September 22, 2002

First serve

Matthew Perry and Liz Hurley become a force to reckon with in Serving Sara. Both are on a hot trail to find a man and serve him court papers.

Perry is Joe, a court processor who serves court notices to people which happens to be a painstaking job. His latest assignment has him serving divorce papers to Sara Moore (Hurley) by her millionaire husband who wants her out of his life. Of course had it been the other way around, Sara would have been entitled to half her husband’s property, a point that she discovers from Joe after he serves her. The climax occurs when Sara offers Joe one million dollars, if he serves her husband ‘first’ and forgets the other situation. Hilarious circumstances follow as both rush against time and enemies to catch her husband and serve him first.

Serving Sara is nothing exceptional but has the laughs to keep you in a happy, watching mood. Only for grownups. —K.A.K

The sins of the father

City by the Sea is a true story of a dedicated but troubled policeman whose troubles double, the day he discovers his own son to be a killer.

Robert DeNiro is perfect in the role of LaMarca, a Manhattan homicide detective who is investigating the death of a drug dealer. LaMarca’s investigation leads him to his old hometown of Long Island where, much to his horror, he discovers that his own drug-addict son Joey (James Franco) has accidentally killed a mafia kingpin.

And now that Joey has gone into hiding, his father must find him first before the other cops and the mafia do. LaMarca finds his past flashing before him. His father, also a policeman, was found guilty of murdering a prisoner when LaMarca was a kid. He realizes that it is due to his own attitude that his son is in such a mess today.

DeNiro plays an emotionally repressed character to perfection. He is supported well by Frances McDormand who plays his girlfriend, Michelle. After starring in silly comedies such as Analyze This and Showtime, DeNiro has shown some sense and taken up a role that suits an actor of his calibre. —Eddie

A moving story

All about Lily Chou Chou is a moving story of two friends both trying to find their way in life through the pop/cyber culture of Japan.

Two schoolboys, Yuichi and Hoshino, are best of friends and great fans of the country’s pop diva Lily Chou Chou. It is only through the motivational songs of Lily that Hoshino and Yuichi find solace and inspiration in life. Otherwise, life is just one boring game for them. Disaster occures when a tragic catastrophe hits the city and both Yuichi and Hoshino are separated. They survive, but begin their new lives on a different note. While Yuichi retains his monotony as a lanky Friday-cat, Hoshino however has become the leader of one of Japan’s worst street bike gangs. His acts have resulted in rape, suicide and murder. It is during one of such incident that Yuichi bumps into his old pal, only to discover the truth. The truth becomes a matter of life and death when the former has to testify against the latter. What must he do — save his friend or the right thing?

An interesting story with good acting, All about Lily Chou Chou shows the reality of those who are left on their own and how the world treats them. Only for adults! —N.M.

All for a liquid

Derailed has Belgium black-belt action star Van Damme playing a CIA agent who is commissioned to retrieve the deadly nerve gas from a rival spy in Eastern Europe.

John gets the wake-up call in the middle of his vacation. His mission — go to Slovakia and fetch a chemical liquid that can become a weapon of mass destruction if it went into the wrong hands. Landing at the Slovakian capital, Bratislava, he starts to look for the agent with whom he will make the deal. The deal, however, goes haywire with John destroying much of the city and fighting off half the Slovak army. He and his rival (a woman, named Kat), board a train for neighbouring Yugoslavia, only to discover that terrorists have hijacked the train and plan to destroy it if the chemical liquid which he has procured, and Kat are not handed over. The hostages also include John’s family who were also on board. But John is not yet ready to give up. He decides to save everything, the train, family, chemicals, Kat, even the dog.

Derailed is a complete waste of time. The story keeps pacing on without any proper explanation. Don’t watch it even if you don’t have anything else to do! —KA