Roger Ebert Reviews

"I'm Still There" (Unrated, 108 minutes). A sad and painful documentary that bears witness to the self-destruction of Joaquin Phoenix. His famous announcement that he would retire from acting and become a hip-hop artist was believed by some to be a hoax. Not on the basis of this film by his brother-in-law, Casey Affleck, who shows him spiraling out of control into cocaine, pot and unhinged narcissism. The film has extraordinary access to private and privileged moments. Three stars.

"The American" allows George Clooney to play a man as starkly defined as a samurai. His fatal flaw, as it must be for any samurai, is love. Other than that, the American is perfect: Sealed, impervious and expert, with a focus so narrow it is defined only by his skills and his master. Here is a gripping film with the focus of a Japanese drama, an impenetrable character to equal Alain Delon's in "Le Samourai," by Jean-Pierre Melville.

"Mesrine: Public Enemy No. 1" (R, 133 minutes). Continuation of the brutal life of France's most notorious criminal, who survived a 20-year series of bank robberies, kidnappings, prison breaks and murders. Vincent Cassel makes him brutal, ugly, powerful and inscrutable. Winner of French Oscars for best director and actor. Three and a half stars

"Mugabe and the White African" (Unrated, 90 minutes). The story of Mike Campbell, a white farmer in Zimbabwe, who resists the efforts of the Mugabe regime to take over his farm, and eventually wins his case in an African regional high court. Dramatic, emotional, but raising some questions that go unanswered. Three stars

"The American" (R, 95 minutes). George Clooney is starkly defined as a criminal as obedient and focused as a samurai. He manufactures weapons for specialized jobs. He lives and functions alone. He works for a man who might as well be a master. He used few words. Only his feelings for a prostitute named Clara (Violante Placido) supply an opening to his emotions. Zen in its focus. Four stars.

"Centurion" (97 minutes; Rated R). A 97-minute chase through the spectacular scenery of the Scottish Highlands -- the far reaches of the Roman Empire in 117 A.D. -- as a platoon of bedraggled Roman soldiers find themselves hunted behind enemy lines by savage Picts. It gets monotonous, but there's lots of pretty red gore to brighten things up. With Michael Fassbender and Dominic West. Directed by Neil Marshall ("Dog Soldiers," "The Descent"). Two and a half stars.

"Chicago Heights" (Unrated, 90 minutes). A cinematic adaptation of Sherwood Anderson's "Winesburg, Ohio," moved to the present and recent decades and set in the far south Chicago suburb of Chicago Heights. Director Daniel Nearing uses a central character muck like Anderson's, who meditates on the lives he has observed in this African-American community, and as he approaches he recalls them in love and sadness. A remarkable job of evoking the essence of a book that is often considered not filmable. Three stars

"Flipped" (PG-13,90 minutes) Juli (Madeleine Carroll) has adored Bryce (Callan McAuliffe) ever since he moved into the neighborhood in the second grade. Bryce has been running away from her ever since. Now they're 14 and they seem to be flipping: he more interested, she less. Rod Reiner's warm human comedy tells their stories by showing the same crucial events from both their points of view. He returns to the time of his "Stand By Me" with the same endearing insights. Rating: Four stars

This was the kind of night a movie star's life is made of, a lonely, chill and windy night in a vacant lot somewhere in the middle of a strange city. Sean Connery said he rather enjoyed such nights. We were down near the corner of 46th and Calumet, on Chicago's South Side, where a film crew had rented a building to shoot some scenes for a movie.

"Lebanon" (92 minutes; Rated R). This claustrophobic war picture, set during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon, is like "The Hurt Locker" turned outside-in. It takes place entirely inside an Israeli tank with the four crew members: a commander, a gunner, a loader and a driver. Written and directed by Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz, whose experience as a veteran of that war lends authenticity to what is also a bold cinematic experiment. Winner of the Golden Lion a the 2009 Venice Film Festival. Three and a half stars.

