ABOUT A BOY (PG-13) -- B+
Chris and Paul Weitz step up in class with this comedy (from the Nick Hornby novel) about a rich idler who prides himself on avoiding all human relationships that might obligate him in any way. Hugh Grant is in top form as the protagonist. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
BAD COMPANY (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
CIA veteran Anthony Hopkins recruits the "street-smart" brother (Chris Rock) of his late, Harvard-educated partner to go after the bad guys in this salt-and-pepper/May-December/Yankee-Brit/fish-out-of-water action romp from Joel Schumacher. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
THE CAT'S MEOW (PG-13) -- B+
Peter Bogdanovich's (Last Picture Show) first film in a decade offers an entertaining, fictionalized version of the 1924 Hollywood scandal involving media mogul William Randolph Hearst, actress Marion Davies and Charlie Chaplin aboard Hearst's yacht. (Simmons) Canal Place
DIVINE SECRETS OF THE YA-YA SISTERHOOD (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Sandra Bullock, Ellen Burstyn, Naomi Judd and Maggie Smith bring bring to life Rebecca Wells' 1996 novel about a Louisiana playwright (Bullock) who moves to Seattle to get away from her mother, only to learn about mom's adventures through a diary. James Garner, Ron Eldard and Shirley Knight co-star. Thelma & Louise screenwriter Callie Khouri makes her directing debut. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
ENOUGH (PG-13) -- C+
It's Sleeping With the Enemy with an aggressive twist. Deciding that the best defense is a good offense, battered wife J Lo stops running and learns to fight back when abusive husband Billy Campbell won't let her go. Good performances buoy a predictable script. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST (PG) -- A-
Oscar Wilde's comic confection sports a plot as twisty as a pretzel and about as nutritious. Director Oliver Parker's fine cast (including Rupert Everett, Colin Firth, Judi Dench, Frances O'Connor and Reese Witherspoon) brings infectious zest to Wilde's tangy string of zingers about love and life. (Barton) Canal Place
INSOMNIA (R) -- B-
Christopher Nolan (Memento) returns with an Oscar-winning cast (Al Pacino, Robin Williams, Hilary Swank) but a weak script and a conventional neo-noir thriller format in this curious remake of the 1997 Norwegian film of the same name. Gratefully, Pacino and Williams downplay their roles as an L.A. detective and his elusive prey, but neither generates much chemistry either. Here's hoping Nolan wakes up next time. (Simmons) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette
MONSOON WEDDING (R) -- B
Mira Nair's (Mississippi Masala) mostly festive look at an arranged marriage in contemporary Delhi between an otherwise strikingly modern bride and groom is full of energy and joy but only narrowly skirts narrative disaster in a late turn about incest and pedophilia. (Barton) Canal Place
MY BIG FAT GREEK WEDDING (PG) -- NOT RATED
Nia Vardalos wrote and stars in the screen adaptation of her autobiographical one-woman play about the misadventures of a Greek woman marrying a non-Greek man. John Corbett (TV's Northern Exposure, Sex and the City) plays the Anglo. Executive produced by Tom Hanks and wife Rita Wilson, and directed by Joel Zwick, who directed Hanks in TV's Bosom Buddies back in the day. AMC Palace 20, Canal Place
THE NEW GUY (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
High school geek DJ Qualls gets expelled from school and sent to prison, where cellmate Eddie Griffin shows him how to act "cool" before he's released and goes to a new school to start fresh. Trouble ensues when a bully from the previous school shows up at the new one. AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
NINE QUEENS (R) -- B
Fabian Bielinsky's crime story is a complicated con about con men working a con and maybe conning each other. The story unwisely tips its hand with about 20 minutes remaining, but for the long haul the picture keeps us guessing and develops an array of fascinating characters in the process. (Reviewed in this issue.) (Barton) Through Thursday at Canal Place
SPIDER-MAN (PG-13) -- B
Tobey Maguire spins a believable web as your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in this Sam Raimi effort. Superb casting, excellent use of Matrix technology and occasional flashes of visual brilliance make this one a solid summer flick, but it's not nearly the total comic book package that Darkman -- or even Batman -- was. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
SPACE STATION (NR) -- NOT RATED
This latest 3-D IMAX documentary captures the wonder of the International Space Station, which hovers 250 miles above Earth. Entergy IMAX
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (G) -- B
In Shrek, the Dreamworks team flouted Disney convention by turning the beauty into a beast. In Spirit, they've again broken the rules -- this time by having the eponymous four-legged protagonist whinny and snort, but not talk. So as you gaze at the film's lush animated Western vistas and consider its anti-Manifest Destiny moral, all you hear are the sounds of nature, a tasteful voice-over by Matt Damon as the lead horse Spirit, occasional human dialogue, and the unfortunate, incessant howl of Bryan Adams on the soundtrack. (Tisserand) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
STAR WARS: EPISODE II -- ATTACK OF THE CLONES (PG) -- A-
The Empire bounces back as George Lucas brings us ever closer to the Star Wars mythology we know and love. Plenty of action, stunning visuals, a kick-ass Yoda and Hayden Christiansen's pitch-perfect performance as young Anakin Skywalker make this one more The Empire Strikes Back than Phantom Menace. The fun is definitely back in the Force. (Carlson) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Prytania
THE SUM OF ALL FEARS (PG-13) -- NOT RATED
Director Phil Alden Robinson and star Ben Affleck assume the helm of the Tom Clancy spy-thriller series featuring CIA superhero Jack Ryan. This time German neo-Nazis are trying to use a nuclear device they've swiped, use it at the Super Bowl, blame it on the Russians, and set off another Cold War. Phew! Morgan Freeman, Liev Schreiber, Bridget Moynahan, James Cromwell and Philip Baker Hall co-star. AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Plaza
UNDERCOVER BROTHER (PG-13) -- B+
Eddie Griffin is hilarious in this surprisingly savvy parody of racism dressed up as an action comedy. No stereotype is left un-skewered in this uneven but wild ride, which also features Aunjanue Ellis, Denise Richards, Dave Chappelle and Neil Patrick Harris doing a very good impression of a very white man (go figure). (Simmons) (Reviewed in this issue.) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20, Chalmette, Downtown Joy, Plaza
UNFAITHFUL (R) -- B-
Though resolutely artful and blessed with exceptionally fine performances by Diane Lane and Richard Gere, Adrian Lyne's domestic drama about the cheating wife of a decent man suffers from a clumsy script and a stubborn Hollywood determination to turn everything into a thriller. Too bad, so sad. (Barton) AMC Palace 12, AMC Palace 16, AMC Palace 20
