BY MAKI SOMOSOT

In print | Published February 4, 2010

AMC MARPLE 10 THEATER, SPRINGFIELD
Edge of Darkness:Directed by Casino Royale’s Martin Campbell, this film adaptation of his own BBC miniseries stars Mel Gibson as Thomas Craven, a former homicide-detective-turned-single father, who embarks on a hunt to avenge his daughter’s death. Her death occurs in a bloody and public fashion; her body is strewn about on the front steps of his home. After further investigation, Craven discovers that his political activist daughter Emma (Bojana Novakovic) was not the innocent career woman he had previously envisioned pre-mortem. The bullet was meant to finish off his daughter, killing off her access to secrets to which she should never have borne witness. Emma had been leading a double life, inevitably and unfortunately engaged in a world rife with shady corporate deals and government crimes. While hunting down Emma’s killers, Craven encounters a government secret agent who may or may not know the full plot behind Emma’s death. R. 1 hour and 48 minutes. Showtimes: 2:00 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 7:20 p.m., 10:00 p.m.

When In Rome:Beth Harper is a successful museum curator in New York, but a perpetually single one. And when love and romance disillusion ambitious young women, the solution is evidently to go on spontaneous trips to Rome. In Rome, Beth pickpockets enchanted coins from a local fountain of love. This single girl’s spontaneous act entices a motley of weird and wonderful characters, struck mad with love, to run after her: namely a street magician (Jon Heder), a wannabe painter (Will Arnett), a sausage magnate (Danny DeVito) and a vainglorious model (Dax Shepard). But when reality and magic start to blur into each other, who can determine when love is real or not? A charming reporter (Josh Duhamel) pursues Beth with equal fervor. The audience is left to decide whether the reporter is romantically charmed himself – just like all the rest – or whether he loves Beth, plain and simple, without enchantment. PG-13. 1 hour and 31 minutes. Showtimes: 1:50 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:40 p.m.

RITZ 5 THEATER, PHILLY
The Young Victoria:This film finds a young Princess Victoria (Emily Blunt) on the eve of her 18th birthday, the day before she formally ascends to the British throne. Her first years are chaotic with the usual political intrigue and conspiracy, but Victoria triumphs and reigns supreme over the British court, even finding love along the way. Rupert Friend plays a dashing Prince Albert, the royal suitor who ultimately wins the sovereign’s heart. The latter half of the film is largely dedicated to the development of the nascent, but triumphant love between Prince Albert and Queen Victoria. Paul Bettany, Miranda Richardson and Jim Broadbent co-star in this film, as strong supporting characters. The film is directed by Jean-Marc Vallée. PG. 1 hour and 44 minutes. Showtimes: 11:30 a.m., 2:05 p.m., 4:40 p.m., 7:15 p.m., 9:45 p.m.

FRENCH CINÉ-CLUB, SWARTHMORE
Jules et Jim (Jules and Jim): François Truffaut’s third film is often considered the best and the most well-known in his impressive nouvelle vague oeuvre. It is a staple of the genre and rightly so, incorporating hallmarks such as voiceover narrations, newsreel footage, freeze frames and tracking shots. The plot is quintessentially nouvelle vague and characteristically European: a love triangle evolves between Jules (Oskar Werner), a German man, Jim, a Frenchman (Henri Serre), and Catherine, a Frenchwoman (Jeanne Moreau), with tragic consequences. But before the drama rears its head, the ménage a trois manage to have a lot of fun and playful intellectual repartée. As the shadow of World War I looms over Europe, all three individuals continue to indulge in the bohemian lifestyle, ever determined to live carpe diem with each other despite the ubiquitous devastation of war. But their lively, yet convoluted threesome is doomed to fail, propelled by Catherine’s indecision over the two men. Jules and Catherine eventually marry and procreate, but Catherine remains attached to Jim, and vice-versa. Still an influential film in our contemporary times, Jules et Jim seemingly advocated the free-love movement, but in reality it is a statement against such a way of life. Unrated. 1 hour and 44 minutes. Showtime: 7 p.m. on Monday, February 8. LPAC 301.

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