MOVIES

Movies are rated on a letter-grade scale, from A to F. Opinions by R-J movie critic Carol Cling (C.C.) are indicated by initials. Other opinions are from wire service critics.

Motion Picture Association of America ratings:

G – General audiences, all ages.

PG – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.

PG-13 – Parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children under 13.

R – Restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or guardian.

NC-17 – No one under 17 admitted.

NR – Not rated.

BABY MAMA

(C) Gynecomedy: With her biological clock nearing midnight, an overachiever ("30 Rock’s" likable Tina Fey) hires a dubious young woman ("Saturday Night Live’s" Amy Poehler) to carry her baby. Detecting human life here would require a sonogram; this is mild to the point of pablum, making the fertile topic of surrogate motherhood inoffensive to anyone. Which is not an endorsement; in comedies, delivery is everything. (99 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual humor, profanity, drug references.

BEFORE THE RAINS

(B+) Indian writer-director Santosh Sivan makes an impressive English-language debut with this culture-clash drama, set in colonial 1937 India, about a British spice baron (cunning "Law & Order" charmer Linus Roache) who finds himself torn between two worlds when his affair with a naive employee (Nandita Das) is discovered. Based on one of three stories in the 2002 Israeli film "Yellow Asphalt," the movie’s transition from one culture to another proves seamless as it dispassionately explores how power, when threatened, ruthlessly exercises its prerogatives. (98 min.) PG-13; violence, sexuality.

THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: PRINCE CASPIAN

(B-) It doesn’t seem quite so magical anymore, but the Penvensie siblings — stalwart Peter (William Moseley), practical Susan (Anna Popplewell), mischievous Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and little Lucy (Georgie Henley) — are back in Narnia nonetheless, helping the title character (dashing Ben Barnes) to reclaim his realm. Rousing, if occasionally ponderous, this combat-weary adventure lacks much of the magic that marked 2005’s "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," but this return trip to Narnia retains its appeal. Just barely. (140 min.) PG; epic battle action, violence. (C.C.)

THE FALL

(C) Visual whiz Tarsem Singh ("The Cell") returns with a loose and infinitely more pretentious remake of the 1981 Bulgarian movie "Yo Ho Ho," set in 1920s Los Angeles, about a paralyzed movie stuntman (Lee Pace) who mesmerizes a hospitalized little girl (Catinca Untaru) with tales of five larger-than-life heroes. Tarsem has style to burn, but his storytelling skills need work, resulting in the kind of movie for which the phrase "you’ve never seen anything like it before" was invented. The question is whether anyone would want to. (118 min.) R; violent images.

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL

(C) Dumped by his TV-star girlfriend (Kristen Bell) after six years together, a struggling musician (Jason Segel, a cross between Albert Brooks’ sad-eyed clown and Will Ferrell’s bubbly klutz) struggles to recover with a solo trip to Hawaii — where he winds up in the same hotel as Sarah and her new British-rocker boyfriend. Sporadically funny, yet this latest from the Judd Apatow comedy factory lacks the crackle and snap of previous Apatow-zers; the sell-by date is getting ever closer. (112 min.) R; sexual content, profanity, graphic nudity.

THE HAPPENING

(C) He still sees dead people, but this time they’re in a dead movie: Writer-director M. Night Shyamalan ("The Sixth Sense," "Signs") tries, and fails, to revive his movie mojo with this tale of an apocalyptic crisis that triggers global hysteria — and prompts stars Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel and John Leguizamo to go on the run. This mash-up of "The Birds" and "War of the Worlds" (or maybe it’s "The Birds" meets "The Blob") tries to be topical, but the premise is too thin to deliver any real chills. It’s beyond good and evil; it’s just dumbfounding — and dumb. (91 min.) R; violent and disturbing images.

