Wylie Small Movies

This week it is Rory (Alexis Bledel) who chafes under the weight of personal travails, beginning with her anger when her Yale roommate Paris (Liza Weil) installs a balky printing press in their dorm room. Later, Rory tries to cope with the likelihood that Lorelai (Lauren Graham) and Luke (Scott Patterson) have fallen in love, all the while wrestling with own feelings about the still-married Dean (Jared Padalecki). And in a separate development, Jackson (Jackson Douglas) rebels against the tyranny of storekeeper Taylor (Michael Winters) by running for the office of town selectman. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

The further misadventures of bumbling Los Angeles police Lieutenant Frank Drebin (Leslie Nielsen) are chronicled in this third installment in the popular Naked Gun comedy series. This by-the-numbers entry begins with Drebin as a happily retired house-husband called back into action when an evil terrorist organization threatens Los Angeles. As in the other Naked Gun films, this plot is merely an excuse for an unhinged, rapid-fire succession of gags, ranging from satirical lampoons of cop movies to broad slapstick, all played with a perfectly straight face. Nielsen provides his familiar combination of complete witlessness and oblivious dignity as Drebin, and the film attempts to match the earlier Naked Gun films -- and the Police Squad! television series that inspired them -- in the number of jokes. However, the film proved less successful than its predecessors, as some viewers found that the freewheeling comic style of the earlier films had solidified into its own formula, now mildly entertaining but disappointingly predictable. ~ Judd Blaise, Rovi

This sharp drama is about the trials and tribulations of a young woman defeated by her past, yet tempted to overcome it through a meaningful relationship. Cassie (Rosanna Arquette) works as a waitress in a southwestern town. Not that long ago, she stabbed her lover (and the father of her baby) in public, and even though he recovered, she did not. The most immediate result of her action is that she gave away her baby, and the next, more severe result is that she lost all of her self-respect. Now she takes care of her mother and younger, offensive brother and also dallies on and off with her ex-lover -- who is married. Then Riley (Eric Roberts) comes into town for awhile with a theatrical troupe and he falls for Cassie. He is only in town for a short period of time and that may or may not be enough to convince Cassie to leave with him when he goes. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, Rovi