Meryl Streep, Uma Thurman and Bryan Greenberg in "Prime"
courtesy of Universal Home Video
"Meryl Streep Is In Her Prime"

Meryl Streep has more Oscar nominations than any other actor in the history of the Academy Awards. This is an amazing achievement made even more amazing by the fact she is just now hitting her stride. Each movie role she takes provides her with a new opportunity to totally create a character and to add more laurels to her brilliant career.

In "Prime" she plays psychiatrist to a young woman played by Uma Thurman. Uma has problems in her love life and Meryl is giving her helpful advice. One day Uma meets a young man (Bryan Greenberg) who is several years younger than she is. She falls for him and when she tells Meryl, well the good doctor tells her to go for it.

All of this gets complicated when the young man turns out to be Meryl's character's son. Then the mother role trumps the psychiatrist role. It is all played out in a realistic way with Uma and Meryl beautifully delineating their roles.

Acting opposite Meryl seems to bring out the best in Uma for she has never been better. As for Meryl, well she can play anything, anytime, anywhere. She is magnificent. Because of her "Prime" is very much worth seeing.

Also worth seeing is "Just Friends," a better than average comedy starring Ryan Reynolds and Amy Smart. Ryan Reynolds movies are usually too dumb or too dirty for me but this one is neither. In fact it is just a good time for all who view it.

Reynolds plays a guy who was very heavy in high school. Everyone made fun of him, and the girl (Amy Smart) of his dreams wanted only to be friends with him. He left town still aching from his love for her and went on his way to bigger and better things. Now years later he comes back to his hometown, slimmed down and very successful.

This movie plays in to that old question of "can you ever go back home and correct the things that happened in high school?" This movie says you can as Reynolds character gets a chance with the girl of his dreams one more time. But he has competition in the form of Chris Klein. He too wants a second chance at Amy. Let the competition begin!

This is a feel good movie that will brighten any night. So get the DVD and let the fun start.

With "The Shaggy Dog" playing in theaters this week, Disney has wisely released the first two "Shaggy Dog" movies on DVD. That means the original "Shaggy Dog," starring Fred MacMurray and Tommy Kirk is ready to be viewed by a whole new generation of kids. 

You can also see the first remake which is titled "The Shaggy D.A." This film stars Dean Jones and is also about a man who turns into a dog. Well it is really Tommy Kirk's character from the first movie as an adult.

Both of these movies are great for the family with MacMurray's movie having the edge since it was the original and Fred has so much laid back charm. Get them both and enjoy the fun.

If you are a fan of British humor, and luckily many of you are, then you will definitely want to watch "The Jolly Boys Last Stand." This is a movie within a movie as it concerns some fictitious characters known as "the Jolly Boys." When Spider (Andy Serkis) decides to get married to Annie (Rebecca Craig), his best friend and future best man Des (Milo Twomey) is horrified.

Trying to find a way to sabotage the wedding, Des comes up with a plan to make a documentary about the way of life of the Jolly Boys. He figures Annie will be horrified by what she will see - and that becomes the movie.

Andy Serkis was the eerie creature in "Lord of the Rings" and he also gave life to "King Kong." Now you get to see him as "a Jolly Boy." It is quite a sight to see.

Another sight to see is "Howl's Moving Castle." This amazing anime film was nominated for an Oscar and rightly so. It is beautiful to watch and amazing to understand. The story, the characters, the animation are all top of the line. It may take a little getting used to but once you are on board you are going to have a wonderful time.

You will also enjoy two other anime features that are companion pieces in a sense to "Howl's Moving Castle." "My Neighbor Totoro" and "Whisper of the Heart" have different characters but they too possess the beauty of anime and the magic of this process. Watch them too for more family entertainment.

 

 

 

 

 

©2006 Jackie K. Cooper

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