The Invisible

The producers of “The Sixth Sense” bring a stylized thriller to the screen that bares the interesting tag line: “How do you solve a murder, when the victim is you?”  Not quite as good as “I see dead people,” but it has potential. 

In “The Invisible,” Nick (Justin Chatwin) is brutally beaten and left for dead.  In limbo, Nick must find out what happened to him before his time runs out. 

I am always leery about producers who brought me another great show or film.  Maybe they were very influential in putting the right people together and providing a creative atmosphere that all flourished in.  Or, they mediated a dispute between the stubborn director and the temperamental star.  Or maybe, they got the coffee. Rated PG-13 for violence, criminality, sensuality and language – Bill White

Kickin’ It Old Skool

Justin (Jamie Kennedy), who awakes from a 20-year comma caused by a freak break dancing accident, must put the old gang together to bail out his parents who are swimming in debt and win back his girlfriend who is now engaged to his grade-school nemesis.

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content and language. – BW 

 

Miss Potter

For millions of people, if you say “Beatrix Potter,” immediately delightful images of Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny and their pals jump quickly to mind.  Yet beyond those classic children’s fables that have charmed generations of youngsters, what do we know about the woman behind that byline? 

It’s a good bet that the answer to that question is precious little, even for the most devoted advocates of Potter’s books. 

Now a lot of that will change, thanks in large part to director Chris Noonan’s absolutely delightful film that focuses on the author and artist who has done so much to enrich the lives of children since she first published “The Tale of Peter Rabbit” in 1902. 

On a number of occasions throughout the film, her original sketches come to life and turn into hippity-hoppity animated drawings that jump off the page.  Not only did those moments delight me, but they seemed to startle and truly tickle the sensibility of Renee Zellweger — the main reason this film works as well as it does. 

We learn she was a woman way ahead of her time.  She was raised in a home that encouraged her artistic bent and love of books and animals, run by an upwardly mobile mother and father, totally focused on locking in their upper-class role in society.  Beatrix was expected to marry well and start a family.  Yet this early feminist had very different ideas. 

Noonan has given us a terrific movie about a woman who lived a good life, overcame the rigidity of her social class and came to understand who she was and what she needed to accomplish during her time on Earth.  Rated PG for brief mild language  HHH – Bill Zwecker

Next

Nicholas Cage, Julianne Moore and Jessica Biel star in the story of a former Las Vegas magician (Cage) with a special gift.  The ability to see a few minutes into the future is both a blessing and a curse.  Now everyone from the medical community to the government wants a piece of him, and he wants no part of any of them.  Rated PG-13 for intense sequences of violent action and some language. – BW