action sequences; it does mute the romance, however, since there's little time for warm sentiments amid all the political intrigue and salubrious civics lessons.

Robin Hood is thematically ambitious at the expense of excitement. And any assumption that its production values would be relatively superior to past versions proves incorrect; both tone and texture are disappointingly flat.

Overall, it hovers on the edge of bawdiness, and despite the elements listed below, Robin Hood may be acceptable for some mature teenagers.

The film contains much -- mostly bloodless -- battle violence, a nongraphic sexual situation with fleeting rear nudity, an attempted rape, callous clergy, some innuendo and anatomical references and one instance each of crude and crass language. The Catholic News Service classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
- - -
McCarthy is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

Letters to Juliet
By Joseph McAleer
Catholic News Service

NEW YORK (CNS) -- Letters to Juliet (Summit) is a good-humoured, old-fashioned, multigenerational romantic comedy -- set against the backdrop of a picturesque Italian travelogue -- that will have daughters, mothers, and grandmothers pondering the same question: "Does true love have an expiration date?"

Our heroine is Sophie (Amanda Seyfried), a fact-checker for The New Yorker magazine and an aspiring writer who travels to Italy with her fiance, Victor (Gael Garcia Bernal), a chef who is opening a new restaurant. They land in Verona, the "City of Lovers," where the spirit of Shakespeare's tragedy Romeo and Juliet -- which takes place there -- still looms large.

When food-obsessed Victor sets off in search of the perfect truffle, Sophie is left to explore the town on her own. She visits the house traditionally identified as Juliet Capulet's, complete with the famous balcony, and discovers a kind of Wailing Wall for the amorous, where lovesick women leave letters seeking relationship advice. These missives are answered by the ladies of the "Club di Giulietta," who take Sophie under their wing.

Sophie finds a 50-year-old letter hidden in the wall by an Englishwoman named Claire, and decides to answer it.

Only days later, Claire -- all grown up into the luminous Vanessa Redgrave -- returns to Verona, determined to find Lorenzo, her one true love of a half-century ago. She bonds with Sophie, much to the chagrin of her skeptical grandson, Charlie (Christopher Egan), and the unlikely trio sets off on their mission, determined to succeed despite the dozens of phony Lorenzos who cross their path.

The picture-perfect views of the Italian countryside and of magnificent cities such as Siena are a major bonus of Letters to Juliet and fit the ultra-romantic tone of the film.

Will Claire be reunited with her Lorenzo? Will Sophie's fiance find her more interesting than Italian cuisine? Is there a romantic heart beating inside Charlie's cold exterior? Put it this way: Letters to Juliet ends a lot more happily than Shakespeare's play, and in a manner worthy of a Harlequin romance novel.

Directed by Gary Winick (Bride Wars, Charlotte's Web), Letters to Juliet is one of those rare contemporary Hollywood films that explore -- in a respectful and sincere way -- time-honoured themes of love, family, loss and destiny. Apart from the elements mentioned below, moreover, this is a generally wholesome film that can be enjoyed by most family members.

The film contains an implied premarital relationship and a brief obscene gesture. The Catholic News Service classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
- - -
McAleer is a guest reviewer for Catholic News Service. More reviews are available online at www.usccb.org/movies.

Copyright (c) 2010 Catholic News Service/U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops