MOVIE REVIEWS | In local theaters

"BREAKFAST ON PLUTO" (C): Cillian Murphy as an Irish foundling reborn as an ethereal transvestite and glitter-rock groupie in '70s London, rocked by IRA bombings. Plays more like a variety show than a movie, but both Murphy and Liam Neeson (as his parish priest) astonish. 2 hrs., 15 mins., R (sex, nudity, drugs, violence).
"CAPOTE" (B-): 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 mins., R. (violence).
"CASANOVA" (F): One would expect a movie about the storied lover man of 18th century Venice to be wicked, ribald fun. One would be wrong. Heath Ledger stars in this tame, bland, handsome dud. 1 hr. 50 mins., R (sex, nudity, profanity, adult themes).
"THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE" (C+): The menagerie of mythological beasties in "Narnia" don't seem quite genuinely, three-dimensionally real. That's not to say this "Wardrobe" isn't worth climbing into. Only that along with the dollops of delight, a bit of disappointment awaits on the other side. 2 hrs. 12 mins., PG (battle sequences and frightening moments).
"THE FAMILY STONE" (C): 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 mins., PG-13 (drug and sex references).
"FUN WITH DICK AND JANE" (C): In this brisk but flat farce, a remake of a 1977 comedy, Jim Carrey and Tea Leoni play a couple who turns to crime when their luxe, white-collar existence goes down the toilet. 1 hr. 30 mins., PG-13 (mild profanity, sexual references).
"GLORY ROAD" (B): It's a true story filled with innate drama, tension, heart and historic importance.: During the college basketball finals in 1966, Texas Western coach Don Haskins started an unprecedented five black players. It even has a built-in Hollywood ending: The underdog Miners upset legendary coach Adolph Rupp's Kentucky Wildcats to win the national championship, a victory that some credit as a significant step in the desegregation of the South. 1 hr., 49 mins., PG (racial issues including violence and epithets, and mild language).
"GOOD NIGHT, AND GOOD LUCK" (A-): 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 mins., PG (mature themes).
"HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE" (B): 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 mins., PG-13 (fantasy violence, suspense).
"HOODWINKED" (C-): Like a poor man's "Shrek," this fractured fairy tale is waiting for you in theaters with big ears, big eyes and big teeth, but little bite. Yet another product of three-dimensional, computer-generated animation, it takes the story of Little Red Riding Hood and overstuffs it with smart-alecky humor and contemporary pop culture references. 1 hr., 26 mins., PG (mild action and thematic elements).
"HOSTEL" (C+): Director Eli Roth won't just show you a close-up of a chain saw severing the fingers of a hapless backpacker who's been chained to a chair and tortured. He'll also show you the bloody stumps falling onto the dark stone floor, as well as the partial paw that remains. Such is the relentlessly graphic nature of "Hostel," which surely must have been intended as a homophone for "hostile," and is not for the faint of heart. 1 hr. 35 mins., R (brutal scenes of torture and violence, strong sexual content, language and drug use).
"JUST FRIENDS" (B-): 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 mins., PG-13 (sexual situations and references).
"KING KONG" (A-): Peter Jackson ("Lord of the Rings") has remade "King Kong," the one about the 5-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).
"MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA"" (D): 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 mins., PG-13 (adult themes).
"LAST HOLIDAY" (C): Queen Latifah stars as a meek woman who comes into her own only when she learns she has three weeks to live. And those three words -- Queen Latifah stars -- are crucial to the movie's tolerability. Unabashedly feel-good and life-affirming, director Wayne Wang's film turns ridiculous toward the end but mostly manages to avoid being completely maudlin thanks to the luminous Latifah. 1 hr., 52 mins., PG-13 (some sexual references).
"MUNICH" (A-): Set in the wake of the 1972 massacre of the Israeli Olympic team, Steven Spielberg's taut thriller chronicles the covert operation to hunt down and kill the men believed to have masterminded the terrorist operation. Eric Bana stars as the Israeli agent who heads the covert hit squad, crisscrossing Europe on a mission of vengeance. With Geoffrey Rush, Ciaran Hinds and an international cast. 2 hrs. 44 mins., R (violence, profanity, nudity, sex, adult themes).
"PRIDE AND PREJUDICE" (A-): 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 mins., PG (mild adult themes).
"THE PRODUCERS" (B): 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 mins., PG-13 (hanky-panky, dancing Nazis, adult themes ).
"RENT" (B-): 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 mins., PG-13 (drug candor, sexual suggestiveness, brief nudity).
"THE RINGER" (B-): 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 mins., PG-13 (crude and sexual humor, profanity and some drug references).
"RUMOR HAS IT" (D): 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 mins., PG-13 (sex and drug references, profanity).
"THE SQUID AND THE WHALE" (A-): Noah Baumbach's melancholy comedy about Brooklyn brothers, circa 1986, entangled in the tentacles and maw of joint custody. With Jeff Daniels and Laura Linney as the parents. 1 hr. 28 mins., R (profanity, sexual candor).
"SYRIANA" (A): 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 mins., R (violence and profanity).
"TRISTAN & amp; ISOLDE" (C): And we needed a historical epic about these two dusty old star-crossed lovers because ...? Despite some lovely imagery, the movie plays out with a ponderous air of doom and self-importance that the beautiful but bland leads -- James Franco and Sophia Myles -- cannot sustain. 2 hrs., 5 mins., PG-13 (intense battle sequences and some sexuality).
"WALK THE LINE" (A-): 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 mins., PG-13 (adult themes, sex, drugs, violence).
"WOLF CREEK" (B): 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 mins., R (violence, gore, profanity, adult themes).
Combined dispatches