"Cursed" - 2 stars
Directed by Wes Craven
Starring Christina Ricci, Joshua Jackson, Milo Ventimiglia, Judy Greer, Mya, Shannon ElizabethAfter running a tortuous gauntlet of recasting, reshooting, re-editing and finally-judging by last week's box office figures-rejection, Cursed should probably be dubbed the patron saint of movies with really unfortunate titles.

In the end, legendary horror director Wes Craven's latest werewolf flick managed to claw its way out of the production hell in which it had languished for years, but it was left covered by the scars of the struggle.
Hints of a decent movie occasionally shine from beneath the disorder. Christina Ricci and Jesse Eisenberg are appealing as Los Angeles siblings Ellie and Jimmy who find that their difficult lifestyle becomes even more complicated after a freak nighttime encounter with a strange beast.

Ellie, to her great shock, develops a taste for blood that leads to several uncomfortable situations with a few B-list stars, while awkward Jimmy uses his newfound super-strength to body-slam his way onto his high school wrestling team, much to the chagrin of local bullies.

You can't have a werewolf picture set in Hollywood without encountering a questionable character or, well, 10, and Cursed is chock full of sleazy actors, publicists, put-upon assistants and psychics hoping to destroy the siblings. However, the film runs into problems here, sacrificing both goriness and plot development in favor of celebrity cameos.

Cursed relies so heavily on its surface trappings to disguise its shaky, troubled foundation that, by the end, it has quit caring about the subject matter itself, leaving its leads to battle each other in human form under the convenient excuse that clever werewolves have self-control.

Meanwhile, common sense and linearity leave to buy some popcorn.
Cursed really isn't a bad film, but it is hardly frightening, not exceptionally entertaining and, frankly, a muddled mess to boot.

If this was the best that years of filming and tinkering could produce, then perhaps this wolf should have been put out of its misery long ago.
-Jennifer Morrow


"The Jacket" - 1 star
Directed by John Maybury
Starring Adrien Brody, Keira Knightley, Kris Kristofferson, Jennifer Jason Leigh

In The Jacket, Oscar-winner Adrien Brody stars as Jack Starks, a Gulf War veteran fighting amnesia who, after being declared insane for killing a police officer, is sent to a mental hospital. There, a doctor (Kris Kristofferson) straps him into a straightjacket for his "treatment," and he is propelled into the future. He bumps into Jackie (Keira Knightley), a young woman from his past, and tries to make sense of what has happened.

While its premise is slightly interesting, the film has trouble from the beginning as it jumps from one pixilated frame to the next in a rush of images and distracting loud noises. Flashes of background information meant to expand the plot only make the film more muddled and confusing.

There are a couple of high points amid the general confusion that characterize the film. Brody commands the screen, giving a nuanced, mystifying performance. The strange chemistry between Brody and Knightley is quite entertaining, but the lacking plot structure allows no time for the relationship to truly evolve. In the end, The Jacket fails to entertain and intrigue audiences, leaving far too many unanswered questions and plot holes in its path.
-Leor Galil