John Michael Higgins

CHICAGO – Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought a Zoo” should have made more money. Sure, it’s a cheesy slice of family entertainment but when the cheese is this well-crafted, performed, and delivered, one can’t complain too much about it. “We Bought a Zoo” is too long, not subtle enough, and pretty manipulative, but it the manipulation works. Matt Damon is stellar (as he always seems to be lately) and Crowe tells this old-fashioned tale with enough skill to make it entertaining. “We Bought a Zoo” is one of those rare cross-demographic films — from children to grandparents — that doesn’t insult the intelligence of any of them.

CHICAGO – Cameron Crowe’s “We Bought a Zoo” is an undeniably manipulative crowd-pleaser but there’s something about being manipulated in such an expert manner that makes the tugging on the heartstrings easier to take.

CHICAGO – Everyone in “Bad Teacher” is talented and they all do good work here but it’s one of those weird films that never develops an overall comic timing. Every time it feels like it’s about to find a groove and develop a rhythm, there’s a scene that just doesn’t work. It’s a moderately entertaining rental that isn’t nearly as entertaining as its trailers made it out to be.

CHICAGO – If you’re going to be bad, be bad. But this is mainstream Hollywood “product,” starring Cameron Diaz, and while the concept of the new film “Bad Teacher” had promise, it eventually fell down on the weight of happy resolutions and the worse mortal sin for a comedy…it was dull.

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Katherine Heigl stars in Columbia Pictures comedy The Ugly Truth.

CHICAGO – This 29-image slideshow contains the official press images for “The Ugly Truth,” starring Katherine Heigl, Gerard Butler, Eric Winter, John Michael Higgins, Nick Searcy, Kevin Connolly, and Cheryl Hines. It was written by Nicole Eastman and Karen McCullah Lutz & Kirsten Smith. The film opens on July 24th, 2009.

CHICAGO – How desperate are you for laughs? If you rent all the straight-to-video comedies that come down the line, then “Fired Up” may have enough lines that hit the funny bone to warrant a rental. It’s certainly not as unbearable as some theatrical junk like “Disaster Movie” or “White Chicks,” but that’s doesn’t mean it’s worth your time.

Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0

CHICAGO – What has happened to Jim Carrey’s career? The comedy superstar has stumbled more in the last few years than he ever had before with the awful “The Number 23,” dull “Fun With Dick and Jane,” and now the mediocre “Yes Man”. This return to the slapstick style that made Carrey a star isn’t a complete disaster but it’s just not that funny and the average movie has been given average special featues on its Blu-Ray release.