Box Office Outlook: Definitely Not A Five-Day Weekend

By Katey Rich

Is Valentine's Day the only holiday that merits movies opening earlier than usual but doesn't merit anyone getting the day off? Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Valentine's Day comes right before a three-day weekend, so the studios can get away with five-day weekend numbers even though most of us today are in our offices, as usual.

Anyway, welcome to a special early edition of Box Office Outlook, given that all the major movies are opening today. It's a smorgasboard of choices, from grown-up action to kids' action to dance action, plus an honest-to-God romantic comedy that nobody seems to hate! Is it a Valentine's Day miracle? Are they going to get anyone to go to the theatre tonight to see these movies instead of watching Lost? The mystery will unfold over the next, utterly fictional five-day weekend.

THE SPIDERWICK CHRONICLES. Opening in 3,847 theatres. Wow, I had no idea how excellent the poster for this movie was. The Spiderwick Chronicles is yet another childrens' fantasy film based on a bestselling series of books, though not one with nearly the notoriety of Harry Potter. The movie condenses five short books into one film, starring Freddie Highmore as twins Simon and Jared Grace, who move with their sister (Sarah Bolger) and their recently-divorced mom (Mary-Louise Parker) to their great-uncle Spiderwick's creepy estate. Jared soon discovers Spiderwick's book, a guide to the mystical realm; the discovery leads them to conflicts with the ogres who live in the forest, and revelations about their uncle's past. Adventures, swordfights, magic and talking CGI animals, naturally, ensue.

When I reviewed Spiderwick I was prepared to hate it, but I was surprised by its willingness to scare the audience and pack in as much adventure as possible. "Once the adventures begin, it's a simple delight to immerse yourself in the flights of fancy and battles of good and evil," I wrote in my review. Looks like I wasn't alone. "Director Mark Waters distills maximum suspense from the antic plot twists, aided by animation, puppets and some pretty awesome computer magic," writes Rex Reed at The New York Observer. Variety favorably compares it to New Line's flop The Golden Compass: "Spiderwick is a superior movie in almost all respects: less grandiose in scope, but richer in emotion and humor, and boasting visual effects appropriately scaled to the more intimate tenor of the production." Of course, not everyone could have such a good time: David Edelstein of New York Magazine calls the movie "like something cobbled together out of pieces of better movies and homogenized inside a computer, then bathed in a twinkling, James Horner-channeling-John Williams score." Well happy Valentine's Day to you too!

JUMPER. Opening in 3,402 theatres. Hayden Christensen may no longer be Darth Vader, but in Doug Liman's Jumper, he can teleport anywhere in the world. Not a bad consolation prize, eh? Christensen plays David Rice, a "jumper" who can travel everywhere at will, but finds himself and a fellow jumper (played by Jamie Bell) hunted by a mysterious avenger (Samuel L. Jackson). Rachel Bilson co-stars as David's girlfriend, and Diane Lane plays his mother.

If you're expecting anything good to come of a movie starring Hayden Christensen, you obviously haven't been paying attention. The best critical notices actually come from our Frank Lovece, who at least reprimands Christensen for his blankness: "The action is grand and wildly imaginative, shot and edited so adroitly you wish the movie could have teleported in some genuine human characters." Manohla Dargis at The New York Times is so disappointed she dedicates half her review to discussing Jackson's hairpiece, but she still calls the film "a barely coherent genre mishmash about a guy who transports himself across the globe at will." And The San Francisco Chronicle notes, "During the film's slower moments, you can always pass the time by counting the plot holes, which are legion." The review also mentions that Christensen's role was initially offered to Eminem, which hints at what a bizarre, if not utterly amazing, film it could have been.

STEP UP 2 THE STREETS. Opening in 2,470 theatres. The sequel to the 2006 hit Step Up finds all new characters trying to find their way through the world via dancing. Briana Evigan stars as Andie, a student at a snooty Baltimore prep school who wants to get back to her roots in step dancing-- on the streets, wouldn't you know. From what I can tell, this is basically the whole plot, and the rest of the movie is taken up with dancing.

There are a couple of critics willing to say it's not half bad, but beyond that, it's mostly thumbs down. "Director Jon M. Chu handles the dance, if not necessarily the dramatic, sequences with reasonable skill," is the best The Hollywood Reporter can come up with. The Seattle-Post Intelligencer was at least entertained by the moves: "Anyone who goes to this movie for the plot is insane. It's all about the moves and the bodies putting them on." Ed Gonzalez at Slant goes so far as to say it's not as good as the original, which wasn't exactly a critical darling: "When a film like Step Up becomes a cash cow and a studio (here, Disney) takes a more vested interest in the making of its sequel, the result feels tamed." Entertainment Weekly, on the other hand, is willing to give a good word on the dancing alone; Gregory Kirschling writes that once the dance competition begins, the movie "improves considerably � and it doesn't skimp on cool pretzel moves."

DEFINITELY, MAYBE. Opening in 2,203 theatres. Sex ed brings up a lot of questions for kids, but they don't usually go the way 11-year-old Maya's (Abigail Breslin) questions do in Definitely, Maybe. On the eve of her parents' divorce, she asks her dad (Ryan Reynolds) to tell her the story of how he met her mom. Dad complies, but changes the names and some details to make it a mystery for Maya and the audience alike. Elizabeth Banks, Isla Fischer and Rachel Weisz play three women with whom he was involved in the past-- and one of them will grow up to be his wife and Maya's mom.

It barely seemed possible, but they've actually made a romantic comedy that everyone likes! Our Harvey Karten calls the dialogue "engaging, witty, intelligent" and dubs the movie "an all-around winner." The always-grumpy Village Voice finds something to smile about too, writing, "It's an unexpected delight to find Reynolds in something resembling a grown-up comedy." Lisa Schwarzbaum at Entertainment Weekly writes the words of praise that every feminist, or even a woman with half a brain, wants to hear: "Each lady under discussion would not only make a reasonable mommy but also a really attractive, realistic woman." Even A.O. Scott at The New York Times, who recently wrote an essay bemoaning the current state of romantic comedy, calls it "a nimble and winning little romance."