THE INCREDIBLE HULK

(C+) No smash! Edward Norton (who co-wrote the script with "X2’s" Zak Penn) takes over from 2003 "Hulk" Eric Bana as troubled physicist Bruce Banner, who keeps trying to extinguish his inner monster, even as he’s hounded by a military that wants to harness his mean green power. Starts great, but finishes in noisy, effects-heavy waves of tedium. And French director French action director Louis Leterrier ("The Transporter") lets the effects get the better of him, stranding such capable actors as Norton, William Hurt and Tim Roth. Alas, it’s no "Iron Man" — although if you sit through the credits, a jokey Robert Downey Jr. cameo will remind you how much better "Iron Man" is. (138 min.) PG-13; sci-fi action violence, disturbing images, brief partial nudity.

INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

(A) Whip-crackin’ good: Indiana Jones (inimitable, irreplaceable Harrison Ford) returns to derring-duty, reuniting with director Steven Spielberg and executive producer George Lucas for an exhilarating, thrill-a-minute romp that recaptures "Raiders of the Lost Ark’s" gleeful spirit. This time out, it’s 1957, and a graying, gritty Indy teams up with a rebellious teen (Shia LaBeouf) and "Raiders" flame Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) to battle Soviet spies (led by Oscar-winner Cate Blanchett) hot on the trail of a mystical Amazon artifact that may hold the key to life on earth — and beyond. Ridiculous, but also ridiculously entertaining. (124 min.) PG-13; adventure violence, scary images. (C.C.)

IRON MAN

(B) Up, up and away: The summer blockbuster season gets off to a flying start with this fast, funny retooling of the tired superhero genre, as jet-setting zillionaire arms merchant Tony Stark (a magnetic Robert Downey Jr.), captured by terrorists, devises a flying metal suit and weapons system, transforming himself from war profiteer to hero-with-a-conscience. It’s still the same old story, but a top-chop cast (including Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges and Terrence Howard) and a sly sense of humor make almost everything old new again. (126 min.) PG-13; sci-fi action and violence, brief sexual references. (C.C.)

KUNG FU PANDA

(C) Kung phooey: This computer-animated romp follows the fortunes of roly-poly Po (voiced by Jack Black), a pot-bellied panda who’s plucked from obscurity to train as a martial arts warrior under the tutelage of pint-sized Master Shifu (a wry Dustin Hoffman). Kids will adore the broad slapstick (and maybe even the "you gotta believe" homilies), but the all-star vocal cast (including Jackie Chan, David Cross, Angelina Jolie, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane) is largely wasted and the movie never figures out how mesh its comedic and chop-socky elements. (124 min.) PG; martial arts action. (C.C.)

MADE OF HONOR

(C-) Something borrowed: "My Best Friend’s Wedding" gets a gender-switch makeover and a serious brain-drain as a bed-hopping Manhattan millionaire (Patrick "McDreamy" Dempsey) realizes that he loves his art-restorer best friend (Michelle Monaghan) — but not until she gets herself engaged to a Scottish hunk (Kevin McKidd). while working overseas. Predictable, generic and only fitfully amusing, there’s nothing to justify this rehash. You’ll have more fun watching "My Best Friend’s Wedding" on DVD. (101 min.) PG-13; sexual content, profanity.

PLANET B-BOY

(B-) More than two decades after its early ’80s heyday, the urban dance craze outsiders call breakdancing — and participants call "B-boying" — is alive and well and inspiring astounding acrobatic moves from, among others, Las Vegas’ own Knucklehead Zoo crew. This documentary follows Knucklehead Zoo as they represent the U.S., competing against crews from France, Japan and Korea to win 2005’s international Battle of the Year. With its focus on selected competitors, we don’t learn much about the art form, but "Planet B-Boy" effortlessly makes the case that this mix of ballet and street moves is a genuine art form. (101 min.) NR; profanity.

