MOVIE REVIEWS In local theaters

s AEON FLUX: Charlize Theron plays an assassin in this achingly dull and empty futuristic fantasy. 1 hr. 40 min., PG-13.
sss 1/2 CAPOTE: A stunning character study of Truman Capote, author and personality, during the Kansas years he reported "In Cold Blood," befriending and betraying the killers of a farming family. In the title role, Philip Seymour Hoffman is uncanny. 1 hr. 38 min., R. (violence).
ss 1/2 THE FAMILY STONE: This slapstick weeper is a holiday lump of coal brightened by four diamond-sharp performances. Sarah Jessica Parker comes to meet her guy's parents (Diane Keaton, Craig T. Nelson) and finds the family that prides itself on its tolerance completely intolerant of her. Notable work by Keaton, Nelson, Luke Wilson and Rachel McAdams. 1 hr. 42 min., PG-13 (drug and sex references).
ss FUN WITH DICK AND JANE: In this brisk but flat farce, a remake of a 1977 comedy, Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni play a couple who turn to crime when their luxe, white-collar existence goes down the toilet. 1 hr. 30 min., PG-13 (mild profanity, sexual references).
sss 1/2 GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK: George Clooney's resonant, cautionary tale about newsman Edward R. Murrow and his crusade against Sen. Joseph McCarthy asks timely questions about television's role. Political watchdog or entertainment show dog? 1 hr. 33 min., PG (mature themes).
sss HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE: This fourth film in the fantasy franchise is the most fun and most fraught with conflict, what with Our Hero battling both his nemesis Lord Voldemort and puberty. Mike Newell -- the first Brit to helm the series -- is the guy you want to escort it through Harry's awkward age. With the usual suspects; Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort; and Michael Gambon, replacing the late Richard Harris, as Dumbledore. Not recommended for those under 8. 2 hrs. 37 min., PG-13 (fantasy violence, suspense).
ss 1/2 JUST FRIENDS: In high school, Ryan Reynolds was a tubby loser with a giant crush on Amy Smart. Ten years later, he gets a second chance at love with his dream girl in this frothy but funny romantic comedy. 1 hr. 36 min., PG-13 (sexual situations and references).
sss 1/2 KING KONG: Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings") has remade "King Kong," the one about the five-foot blonde and the 50-foot gorilla who fall for each other, literally and figuratively, and it's a doozy. With Naomi Watts as Ann Darrow and Andy Serkis as the model for Kong's facial and physical movements. 3 hrs., PG-13 (marauding dinosaurs, creepy creatures, violent deaths).
ss MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA: Pretty as a picture and soulless as a Hollywood producer (OK, a cheap joke), this big studio adaptation of Arthur Golden's best-seller is a lush, lovely snoozefest set in the enigmatic world of Japanese courtesans. Zhang Ziyi stars as the fishing-village-urchin-turned-reigning-geisha in Kyoto of the 1930s and 1940s. 2 hrs. 14 min., PG-13 (adult themes).
sss 1/2 PRIDE AND PREJUDICE: Joe Wright's fresh and spirited account of the most frequently filmed Jane Austen novel is the essential version. Starring the exuberant Keira Knightley as Lizzie and the implacable Matthew MacFadyen as Darcy. 2 hrs. 7 min., PG (mild adult themes).
ss 1/2 THE PRODUCERS: Mel Brooks' silly Broadway smash gets a straightforward redo, with the show's Nathan Lane and Matthew Broderick joined by a willing and able Will Ferrell and Uma Thurman. It's so old-fashioned a movie musical that it makes "Chicago" look cutting edge. 2 hrs. 9 min., PG-13 (hanky-panky, dancing Nazis, adult themes ).
ss 1/2 RENT: An intermittently affecting adaptation of Jonathan Larson's 1996 rock-salsa-gospel opera about starving artists on the Lower East Side. Standout performances by Jesse L. Martin and Wilson Jermaine Heredia. Also with Rosario Dawson, Taye Diggs and Idina Menzel. 2 hrs. 15 min., PG-13 (drug candor, sexual suggestiveness, brief nudity).
ss 1/2 THE RINGER: Johnny Knoxville stars as an average man trying to rig the Special Olympics by posing as a mentally challenged athlete. A surprisingly funny and thoughtful film, hamstrung by some stiff and preachy moments. 1 hr. 33 min., PG-13 (crude and sexual humor, profanity and some drug references).
s 1/2 RUMOR HAS IT: Cringeworthy comedy with Jennifer Aniston as a gal who thinks her family inspired the intergenerational sex comedy "The Graduate." With Shirley MacLaine and Kevin Costner. 1 hr. 36 min., PG-13 (sex and drug references, profanity).
s SAW TWO: Only the strenuously sadistic survive in this bloody sequel. Donnie Wahlberg is a cop tormented by Tobin Bell's nefarious serial killer. A new low for Hollywood. 1 hr. 31 min., R (intense graphic violence and terror, profanity).
ssss SYRIANA: Stephen Gaghan's feverish and urgent political thriller maps the New Oil Order. With George Clooney as a CIA agent, Alexander Siddig as a progressive Middle Eastern prince, and Matt Damon as an energy analyst. 2 hrs. 6 min., R (violence and profanity).
sss 1/2 WALK THE LINE: A blazing biopic about American music legend Johnny Cash and his stormy relationship with June Carter Cash, with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon at the top of their games as the couple who shared good times, bad times and hard times in the middle of some historic music biz craziness. Phoenix and Witherspoon do their own singing, and they pull it off. 2 hrs. 16 min., PG-13 (adult themes, sex, drugs, violence).
sss WOLF CREEK: Inspired by real events, this grisly, seat-squirming scare pic follows three friends -- a guy and two girls -- on a road trip from western Australia to Sydney. They stop at a famous meteor hole in the desert, the car breaks down, and the horror starts. Chilling. 1 hr. 35 min., R (violence, gore, profanity, adult themes).
RATINGS: 4 stars: Excellent; 3 stars: Good; 2 stars: Fair; 1 star: Poor. From Knight Ridder Newspapers.