At the Movies: capsule reviews of ‘Transformers’ and other films this week

Capsule reviews: ‘Transformers’ and other films

Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

“Cheri” — Back in 1988, director Stephen Frears and screenwriter Christopher Hampton teamed up for “Dangerous Liaisons,” one of the juiciest guilty pleasures ever. Reveling in high-class deception and manipulation, the film earned seven Academy Award nominations including best supporting actress for Michelle Pfeiffer, and it won three. Frears and Hampton have reunited for “Cheri,” with Pfeiffer as their star, but the film has none of the same irresistible meat or bite. Pfeiffer is luminous as ever as an aging courtesan in belle epoque Paris — the schemer this time instead of the pawn. But the romance in which she finds herself, the one that supposedly upends her carefully crafted world, is totally implausible from the start. And that’s a problem, because that’s the thing we’re supposed to care about. Based on the novels “Cheri” and “The Last of Cheri” by Colette, the film features Pfeiffer as Lea de Lonval, a venerable seductress on the verge of retirement at the end of a lucrative career. Her longtime rival, the catty gossip Charlotte Peloux (a shrilly over-the-top Kathy Bates), asks Lea to knock some sense into her 19-year-old son (Rupert Friend), an incorrigible party boy whom Lea long ago nicknamed Cheri. Trouble is, they fall in love with each other and end up in a six-year romance, despite the difference in their ages, personalities and life experiences. At least we’re meant to believe they fall in love with each other: They keep saying so, but they have so little chemistry and the development of their relationship seems so truncated, it’s hard to accept. R for some sexual content and brief drug use. 92 min. Two stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“The Hurt Locker” — Despite their admirable intentions and acclaimed names on both sides of the camera, the vast majority of movies made about the Iraq war have failed to hit the mark. Either they felt too preachy or they were rather standard action pictures. “The Hurt Locker” is by far the most effective film yet on this subject — and what’s ironic about that is, it doesn’t even feel all that specific to the Iraq war. Its insights and reach extend far beyond what’s happened there over the past several years. It’s about an elite U.S. Army bomb squad, whose members have 38 days left before they can leave Baghdad in the summer of 2004. They’re under enormous pressure to avoid mistakes, because one false move can mean not only their deaths but the deaths of untold numbers of people around them. But they’re also under internal pressure to get the job done and get back home. Into this intense situation comes the swaggering Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner, who earned a Spirit Award for the performance earlier this year). The other members of his team (Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty) don’t quite know what to make of him; James might be a genius at his job or he might be an egomaniacal show-off. Maybe he’s a little bit of both. The script from journalist Mark Boal, who spent time embedded with this kind of bomb squad, presents him as a fascinating but always believable jumble of contradictions. So at its core, “The Hurt Locker” is a character study, but through the eyes of veteran action director Kathryn Bigelow (”Point Break,” ”K-19: The Widowmaker”), it also offers an intimate look at gritty, visceral combat. R for war violence and language. 130 min. Three and a half stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“My Sister’s Keeper” — A shameless weepy, one of the most manipulative and fundamental of genres, but it also raises some surprisingly difficult and thought-provoking ethical questions. Based on the Jodi Picoult best-seller, “My Sister’s Keeper” focuses on the Fitzgerald family, and the drastic decision they made in medically engineering a child (Abigail Breslin) as a perfect genetic match to help save the life of their older daughter Kate (Sofia Vassilieva), who has leukemia. For years, little Anna provided blood, bone marrow, whatever Kate needed. Now at 11, with her teenage sister needing a kidney, Anna says no for the first time — and beyond that, she files a lawsuit seeking medical emancipation from her parents. Director Nick Cassavetes, who co-wrote the script with Jeremy Leven (writer of Cassavetes’ “The Notebook”), traces this conflict through flashbacks from various characters’ perspectives: bulldog matriarch Sara (Cameron Diaz), whose priority is preserving Kate’s life at all costs; father Brian (Jason Patric), who’s patient and supportive no matter what; only son Jesse (Evan Ellingson), who feels lost in the shuffle; and Kate and Anna themselves. Cassavetes tugs at the heartstrings, which has become a trademark in much of his work, providing opportunities to yank out the hankies early and often. But he also wisely refrains from demonizing any of these characters for the choices they make and lets us draw our own conclusions. On the flip side, some family members seem too good to be true. PG-13 for mature thematic content, some disturbing images, sensuality, language and brief teen drinking. 103 min. Two and a half stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic

“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” — A joyless cacophony, an insistent and seemingly endless onslaught, director Michael Bay’s follow-up to the 2007 smash “Transformers” plays like a parody of a Bay movie. You name it, it gets shot up, blown up or otherwise obliterated in a massive fiery ball, from suburban homes and cars to aircraft carriers and even an Egyptian pyramid. Along the way, our sense of sanity and humanity also get destroyed, as we feel as if we are being held captive by these walking, talking, shape-shifting robots — both the good guys and the bad. The Autobots and Decepticons aren’t the only ones assaulting us in their epic battle: Regular people are just as obnoxious — probably more so — with their nonstop yammering. Everyone is overcaffeinated in this thing, everyone screams their lines, perhaps so they can hear each other over the explosions and the thunderous score. Who knows, and who cares? It is impossible to become emotionally invested in the Transformers, cool-looking as they are (the work of the venerable Industrial Light & Magic), because it’s impossible to tell who’s doing what to whom. It’s all one messy amalgamation of twisted steel and shattered glass, accompanied by generic crunching and shrieking sounds. What’s that, you say? You want to know what the “Transformers” sequel is about? How quaint. Basically, it follows the further adventures of plucky, young Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf, seriously straining his likability), who is yet again stuck in the middle of the eternal fight between the noble Autobots and the evil Decepticons. Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson return as eye candy, as does John Turturro, who provides a couple of laughs. PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi action violence, language, some crude and sexual material, and brief drug material. 150 min. One and a half stars out of four.

— Christy Lemire, AP Movie Critic