SEX AND THE CITY

(C) Let’s not get Carried away: After a four-year hiatus, the HBO comedy’s fab four — Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker), Samantha (Kim Cattrall), Miranda (Cynthia Nixon) and Charlotte (Kristin Davis) — return for what feels like an entire season of shoe love, true love and everything in between, all crammed into one loooooooooong sitting. Fans undoubtedly will revel in every bloated moment, but this never finds a middle ground between its TV roots and its big-screen incarnation, so those who never acquired an addiction to the series may wonder what the frenzy was, and is, all about. (145 min.) R; strong sexual situations, graphic nudity, profanity. (C.C.)

SON OF RAMBOW

(B) During a sleepy ’80s summer, two British boys armed with a video camera — one (Bill Milner) a member of a strict religious sect, the other (Will Poulter) a school terror who makes bizarre home movies — come up a pirated copy of the first "Rambo" movie, which inspires them to make their own, home-grown tribute. This charmer from writer-director Garth Jennings ("The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy") dusts the clichés off the coming-of-age movie with its flashback to the stone age of VHS and VCR technology — and to the timelessness of the central characters’ clumsiness and innocence. (96 min.) PG-13 for violence, reckless behavior.

STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE

(B) Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris ("The Fog of War") returns to examine America’s embrace of torture as a weapon of war, focusing on incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces in Iraq’s notorious Abu Ghraib prison. Morris’ unsparing (but not unpitying) look at the photos (and the people who took them) is a composite picture behind the pictures; this challenging and disturbing tragedy unsettles as it denies us the comfort of easy answers. (117 min.) R; disturbing images and content involving torture and graphic nudity, profanity.

THEN SHE FOUND ME

(B-) Helen Hunt, as tightly wound as a ukulele string, makes her directorial debut and stars in this bittersweet tale about a teacher undergoing the mother of all midlife crises when she meets her vivacious birth mother (none other than Caesars Palace headliner Bette Midler) just as her adoptive mom dies — and her Peter Pan of a husband (Matthew Broderick) leaves her. Colin Firth (as a divorced dad seeking her favor) almost steals the show, thanks to his wry, stoic grace, especially because Hunt’s uptight character is such a tough nut to crack — much like the movie itself. (100 min.) R; profanity, sexual content. (C.C.)

THE VISITOR

(B+) Proving "The Station Agent" was no fluke, writer-director Tom McCarthy returns with another heartfelt fable of lost souls finding each other. This time, a widowed economics professor (ace supporting actor Richard Jenkins, triumphant in his first leading role) returns to his little-used New York apartment to find an illegal immigrant couple living there: gregarious Middle Eastern musician Tarek (Haaz Sleiman) and wary African jewelry maker Zainab (Danai Gurira). What follows, including the arrival of Tarek’s mother (Hiam Abbass), offers a poignant study of kindred spirits struggling, against all odds, to embrace their common humanity. (108 min.) PG-13; brief profanity. (C.C.)

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS

(C) Nothing unexpected happens in this upbeat fluff, as two vacationing New Yorkers (Cameron Diaz as a workaholic, Ashton Kutcher as a slacker) meet cute in Vegas, get plastered and get married, only to put their morning-after annulment on hold so they can hold onto a $3 million slot jackpot. It’s nothing we haven’t seen before — and won’t see again. Yet as the movie stumbles through its connect-the-dots plot and sitcom-style slapstick, there’s a frustrating sense of missed opportunities — and missing smarts. (98 min.) PG-13; sexual and crude content, profanity, drug references. (C.C.)

YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

(B-) Adam Sandler plays an Israeli secret agent who, tired of endless stand-offs with his Palestinian nemesis (John Turturro), fakes his death so he can reinvent himself — as a New York hairstylist. Sure, there’s the familiar Jewvenile humor, but this crude, idiotic, ridiculous romp also happens to be flat-out hilarious — and Sandler’s funniest film in years, less about a manic manchild than it is a raunchily wholesome message movie that deploys stereotypes in order to smash them. (113 min.) PG-13; crude and sexual content, profanity, nudity.