Maine International Film Festival
Selected reviews, Page D7
"Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix"
(PG-13) (2:18) Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, Emma Watson, Imelda Staunton, George Harris, Helena Bonham Carter. This has not been a happy summer for Harry Potter. Waiting to return to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his fifth year of study, this in the household of the abominable Dursleys, he's received not a word from his close friends, classmates Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley. Instead, he gets a letter declaring that Hogwarts will be expelling him for illegally using magic outside of school, an act that had been in self-defense.
Harry must go and defend himself. But the court is controlled by the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, who'd very much like Harry to get lost. Yet amazingly, thanks to the intervention of Hogwarts' esteemed Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, Harry is acquitted.
Still, Harry's return to Hogwarts is very conflicted. The school's staff and students have been told that the story of Harry's mighty battle with the evil Voldemort was all a lie. His integrity on the line, left excluded and alone, Harry is visited by nightmares that may tell of dark events. And Professor Dumbledore is suddenly acting distant.
Of more urgent concern is that Fudge has appointed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, the deceitful Professor Dolores Umbridge. Her course on defensive magic is inadequate to prepare the young wizards to defend themselves against the Dark Forces threatening them. Harry will have to take over and, with a small group of students, learn a real defense against the Dark Arts for the major battle ahead.
"Captivity"
(R) (1:25) Elisha Cuthbert, Daniel Gillies, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Laz Alonso. In this psycho thriller, an attempt is made to probe into the mind of a sadistic kidnapper. The victim is top cover girl and fashion model Jennifer Tree, a beauty who has fame, power and money. As America's sweetheart, she is adored and sought after by all. But, not surprisingly, there's a stalker out there, watching and waiting for his chance. One evening, in Manhattan's Soho district at a charity event, Jennifer is drugged and taken off.
She finds herself captive in a cell. There, under control of a twisted, sadistic mind, she is subjected to terrifying, almost fatal tortures. Days turn into weeks. Her will to survive and escape is in contest with the fiend's desire to demoralize victims in a game he's played many times before. This is gory and grisly in the "Hostel" and "Saw" vein.
"Crazy Love"
(PG-13) (1:32) Burt Pugach, Linda Riss Pugach, Jimmy Breslin, Rusty Goldberg. In this 1950s true story of twisted love, ambulance-chasing Bronx-raised lawyer Burt Pugach becomes wealthy as "the genius of negligence laws." His bountiful settlements for doubtfully injured clients are legion. Living high, he sports a new Cadillac convertible every year, a private plane, his own top-rated nightclub and lots of beautiful women. But the womanizing is to end when he comes upon Linda Riss sitting on a park bench. He at once declares his intention to possess her. At 21, she is an innocent, having a naturally beautiful movie-star face. His attraction for her, certainly not his appearance, is the new glamour he offers, with gifts, nightlife and endless flattery. But this is the '50s, and a good girl does not allow sex before marriage.
The romance disaster hits abruptly when she discovers that he has a long-suffering wife and disabled daughter. His response to Linda is the classic "I'm filing for divorce." When she realizes that lie, she dumps him. Worse for Burt, when he learns of her subsequent engagement to a regular guy, he vows the classic, "If I can't have her, no one will."
He hires three thugs who throw acid at her face. Under media sensation, his trial is held and he is...
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