Talking Pictures

Based on the 1998 French farce “The Dinner Game” as well as the stage play, “Dinner for Schmucks,” starring Steve Carell and Paul Rudd, is a wonderfully funny and touching story about caring and friendship.

Although Steve Carell is a bit over the top from time to time as a wide-eyed imbecile, he is perfectly counterbalanced by Paul Rudd’s stick-in-the-mud corporate ladder climber.

Overall “Dinner for Schmucks” is well worth the ticket in. It gets a B and is rated PG-13.

Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore is an enjoyable romp with a tip of the hat to James Bond films and other spy films. Both kids and adults will enjoy the humor, action and gadgets as well as the satirical humor peppered throughout the movie.

For being a surprisingly fun summer film, I’m giving this one a B. It carries a PG rating for animal action and humor.

At first glance, Angelina Jolie’s latest film “Salt” is a rehash of the Bourne films with a bit of the “Fugitive” thrown in.

However, as the film progresses, the story gets sillier and sillier and more implausible as the film progresses. So much so, the audience is abruptly jarred from their suspension of belief and into the hard reality of “that just can’t happen!”

Jolie and co-star Liev Schreiber do well in their roles, with Schreiber doing the most credible work in this cat and mouse spy thriller.

But by the final reel, it’s just not enough to shake off the movie’s foolishness.

“Salt” is only average and deserves a C. It’s rated PG-13.

Let me begin by saying I have a place in my heart for a good sentimental love story. But “Charlie St. Cloud” isn’t one.

The film continuously hovers between being a sappy romance and a ghost story, but successfully never accomplishes either.

Unfortunately caught in between all this is Zac Effron, who is desperately trying to break out of his “High School Musical” persona and bite into meatier parts.

Effron is actually a good actor, but like a lot of good actors at the beginning of their careers, the parts offered them aren’t always good. Hopefully Effron will have better luck next time.

“Charlie St. Cloud” gets a D and is rated PG-13.

When it comes to portraying the best human beings can be, you can’t beat the lessons taught by the toys in Toy Story 3.

Back for a 3rd go round, Woody, Buzz and Jessie return in what just might be the summer’s best film.

In this new 3-D film, Andy is going off to college and the Toys are in a panic. Andy, it seems, has pretty much grown up and forgotten how to play with his old pals. Depressed and feeling useless, the toys try to figure out what’s next in their lives.

Before you know it, the toys are accidentally donated to a childcare facility and Buzz, Woody and the rest are at the mercy of the resident toys living there.

It is there the film really takes off and becomes (more than anything else) a “prison break” movie. And a pretty good one at that.

Pixar Animation is genus at bringing these toys to life in such a way you actually begin to think they’re real. The film is a perfect blend of humor, pathos and action presented in amazing 3-D animation.

Despite a slow start, the movie wins at every turn. Toy Story 3 gets an A and is rated G.

Although the location has changed from the original Karate Kid (1984) in this new version starring Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan, the theme remains the same.

The underdog learns from an unexpected master and finds his inner strength to defeat his oppressors. Along the way he leans a few valuable life lessons which will guide him on his path to adulthood.

The new Karate Kid is a film full of optimism and hope, and yet what makes the film work is by showing that all the characters have flaws and are dealing with their own pains and insecurities.

Jaden Smith not only does a believable job in the role of “Dre,” a kid uprooted from his home in Detroit and plopped down in China, but adds a depth of innocence behind the wisecracks. Smith, the son of Jada and Will Smith (who produced the movie) seriously has some acting chops of his own.

Jackie Chan’s portrayal of “Mr. Han,” (an apartment handyman who takes Dre under his wing), really shines in this re-imagining. His character has suffered a horrible tragedy. But as he begins to teach Dre, he also learns from his young student to overcome and rise above his self-induced unworthiness.

The Karate Kid is not a perfect film, it’s a bit too long (about 2 ½ hours), and its secondary characters are a bit to one-dimensional. But overall the film is worth your time to see.

It gets a B and is rated PG.

A big, explosive, fun popcorn-munching summer film. Director Joe Carnahan gets it. Period.

A film like this needs to be fun and fast-paced and the characters need to be comic book heroes who are bigger than life. Throw in a few laughs, and a couple of stunts we haven’t seen (like how to “fly” a tank) and you’ve got a great time in a movie theater. And that’s exactly what the A-Team delivers.

It gets a very solid B and is rated PG-13.

The 4th and final chapter of the Shrek series actually goes out on top.

In the new film, Shrek is bored with married life to Fiona and fatherhood. He misses the old days where his ogre-roar would have villagers running. He meets Rumpelstiltskin, a man with the power to turn back the clock and make him the ogre he once was. But there’s a catch (there always is)

The price is Shrek must give Rumpelstiltskin a day from his past. Not thinking things through clearly, Shrek agrees and wakes into a bizarre world where he never existed.

He must find Fiona and make her fall in love with him to break the spell.

Shrek Forever After bounces back from the 3rd film nicely. The film offers up a cockeyed look at Shrek’s world if Shrek never existed. In this animated “It’s a Wonderful Life,” Shrek realizes what is important and what is not, and we as the audience discover it as well.

Shrek Forever After gets a B+ and is rated PG.

Another update of the Robin Hood legend, this time starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett. In this Ridley Scott directed piece, Crowe is an archer in the army of Richard the Lionhearted and through a series of situations is mistaken for a nobleman.

When he returns to the nobleman’s home, a village called Nottingham, he is asked to continue the ruse to protect the nobleman’s land and family. He meets Marion (Cate Blanchett), the wife of the man he’s pretending to be and the two start to fall for each other.

Both Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett turn in better-than-average performances, but it isn’t enough to save the film from its long-winded feel.

As a story being told, the audience really needed more swashbuckling and bit more bravado.

What they received is a dark, brooding and sometimes morose man who is uninspired as a leader. Actually it is Cate Blanchett’s Marion who is more Robin Hood, than the Russell Crowe character.

Robin gets a B for its camerawork and acting. It’s rated PG-13.

Just Wright is one of those chick flicks that give chick flicks a bad name. Thinly written and avoiding even the smallest slice of reality, Just Wright hammers home the notion “Love will conquer all.”

Unfortunately 2/3rds of the film is devoted to a woman pursuing an NBA star using nothing but deceit, lies and her physical beauty to lure in and snag the player of her dreams.

Queen Latifah, who plays the “every girl” in the film, shows interest in the Basketball star (played by Common) but simply throws up her hands and acquiesces to her younger and beautiful friend.

When the NBA player has an injury and when it seems his days of playing are over, the younger and prettier woman abandons him and leaves him in the care of Queen Latifah’s character. It’s is then “love conquers all.”

Just Wright simply isn’t good fantasy nor is it moralistic as none of the characters seem to pay any price for their actions.

Just Wright gets a D and is rated PG.