Puccini For Beginners

Rating: Not Rated

Movie Release Date: February 2, 2007

DVD Release Date: July 3, 2007

Plot 411: After her girlfriend breaks up with her, Allegra falls for a guy and a girl who are former lovers.

Review: This is a humorous look at today's dating game as the playing field keeps getting diverse and causing the rules to be completely obscure. Allegra (Elizabeth Reaser) is a little distraught after her girlfriend Samantha (Julianne Nicholson) breaks up with her. She sees the world as consisting of two types of people - those who follow their heads and those who follow their hearts. She has always made her head the priority and in the process grows afraid of revealing her feelings and trusting her heart. This behavior pushes her lovers away, yet she believes she was never meant to be alone. When she meets Philip (Justin Kirk) at a party and Grace (Gretchen Mol) at the movies she is instantly attracted to both of them. What starts out as a fun adventure to help take her mind off of Samantha quickly turns serious when she discovers that Philip and Grace are ex-lovers. This movie tackles hetero- and homosexual stereotypes as well as the conventions of love, marriage and commitment. It's too intellectual (with all its discussion of philosophy, feminism, post-modernism, opera, etc.) for a regular rom com, and I think this can be a barrier for mainstream audiences. The movie is fiesty and quirky, but somehow I don't relate with the characters. They come off as egocentric and neurotic despite their overly abundant intelligence and Reaser's attempt to be completely likable.

Watch It: For a great performance by Elizabeth Reaser. She somehow seems very similar to her Grey's Anatomy character in this movie.

Skip It: If you're looking for a good, independent romantic comedy.

Meet The Browns

Rating: PG-13

Movie Release Date: March 21, 2008

DVD Release Date: July 1, 2008

Plot 411: A woman takes her three children from Chicago to Georgia to meet the father she's never known for the first time at his funeral.

Review: This is another Tyler Perry great. He's cornered the market on African American family dramas with a twist of romantic comedy. All of his films deal with real-life hardships that happen to good Christian people. Despite the fact that his movies are always loaded with moral lessons, he doesn't get too preachy. His plots are all authentic and people are able to see their own lives in these movies. In Meet The Browns, Brenda (Angela Bassett) is having a hard time making ends meet for her and her three children. She loses her job and her power is shut off. Things couldn't look any worse than they are. She receives a letter informing her that her father has died and some bus tickets to Georgia. She's never met the man before but decides to go down and pay her respects. When she gets there, she meets her extended family, including her half sister Vera (Jenifer Lewis) and two half brothers Leroy (David Mann) and L.B. (Frankie Fasion). Lewis and Mann steal the show with all of their outrageous antics. They will make you crack up! I love Lewis in particular because she's so damn obnoxious. Bassett, as always, is wonderful and amazingly slips from one emotion to the next. She makes Brenda seem so real and alive. She pulls the audience in and we connect with Brenda. We're Brenda champions - with her every step of the way.

Watch It: If you like Madea films. She makes a great cameo in this one.

Skip It: If you're looking for a true romantic comedy. This one's a tad on the serious drama side.

Ordinary People

Rating: R

Movie Release Date: September 19, 1980

DVD Release Date: August 14, 2001

Plot 411: The fallout experienced by a family after the tragic death of their eldest son.

Review: This is another movie about a dysfunctional family that is struggling to cope with a death. Timothy Hutton plays Conrad, a teen who is involved in a boating accident that kills his brother. His survivor's guilt and depression eventually lead him to attempt suicide. He is hospitalized and the movie begins upon his return home. His parents, Calvin (Donald Sutherland) and Beth (Mary Tyler Moore), each deal with what's happened in a different way. Beth is especially distant and cold. She desperately clings to rituals and social norms like dinner parties. She refuses to even discuss her son's death and becomes an emotional hermit. This self-defense mechanism she uses isolates her from both her husband and son and causes Conrad a lot of emotional turmoil. It's almost as if she blames him for living while her other son, who of course is her favorite, dies. Calvin, on the other hand, is more emotionally giving, yet he still walks on eggshells around his wife. Because he is able to connect better with Conrad, there is a little tension between him and his wife. This is a really intriguing look into an upper-class family, who are so restricted by social conventions that they are unable to properly mourn their loss. Beth, especially, uses this to avoid feeling any kind of emotion. She really is hurtful and it makes you despise her. Still, her reaction is perfectly normal when seen as an individual response and you can't really blame her much. It jus makes you feel sad for the family as they seem to pull away from each other. Throughout the film "Pachelbel's Canon" plays in the background, which also creates a pretty haunting and melancholy feel. Also in this movie are Elizabeth McGovern, a girl who begins to help Conrad become "normal" again, and Judd Hirsch, Conrad's shrink.

Watch It: For an intense and emotional experience of love and loss.

Skip It: If you're already on Prozac because this will make you want to up your dosage.