Romance

Australian director Gillian Armstrong directed this Laura Jones adaptation of Peter Carey's 1988 Booker Prize-winning novel. In a lengthy flashback, Oscar Hopkins' great grandson (Geoffrey Rush) narrates the family history that led to his birth. On an Australian farm, Lucinda Leplastrier was tutored by her intelligent mother, a woman who took part in the early feminist movement. Oscar's lonely boyhood in rural England was under the watchful eye of his preacher father. At Oxford to train as a minister, the adult Oscar (Ralph Fiennes) feels he doesn't fit in and develops a passion for gambling, giving his winnings away to the poor. Oscar and Lucinda (Cate Blanchett) meet aboard a ship; he's off to the outback to work as a missionary, and she's returning from London after buying equipment for her glass factory. As mutual misfits, they have an instant attraction and quickly grow close, developing a romantic relationship based on trust. However, the Rev. Dennis Hasset (Ciarán Hinds) and Lucinda are friends, sharing an interest in glass. Convinced they are in love, Oscar embarks on an unusual and difficult task, building a glass church for the reverend, an ambitious project to attempt in the remote wilderness. ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide

Both film versions of Phillip Barry's stage comedy Holiday have their merits, but the 1938 version has the added advantage of supercharged star power. Katharine Hepburn and Doris Nolan play Linda and Julia Seton, two daughters of a very well-to-do family. Linda feels a bit lost in the shuffle as sister Julia prepares to marry self-made financier Cary Grant. Hepburn has always rebelled against her privileged trappings, and finds a kindred spirit in the unorthodox, iconoclastic Grant. On the verge of compromising his down-to-earth values with his marriage to the wealth-obsessed Nolan, Grant chooses instead to plight his troth with soul-mate Hepburn, celebrating his "liberation" by doing several cartwheels. Donald Ogden Stewart is careful to bring the pre-Depression frivolities of the Barry play up-to-date, first by changing the character of Grant's best friend (played in both films by Edward Everett Horton) from a lazy socialite to a dedicated professor, and by including several lines indicating how out of touch the privileged classes are--and choose to remain--with 1930s realities. The only element in which the remake does not improve on the original is in the casting of Hepburn's alcoholic younger brother; charming though Lew Ayres is in the 1938 film, he is still outclassed by Monroe Owsley in Holiday (1930). Katharine Hepburn managed to temporarily defray her "box office poison" onus when Holiday proved to be a success; alas, her next film, Bringing Up Baby (which reteamed her with Grant), was a financial bust, compelling her to return to Broadway--where she made a spectacular comeback in another Philip Barry play, The Philadelphia Story. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Burt Lancaster stars as Lou, an aging mob flunkey, barely making a living in Atlantic City. Susan Sarandon plays Sally, a casino croupier whose husband Dave (Robert Joy) steals a large supply of drugs from the mob. When he is killed, the narcotics pass to the unwilling Sally. Lou, in the midst of longtime affair with middle-aged gangster's widow Grace (Kate Reid), falls for the much younger Sally, becoming her savior by killing the mob thugs sent to shut her up. The killings serve a therapeutic value for Lou, proving that he hasn't lost his old panache. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Gabrielle Union, Morris Chestnut, Queen Latifah, and Terrence Howard star in a film concerning a young girl who implores a department-store Santa to find a new husband for her divorced mother for Christmas. Single mother of three Nancy (Union) has been putting the needs of her three children ahead of her own for as far back as she can remember, and lately her youngest daughter, Emily (Khail Bryant), has become acutely aware of her mother's palpable sadness. As Christmas draws near, Nancy takes her kids to the mall for a cheerful visit with jolly old Saint Nick. When it comes time for Emily's turn to sit on Santa's lap and make her Christmas wish, she selflessly remembers her mother's recent comment that a compliment from a man would be the best gift of all. Determined to make her mother happy again even if it means sacrificing her own wish, Emily relays the message to Santa (Chestnut), not realizing that the man beneath the beard is actually an office-supply salesman and ambitious singer/songwriter named Benjamin. Recognizing the daughter's love for her mother and sensing something truly special in Nancy, Benjamin cheerfully obliges the young girl, setting into motion a series of events that promise to make this the most memorable holiday in quite some time. Lance Rivera directs a film produced by Shakim Compere and Latifah through Flavor Unit Entertainment. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

Blake Edwards's stylish direction bolsters this Cold War romance starring Julie Andrews and Omar Sharif. Andrews plays Judith Farrow, a British civil service functionary who meets dashing Russian agent Feodor Sverdlov (Omar Sharif) under the romantic skies of the Caribbean. The Caribbean breezes work their magic and soon Judith is head-over-heels in love with Feodor. Feodor then tries to enlist Judith to become an agent for the Soviet Union. But after Judith is warned by the British government to stay away from him, Feodor decides that he'd rather have her than the Soviet Union. However, a kink is thrown into their love affair when an undercover Russian secret agent, posing as a British agent, decides to eradicate the two lovers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide