Box Office Outlook: Iron You Glad It's Summer?

By Katey Rich

You have no idea how boring it's been since January. Every weekend a new crop of wide releases, and every weekend the best they can inspire in me is a half-hearted "It might have potential." It's been a long, slow slog through the early part of the year, but now, summertime is finally here! Yes, I wore a coat today, but Hollywood has decided it's summer, and who am I to disagree? This weekend it is all about Iron Man, as much as McDreamy may ask you to disagree. The question is not whether Iron Man will make a lot of money, but how much money it will be, and how jealous it will make the other studios with their other superhero movies. Paramount already should be bragging up a storm, given that they've got the rare 800-pound gorilla that produces good reviews. Let's take a look at those, plus the reviews of the also-rans.

IRON MAN. Opening in 3,800 theatres. Tony Stark (Robert Downey, Jr.) is a billionaire weapons dealer living the high life, even though his weapons are out causing God knows how much destruction in the world. After a near-death experience, though, Stark decides it's time to use his skills for good, and builds the indestructible suit that turns him into.... Iron Man, of course! With the help of some loyal friends (Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow) and a business partner (Jeff Bridges) who is helpful until he goes evil, Iron Man sets off to protect the American way in the inimitable way only superheroes know how to do. Jon Favreau, who also made the instant-classic Christmas movie Elf, directs.

Not since Spider-Man slung his way onto the screen in 2002 have the critics been so overjoyed to see another superhero get his big-screen due for the first time. Our Frank Lovece is among the many who love the choice to cast Robert Downey, Jr. as the man in the magic suit. "Downey makes his emotional transformations satisfyingly right, and owns the screen whether as Stark or as Iron Man." Peter Travers at Rolling Stone raves too, while making egregious use of the work "funky": "Iron Man is the shit because Favreau (Made, Elf) is too funky to settle for slick." Carrie Rickey at the Philadelphia Inquirer has but a minor quibble, writing, "Until a final conflict that more resembles a monster-truck jam than a superhero showdown, Iron Man is solid gold." Only David Denby at the New Yorker complains that, within the iron suit, "Downey without eyes is Downey cancelled." He also calls the movie a "dunderheaded fantasia," but with that opinion he is solidly within the minority-- the film had a 94% overall rating at Rotten Tomatoes.

MADE OF HONOR. Opening in 2,700 theatres. The McDreamy TV star Patrick Dempsey stars as a man who's been so busy womanizing that he hasn't noticed he's in love with his female best friend (Michelle Monaghan). That is, until she announces she's getting married to someone else, and he realizes he has to break up the wedding and confess his true love. Yes, if you've seen My Best Friend's Wedding, this should all sound very familiar.

So familiar, in fact, that most critics don't want anything to do with this standard-issue rom-com. The Arizona Republic offers up a hilarious pan: "Here's a direct transcript of the screenplay: Gay joke, fat joke, gay joke, fat joke, fat joke, gay joke. Then the writers turn everything on its head in a third-act twist in which they go fat joke, gay joke, fat joke." The Village Voice disses it, writing, "It should only entertain those still getting adjusted to the idea of talkies." Owen Glieberman at Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, was actually amused, writing that the actors "rise to the challenge of making friendship look like the wellspring of true love." And The Hollywood Reporter calls it "an amusing, smartly cast romantic comedy."

SON OF RAMBOW. Opening in 6 theatres. In 1980s England, a pair of young friends discover the Rambo movie First Blood. Inspired by the action, they decide to make their own movie and enter it into a local film contest. Garth Jennings, who made The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, wrote and directed the film based on his own experiences growing up in Thatcher-era England.

The critics are mostly nuts about this testosterone-fueled coming-of-age story. "This wildly funny and unexpectedly moving coming-of-age story is an unabashed celebration of childhood and moviemaking," writes our Ethan Alter. The Village Voice is similarly pleased, writing, "At its most likable, Son of Rambow evokes the rush of discovery that turns budding cinephiles into lifers�that delight in finding a film that seems to express or coalesce some inchoate yearning, including a yen to share." Variety, on the other hand, calls it merely "a modestly eccentric entertainment" while predicting that its box office prospects will be dim. And Time Out New York likes it, but not quite enough: "It's charming, but not exactly new."

REDBELT. Opening in 6 theatres. David Mamet ventures into the world of mixed martial-arts fighting in Redbelt, starring Chiwetel Ejiofor as a down-on-his-luck martial-arts instructor who frustrates his wife (Alice Braga) by refusing to fight for her family's martial arts franchise. When he gets conned by an unscrupulous movie star (Tim Allen, of all people), he has to rethink his priorities and, like any martial-arts warrior, get ready for one climactic fight.

Despite Mamet's pedigree, many critics are unimpressed. "The fights themselves are blurry and poorly edited, a big letdown for anyone expecting tight choreography and convincing stunts," writes our Daniel Eagan. Newsday says that it "fails on nearly every level," calling it "proof that even the most assured filmmaker can fall flat on his face." David Edelstein at New York Magazine thinks quite the opposite, writing, "Mamet has evolved into a confident and resourceful film director." And Variety calls it "absorbing and colorful," concluding that "the film is often engaging, thanks to the story's varied social structure, some solid individual scenes and a raft of fine actors playing tasty characters."