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The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 12, 2007

ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE *½

'Elizabeth: The Golden Age' is essentially a Paris couture fashion show with some historical names and details tossed in as a feeble attempt at significance.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the entire movie consists of Cate Blanchett trying on various ornate, richly hued dresses with increasingly intricate wigs and headdresses, until one day when the Spanish Armada shows up. Costume designer Alexandra Byrne probably should have gotten top billing.

Blanchett being Blanchett, she finds some opportunities for subtle, deliciously regal condescension as she returns to the role of Queen Elizabeth I, which made her a star and earned her an Oscar nomination nearly a decade ago. But more often she vamps it up mightily under the over-the-top direction of Shekhar Kapur, who also made 1998's 'Elizabeth.'

Despite its lofty aspirations, this one belongs right up there with 'Showgirls' in the high-camp section of your local video store.

Clive Owen wears puffy shirts and dangles from a pirate ship as the devilishly handsome and flirty Sir Walter Raleigh (he also takes part in a corny, soft-core sex scene), while Geoffrey Rush returns from the first film and is sadly squandered as Elizabeth's right-hand man, who somehow manages to remain at the center of international intrigue even though he's barely around.

The script, from 'Elizabeth' writer Michael Hirst and 'Gladiator' co-writer William Nicholson, contains sprinklings of fact, fiction and mythology with some heaping scoops of romance novel.

115 minutes; PG-13 (violence, sexuality and nudity)

Christy Lemire,

The Associated Press

WE OWN THE NIGHT **

In James Gray's 'The Yards,' Mark Wahlberg was an ex-con drawn back into crime by buddy Joaquin Phoenix. In this new thriller from writer-director Gray, Phoenix is a club manager with shady associates who's coaxed toward the right side of the law by his cop-brother Wahlberg.

You can't quite say Gray's repeating himself, but close enough.

Like 'The Yards,' the new movie is broody to the point of anesthesia and operatic to the verge of bombast. And like its predecessor, Gray's latest takes itself far too seriously.

Phoenix plays a black-sheep brother from a family of policemen who runs a nightspot from which Russians operate their drug business in 1980s New York. His cop-brother (Wahlberg) and cop-dad (Robert Duvall) try to enlist him to spy on his clientele, forcing Phoenix's prodigal son to choose between crime and justice.

It's such a cliche to say the acting salvages the movie somewhat, but it's true here. Wahlberg is gruffly earnest in a more sober variation of the acerbic detective he played in last year's 'The Departed,' while the normally stoic Phoenix gets to show some range - explosive anger, wilting fear - this time around.

And even when Duvall phones a role in, as he does here, he elevates an otherwise by-the-numbers police story.

117 minutes; R (strong violence, drug material, profanity, sexual content and brief nudity)

David Germain,

The Associated Press

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