It's morals week at the movies. Two movies, of very different style and genre, end up conveying a similar message. What really matters?

First there is the delectable Colin Firth, heartthrob of 40-year-old women, a.k.a. Mr. Darcy in both Pride and Prejudice and Bridget Jones' Diary. Firth plays Lord Henry Dashwood in "What a Girl Wants." There are those who think this movie is all about cute little Amanda Byrnes who bobs her way around Britain in your oh-so-typical pre-teen cliche movie.

And so it is Bynes bubbles her way around the film, getting her way in everything, no matter what the cost to others. At heart, however, the movie is about her father, Lord Henry, who has an opportunity to re-evaluate his life when the daughter he didn't know he had suddenly appears on his doorstep.

If I were not completely distracted by Colin Firth, "What a Girl Wants" would be rather annoying. All the British jokes and stereotypes are tired and the plot can basically be summed as by "as if." I really disliked the ending. But Firth is fun. The movie's point-of-view shifts seamlessly between daughter and father, creating the tiniest modicum of substance that hardly sustains the movie, but at least gives you a moment to look beyond the fluffy surface.

Then there's the ultra moralistic "Phonebooth" with another Colin, Colin Farrell, this time, as Stu Shephard, a self-absorbed publicist who doesn't live by the rules. He uses a phone booth every day to call his girl friend. He has a cellphone, but he can't use that, since his wife checks the bill.

One day in the Phonebooth, Stu becomes the victim of a sniper who wants to teach him a lesson in morals. Like Henry, Stu has to re-evaluate his life, his priorities, and his actions.

Phonebooth is an unusual film. Its tone is so heavily moralistic it's oppressive. It's Seven in a phone booth, or Jiminy Cricket for the MTV generation. The voice on the other end of the phone is loud and deeply resonant--voices don't sound like that in phonebooths--making you think that this is the very voice of God. Well, in a Muppet kind of way.

The other unusual aspect of the film is that almost the entire movie takes place in the phonebooth. It's an interesting premise. And it's quite a thriller, will no action, just pure tension and drama.

So, morals and the movies are the tone of the week. Neither film really works for me, Phonebooth is a bit much and "What a Girl Wants" isn't quite enough.


Home || Complete list of reviews