Box Office Outlook: For Those Of You Not Watching Basketball

By Katey Rich

Wait, did you say something about movies? Sorry, I was busy adjusting my bracket-- I can't believe I was dumb enough to count on Georgia making it to the sweet 16! Yes, it's March Madness again, which means the movie theatres are vainly competing against widescreen TVs that will be showing nothing but basketball all the way through to April. They're giving it the ol' college try, though, offering up two young male-skewing movies, a horror picture and a comedy, and another entry in the Tyler Perry franchise. And on smaller level there's a weepy drama about a young boy illegally immigrating to the U.S.; after all, there's no NCAA in Mexico.

DRILLBIT TAYLOR. Opening in 2,700 theatres. Drillbit Taylor doesn't have the widest release of the weekend, but it's the only major release that's been screened for critics-- yeah, it's that kind of weekend. Another item from the never-stopping Apatow comedy factory, Drillbit stars Owen Wilson as a homeless war veteran who poses as a personal bodyguard in order to score some cash off wimpy ninth-graders. The real stars, though, are the kids, played by younguns Nate Hartley, Troy Gentile and David Dorfman; the munchkins fend off the school bullies (Danny McBride, Josh Peck) while going through the usual trials of adolescence, like falling for a girl who doesn't know you exist and putting up with twerpy stepbrothers. Leslie Mann also stars as a teacher who falls for Drillbit.

Unfortunately, no one think as highly of Drillbit the movie as those kids think of Drillbit the person. In my review I wrote, "The Apatow factory specializes in making raunchy, silly comedies for grown-ups, but Drillbit is strictly for kids." Lisa Schwarzbaum at Entertainment Weekly is even harsher, calling it "a disordered, dispirited shuffling of flailing-to-be-funny and trying-to-be-empathetic scenes." The Chicago Tribune compares it unfavorably to Superbad, calling the PG-13 Drillbit "cleaner in mouth but far uglier in spirit." Variety calls it "passable" but also writes, "Characterizations of the weesome threesome never goes beyond the one-dimensionally obvious." And the Washington Post laments, "there's nothing to see here, folks."

SHUTTER. Opening in 2,700 theatres. A remake of a Japanese horror movie-- surprise, surprise-- Shutter stars Joshua Jackson as a young newlywed who has recently moved to Tokyo with his new wife (Rachael Taylor). Soon a ghostly figure starts appearing in the man's photographs, which sends the couple on a supernatural journey.

This movie has not been screened for critics. Draw your own conclusions.

MEET THE BROWNS. Opening in 2,006 theatres. Angela Bassett stars as a Chicago single mother who is struggling enough as it is when she is laid off from her job. When her father dies, she must travel to Georgia for the funeral and meet family members she never knew existed. It turns out that the trip gives her a new lease on life, as well as a new romance. Writer-director Tyler Perry also stars as his trademark character Madea, a crass, law-breaking grandmother.

This movie, as with most Tyler Perry movies, was not screened for critics either. It doesn't matter; it will still bring in a ton of money.

UNDER THE SAME MOON (LA MISMA LUNA). Opening in 250 theatres. A bilingual, sentimental drama, Under the Same Moon follows the indefatigable Carlitos, a nine-year-old living in Mexico while his mother (Kate del Castillo) tries to make enough money in L.A. to afford for him to join her. When Carlitos' grandmother dies, though, he takes matters into his own hands, and illegally crosses the border to find his mother. Along the way he encounters friendly and not-so-friendly strangers, including a college student played by America Ferrera, and a drifter played by Mexican comedy star Eugenio Derbez.

Critics are split on whether or not this one is schmaltzy or just sweet. Jeanette Catsoulis at The New York Times accuses it of "more than a whiff of sanctimony" and sniffs, "This is screenwriting by numbers." Our Frank Lovece concedes, "When the filmmakers stick to the emotional core of a mother and child separated by employment opportunities and a border, they tell a heartbreaking story," but he also calls the film "suitable only for kids or for undiscerning immigrants." Newsday, on the other hand, calls it "emotionally opulent," and concludes, "Under the Same Moon earns its feel-good credentials with a surfeit of craft." And the Village Voice writes, "Director Patricia Riggen's tone is too gauzy to cohere the perspectives of Carlitos and his mother Rosario."