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The Lucky Ones" is the latest casualty in Hollywood's unsatisfying parade of war-on-terror dramas, a movie built on improbabilities.Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams and Michael Pena manage occasional moments of humor and pathos as three wounded Iraq War veterans on an impromptu road trip across America.But beginning with a blackout that forces them to rent a car and drive rather than fly,
The Lucky Ones" tosses out one convenient artificial contrivance after another to bond these battle-scarred strangers together, culminating in a preposterous encounter with a tornado that seems to blow in from some action flick playing in the next theater.
Though each comes with a fairly detailed life story, the characters themselves feel like hollow creations, deliberately designed as utter opposites so the filmmakers can show us how we're all really the same inside.
The disparate veterans bicker and broil, but they repeatedly have one another's backs through a bar scuffle, a strange church service, a stranger society shindig, clashes with civilians over the Iraq conflict and any number of interpersonal crises.Though our heroes don't always get what they want, the road manages to toss up precisely what they need. Unfortunately, there's little subtlety to the roadblocks, detours, U-turns and pit stops.
The stark documentary style of "The Lucky Ones" is a complete turnabout from the classy, surreal look of director Neil Burger's last film, "The Illusionist." However, that tale of magic and sleight-of-hand is much more plausible than his farfetched take on Iraq War homecomings. David Germain, The Associated Press'The Lucky Ones.' Opens: Now playing. Stars: Tim Robbins, Rachel McAdams, Michael Pena. Director: Neil Burger. Rated: R for language and some sexual content. 104 minutes.
'Choke' Grade CA disquieting blend of raunchy-randy-ridiculous and pathetic is the heart of "Choke," a hit at the sex-starved Sundance Film Festival, but a little less than the sum of its body parts.
Sam Rockwell is perfectly cast as Victor, a sexaholic who works as an in-costume tour guide at a re-creation of an 18th-century town, a guy who makes his real money by faking choking in restaurants. He doesn't sue the restaurant. He hits up the person who saved his life for cash. And since they've taken responsibility for him, they fork it over.
Victor is forever sneaking off to a closet with a willing fellow sex addict. The funny sex and funny restaurant con jobs take a back seat to Victor's sad personal history when we meet his mom (Anjelica Huston, in great form). She's in an institution. She can't recall who he is, at times. She's given him a mystery from their past to solve, which takes a back seat, of course, when Victor lays eyes on the shapely and seemingly open-minded doctor (Kelly Macdonald). He's so smitten by her that he can't .exercise his addiction.
"Choke" is brisk enough to be a comedy, but doesn't play as one. The movie works as a sordid sex satire, but falls short in rising above that. And the many loathsome-turned-pathetic characters make "Choke," in the end, a bit hard to swallow. Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel Choke." Opens Now playing. Stars: Sam Rockwell, Anjelica Huston. Director: Clark Gregg. Rated: R for strong sexual content, nudity and language. 89 minutes.
'Forever Strong' Grade DYou shouldn't advertise yourself as the "first American rugby film" and then tell audiences nothing at all about rugby. What filmmaker Ryan Little (the Mormon WWII drama "Saints and Soldiers") and the writer have given us is a mild-mannered, family-friendly rugby version of "Never Back Down." They even cast the same lead, Sean Faris, as that movie.
Faris plays Rick, star rugby player for and son of an obsessed, ill-tempered coach (Neal McDonough). Rick drinks, drives and scars his girlfriend for life. He's sent to a juvenile detention facility run by kindly Sean Astin. From there he's farmed out to Coach Gelwix's Highlander rugby team. That's where he'll learn about being in a band of brothers and learn to perform community service (gardening and reading to cancer patients). He will be reformed.
Forever" seems to go about that long.Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
Forever Strong." Opens: Now playing. Stars: Sean Faris, Gary Cole, Sean Astin. Director: Ryan Little. Rated: PG-13 for thematic material involving teen drug and alcohol use, and for some disturbing images. 112 minutes.