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By The Tampa Tribune | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 29, 2007

MR. BEAN'S HOLIDAY

Rowan Atkinson's mumbling heir to the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton kicks it Jacques Tati-style after winning a trip to the south of France. Less abrasive and more heartwarming than some of his previous outings, this purported final film involves Mr. Bean with a lost child, a pretty actress and some funny set pieces at the Cannes film festival; slapstick ensues.

PG; 90 minutes

BRATZ

The pouty-lipped, whorishly made-up, hyper-sexualized Barbies for the new millennium make the leap to the big screen, with predictably puerile results. In spite of having interests as varied as cheerleading and sports, the four plastic heroines band together in a daring quest to bring down the tyrannical clique system at their high school — except for the one they're in, of course.

PG; 110 minutes

WAITRESS

This flawed-but-affecting comedy follows a trio of waitresses (Cheryl Hines, Keri Russell and director Adrienne Shelly) who work in a diner run by Andy Griffith. The main story involves Russell's unhappy marriage to an oafish Jeremy Sisto, as chronicled in her creative naming of pies. The movie took on a more somber tone when Shelly (a Hal Hartley veteran) was murdered shortly after its completion.

PG-13; 104 minutes

THE NAMESAKE

Jhumpa Lahiri's book club-friendly novel about an Indian couple raising a family in suburban America was condensed for the screen by Mira Nair ("Monsoon Wedding"), and focuses on the cross-cultural experiences of their son, Nikolai Gogol (named for his professor father's favorite novelist), played by Kal Penn ("Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle"). Indian film vets Irfan Khan and Tabu are particularly fine as his parents.

PG-13; 122 minutes

HOT ROD

Another member of the "Saturday Night Live" ensemble — Andy Samberg of "Lazy Sunday" fame — attempts to translate his wit to feature-length in this low-key story about a dude, his buddies, moped stunts, an ailing stepfather ("Deadwood's" Ian McShane) and a hot chick (Isla Fisher of "Wedding Crashers"). The resulting film is amiable and intermittently funny, especially when Will Arnett is on screen.

PG-13; 88 minutes

I KNOW WHO KILLED ME

Among the interesting personal choices Lindsay Lohan has made in recent years, the decision to star in this convoluted, would-be artsy mess ranks right up there. In a dual role that allows her to fail at playing both a poor little rich girl and a hard-living street tough, Lohan undergoes a series of humiliations that may rough up her on-screen image, but certainly won't net her a serious career.

R; 105 minutes

Synopses by Amanda Henry; ratings from The Associated Press

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