"Mesrine: Killer Instinct" (R, 113 minutes) He was a ruthless killer, bank robber, kidnapper and prison break artist--and a self-promoting egomaniac who wrote books some compared to Camus. Vincent Cassel stars in a hard-boiled performance as the French criminal who killed on three continents and was in love with his image. Three and a half stars

"Around a Small Mountain" (Unrated, 85 minutes) Jane Birkin is wonderful as a lonely woman returning to her father's little circus after 15 years. Sergio Castellitto is a man who helps her with car trouble and ends up running away with the circus along with her. But this isn't a romance; it's more two ships comforting each other in the night. Jacques Rivette, one of the founders of the French New Wave, has made a small film because for this gentle story that's exactly the right size. Three stars

The audience in Symphony Hall will get a treat Wednesday night. Performing: Wynton Marsalis, pianist Cecile Licad and a 10-piece jazz ensemble, including Sherman Irby, Victor Goines, Marcus Printup, Ted Nash, Kurt Bacher, Vincent Gardner, Wycliffe Gordon, Dan Nimmer, Carlos Henriquez and Ali Jackson. Conducting: Andy Farber.

"Behind the Burly-Q" (Unrated, 98 minutes). A documentary remembering the rise and fall of the American burlesque show, "the poor man's opera." With many talking heads, notably Tempest Storm and Alan Alda, whose father Robert was a straight man on 42nd Street. Lots of historical footage, photos and headlines, not enough depth or organization. Two stars

Q. I have watched and read your reviews for years with great honor.  I disagree so strongly with your review of "Eat Pray Love" that it makes me sick.  You just don't get it, and many others like you don't get it. You do not know at all what it is like being a woman in this day and age (or previously) who did not want to be defined by a man or married off to one. If you think Stephen in the movie was an OK husband, you are out to lunch.  He was horrible!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (except on paper to people who do not need emotional sustenance). David was the narcissist from hell that  many of us have fallen for… do you not get that??????????? Many of the males of the species are frankly overrated and the women's movement has proven this (or frankly not sufficiently). I hope your wife will bring you up to speed. (Jeanine Carlson, Ph.D., Licensed Clinical Psychologist) A. Here is what I wrote about Stephen: "Her first marriage apparently broke down primarily because she tired of it, although Roberts at (a sexy and attractive) 43 makes an actor's brave stab at explaining they were 'young and immature.' She walks out on the guy (Billy Crudup) and he still likes her and reads her on the Web." Here is what I wrote about David:  "She meets a man played by James Franco, about whom, enough said." My wife???????? She already has me up to speed!!!!!!!!

"Anton Chekhov's The Duel" (Unrated, 95 minutes) Based on a lesser-known novella buy Chekhov, it tells the story of an idle bureaucrat and his married mistress, who languish on a Baltic seaside while the man expresses boredom with his lover. The local doctor listens to his complaints, and a visiting zoologist is so unsatisfied with their relationship that he issues a challenge for a duel. Not as exciting as this may sound. In English. Two stars

"The Red Machine" (Unrated, /// minutes) A lean, intense thriller about a disgraced spy for the U. S. Navy and a jailed safe-cracker who team up to steal the secret of the Japanese version of Enigma, the Nazi cryptography machine. Lee Perkins looks to be a flawlessly turned-out Navy officer, but he's locked behind a stone face and a shady reputation. Donal Thoms-Cappello) is a cocky young thief straight from a 1930s pulp crime magazine. No gimmicks, just an elegant simplicity. Three and a half stars

"The Extra Man" (105 minutes; rated R) A callow young would-be writer (Paul Dano) comes to New York City to discover himself and rooms in a shabby apartment with a temperamental elder escort (Kevin Kline). It's all very whimsical -- aggressively so. The actors are swell, but it's all just an excuse to show off its characters' one-note quirkiness. Occasionally funny, and the actors are fun, but it also gets wearing after a while. Two and a half stars.

"Eat Pray Love" (PG-13, 141 minutes). Julia Roberts stars as a New York writer, rebounding from a ditched marriage and a failed love affair, who embarks on a year's quest Italy, India and Bali seeking balance of body, mind and spirit. During this journey, great-looking men are platooned at her, she meets only nice people, and she eats Pavarottian plates of pasta. Like the meeting of a Harlequin romance and a mystic travelogue, but the 80% female audience seemed to eat it up. Two stars

This film plays on IFC On Demand through August 2010. There's an audacious scene in "Vengeance," a Johnny Hallyday thriller set in Hong Kong and Macao, that may remind you of Burnham Wood advancing on Macbeth's castle. In the play men carried shrubbery to hide behind. In Johnnie To's movie they hide behind huge bales of scrap paper. A fierce wind fills the air with flying paper. The bales advance across a field as a wall -- thump, thump -- on Hallyday and the three local hit men he's hired to obtain revenge on the killers of his grandson and son-in-law, and a grave wound to his daughter