Weekend Movie Guide: Battle of Mediocrity

Anne and Steve run to a screening of Iron Man | Photo courtesy of Warner Brothers

Steve Carrell is one of the funniest guys on television but it looks like he's dropped another turd on the big screen. It's never a good sign when the preview to a comedy is unable to generate more than a few, soft giggles from audiences, but that appears to be the case for Get Smart. Anne Hathaway is a marvelously appealing actress, but she looks awfully uncomfortable in the role of an action hero. And Dwayne Johnson? Pass.

There appears to be a building consensus that Mike Myers has simply lost his mojo with his latest creation, The Love Guru. As with Get Smart, trailers to The Love Guru have been met with almost complete indifference by theatergoers. Myer's character of Guru Pitka just seems so dated and ordinary. If Myers were less proud, he would return to his best character who has yet to see the silver screen--the brilliantly conceived Dieter.

The best movie opening this weekend is probably the one being marketed to tween girls--Kit Kittredge: An American Girl. Little Miss Sunshine's Abigail Breslin stars as the titular hero while Julia Ormond and Chris O'Donnell return from acting purgatory to star as her parents. The whimsical film is set in what was perhaps the most whimsical period in American history--the Great Depression. Expect merry hobos galore!