Jerome Prebois
Kiss her, you fool! Ledoyen and Derangère in Voyage.
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Bon Voyage
Opens Fri., April 8, at Harvard Exit
Swept along by Gabriel Yared's unabashedly romantic score, this World War II melodrama from writer-director Jean-Paul Rappeneau (Cyrano de Bergerac) is easy on the eyes and a rushing good time. Gérard Depardieu plays Jean-Etienne Beaufort, an embattled French government official having an affair with popular film actress Viviane (Isabelle Adjani) while struggling to prepare himself and his country for war. Once the Nazis begin their invasion (driving everyone from Paris to the Free French redoubt of Bordeaux), these two characters and five others, including foxy physics student Camille (Virginie Ledoyen of The Beach) and handsome novelist Frédéric (Grégori Derangère, a ringer for Noah Wyle), become hopelessly entangled.
Though Camille is clearly sweet on him, Frédéric only has eyes for Viviane; problem is, she's an actress through and through. "What will become of us?" she coos to him, knowing full well that she'll hop on board any man who can bring her to safety. A high-spirited spin on the Casablanca formula (romance plus the need to flee), Voyage is knowingly packed with clichés, clinches, chase scenes, murder, and betrayal. Like the tale of Rick and Ilsa, it successfully alchemizes global conflict into the ultimate aphrodisiac. (PG-13) NEAL SCHINDLER
Ella Enchanted
Opens Fri., April 9, at Metro and others
It was only a matter of time before even Cinderella got the CGI treatment. On a trip to the castle to find her fairy godmother and fall in love with her prince, Anne Hathaway (The Princess Diaries) kicks a lot of ogre butt, Matrix-style. This story's set in medieval times, but the special effects aren't the only modern accoutrements. Hathaway's utterly repulsive stepsisters shop at a mall, and her wicked stepmother (Joanna Lumley of Absolutely Fabulous) gets Botox. Enchanted is Cinderella with a social conscience. Hathaway isn't weak in the knees over Prince Char to begin with—she hates his guts for the evil politics his family deals the kingdom. Char's uncle, the king, has segregated the people, the elves, the ogres, and the giants. The giants have been enslaved as laborers. The elves have been forced to entertain the people with song and dance. The ogres have been banished to the forests and cut off from government support.
Hathaway identifies with the minorities because of her own pseudo-disability: As an infant, her incompetent fairy godmother (Vivica A. Fox) gave her the "gift" of obedience (it's more like a curse), one her stepsisters use against her at every turn. When she accidentally meets the prince (Hugh Dancy), she uses it as an opportunity to school him on his uncle's wrongs. Love, of course, comes later. It's a sweet take on Gail Carson Levine's 1997 children's-favorite novel, and the movie is definitely suited for that same young kids demographic. There are also a few annoying songs, giving parents the opportunity to step out for more popcorn. (PG) KATIE MILLBAUER
The Girl Next Door
Opens Fri., April 9, at Metro and others
Although its plot can be comfortably reduced to 10 words (introverted student-council president crushes on penitent porn-queen neighbor), Girl isn't your typical teen sexcom. No, director– co-screenwriter Luke Greenfield (The Animal) devises new and exciting means of suckifying the genre, inflating his carnal cardboard coeds with empty, pretentious gravitas more befitting Magnolia than American Pie. In order for the milquetoast protagonist (Emile Hirsch) to simply shed his inhibitions and convey the film's trite "risks = good" dogma, he endures a sexual and emotional scourging that marries Porky's to The Passion of the Christ. Hirsch's suffering is predicated on the neighboring seductress (24's Elisha Cuthbert) being "better than" a mere piece of ass, a concept that Greenfield effectively subverts by giving her about as many lines as the Terminatrix. At least Timothy Olyphant is given free rein to basically reprise his hilarious, lecherous ecstasy dealer from Go as Cuthbert's ruthless porn producer ex. (R) ANDREW BONAZELLI
Johnson Family Vacation
Opens Fri., April 9, at Bella Botega and others
Vanessa Williams' judgment has been questioned before and, in fact, cost her the 1984 Miss America title. So I won't mention the unlikelihood that she and Cedric the Entertainer would ever actually be married. Oops, too late. Nevertheless, Vacation begins agreeably enough. As the Johnson dad, Cedric's usual over-the-top comedy is, thankfully, toned down (though it resurfaces later in his hillbilly Uncle Earl character). He's just a sensible insurance salesman who wants to do right by his family—and win the "family of the year" trophy out from under his big brother (Steve Harvey) at the annual Johnson family reunion. Li'l Bow-Wow is charming as ever as the son with rap dreams; and Williams and daughters are fine. But the plot, which takes them on a nightmarish road trip from Inglewood to Missouri, is weak and predictable. This movie was funny enough when Chevy Chase did it 21 years ago, but it's a journey we didn't need to repeat. (PG-13) K.M.
Road to Love
7 and 9 p.m. Fri., April 9–Thurs., April 15, at Little Theatre
Rémi Lange's demure French romance won a Best Feature nod at last year's Seattle Lesbian & Gay Fest, but "modest" might be the best word to go into it with. It's a cheap project, awkwardly shot on video (by the director), and Lange's spotty aesthetic suggests he's an affable soul with an expansive heart but something left to learn about constructing a cohesive filmic experience.
