The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest (Rated R) (Swedish with English subtitles)
This film is adapted from the last book in the fabulously successful “Millennium Trilogy,” by Swedish author and journalist, Stieg Larsson (1954-2004), which has sold more than 21 million copies (print and digital). A newbie to the series (“Hornet’s Nest” is preceded by The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and The Girl Who Played with Fire), I plopped into my seat with two questions: Would I be lost having not seen the first two films? And, is the movie a compelling stand-alone experience? Even at nearly 2½ hours, with subtitles, (making it an unlikely blockbuster), the answer to both questions is, “Yes.” Be forewarned, however, there’s darkness ahead, but much of the most disturbing material is presented off screen. The film opens with two bloody victims, a young woman with impossibly high cheekbones, our silent and wary heroine, Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace), and her Russian father, Alexander Zalachenko (Georgei Staykov). Both are gravely injured and although they lie just a few rooms apart in the hospital, the emotional distance between them looms large. Lisbeth, already a triple murder suspect, is now also accused of attempting to murder her father, a Russian operative with a murky past. We are also introduced to a third member of the clan, Lisbeth’s half-brother, a hulking, blonde sociopath, Ronald Niedermann (Micke Spreitz), who twists a cop’s neck like a Barbie doll’s, without a flicker of regret. This family puts the “dys” in dysfunction. Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist), a journalist at Millennium magazine, drives the plot by investigating clandestine operations that involve the aforementioned characters as well as high-level officials in the Swedish government. Persistent to the point of obnoxiousness, he convinces his pregnant sister Annika (Annika Hallin) to represent Lisbeth in court. Over the course of the film, we are privy to unspeakable abuse that has left Lisbeth nearly mute. Mikael’s actions suggest they have a strong bond, but the film does little to explain their prior relationship. Sordid sex and political shenanigans frame what is essentially an old-fashioned story about friendship, the paradoxical nature of familial bonds, and the pursuit of truth in a world gone sane where investigative journalism still matters.

Love and Other Drugs (Rated R)
Two charismatic leads with great sexual chemistry almost make this film worth your time. We know from director Edward Zwick’s long-ago success with the ground-breaking TV show, Thirtysomething, that he can coax strong performances from female leads. Here, Anne Hathaway rises above clichéd material as Maggie Murdock to bare it all, figuratively and literally. She plays an artist with not just a healthy sexual appetite, but also early-onset Parkinson’s disease. Maggie meets her match in the charming and glib Jamie Randall, (Jake Gyllenhaal), an ambitious pharmaceutical sales rep for Pfizer. The steamy sex scenes serve the story, convincingly portraying initial lust morphing into something akin to love. But Maggie will have none of that sentimental slop. Terrified of being a burden, she scares men away before they can get too close. But Jamie is not easily deterred. The film also attempts to take a satiric look at Big Pharma, but it’s no Thanks for Smoking, a superior send-up of the tobacco industry. Still, there are semi-amusing supporting performances by Oliver Platt and Hank Azaria. Josh Gad is woefully miscast as Gyllenhaal’s younger brother. Looks aside, his misogynistic character is so offensive that it’s hard to swallow that the parents, played by George Segal and the late, great Jill Clayburgh, could spawn such a being. The film teeters on the edge of disaster with its uneven tone and odd casting, but Hathaway and Gyllenhaal class it up just enough to keep things mildly entertaining.

Fair Game (Rated PG-13)
Outstanding performances by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn are the real reason to see this tepid dramatization of the Valerie Plame scandal, directed by Doug Liman (Swingers, Go, The Bourne Identity). Watts plays Plame, a respected CIA operative, and Penn, Joe Wilson, her husband, a career diplomat and former ambassador to Gabon. Liman’s jerky, handheld camera work plunges us into the chaos of the Middle East where Plame has multiple sensitive operations in play. He contrasts her globe-trotting escapades with domestic scenes back home in the Palisades. Their active youngsters demand their attention and the couple routinely “relaxes” with a group of old friends over dinner where the principled but argumentative Wilson takes a guest to task for his prejudiced views, seemingly oblivious to his effect on others. His external volubility is in sharp contrast to the more internal, secretive Plame. Critical to her work is the ability to forge strong relationships and win the trust of people who have been consistently betrayed. But, they share the same steely toughness. Following a fact-finding mission to Niger at the CIA’s behest, on July 6, 2003, Wilson published an Op-Ed piece in the New York Times titled, “What I Didn’t Find in Africa,” which stated that “some of the intelligence related to Iraq’s nuclear weapons program was twisted to exaggerate the Iraqi threat.” Angry about Wilson’s outspokenness, the Bush White House subsequently targeted Plame as “fair game,” leaking information that blew her cover. This dishonest and criminal action jeopardized years of her painstaking work, likely resulted in people being killed, and shattered the reputations of Plame and Wilson. It also threatened to unravel their marriage. While Wilson is portrayed with a plethora of human foibles, he is the clear moral center in the maelstrom.

Burlesque (Rated PG-13)
In this cliché-ridden musical, Christina Aguilera is quite good as Ali, a waitress who ditches small-town Iowa for the City of Angels and the Burlesque Club on the Sunset Strip, now fallen on hard times. The incomparable Cher plays Tess, the club owner, determined to hang on to her business, despite pressure from developers to sell. With big-city moxie, Ali talks her way into a job as one of the showgirls. Her boozy rival, Nikki (played by Kristen Bell) smells trouble, but her fondness for the bottle compromises her performance and puts Ali center stage one night. She wows the audience and more importantly, Tess, with her lusty set of pipes, infusing new hope into the dying enterprise. Of course, there’s the requisite romance with Jack (Cam Gigandet), the hunky bartender whose self-centered fiancée is conveniently away in New York City paving the way for Ali to temporarily share his apartment. It’s inevitable that romance will bloom. This painfully predictable movie, however, is not without its pleasures, including Stanley Tucci reprising his The Devil Wears Prada, shtick as the faithful sidekick. And, charismatic Cher, despite a limited range of facial expression, is watchable no matter what she does. But, for more nuanced characters, check out her stellar performances in Silkwood, Moonstruck, or Mermaids.

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