2002 Best Reviewed Movies (Page #4)

James Bond returns with the twentieth installment in the superspy series of adventures. From Hong Kong to Cuba to London, Bond circles the world in his quest to unmask a traitor and prevent a catastrophic war. On his way, he crosses paths with Jinx (Halled Berry) and Miranda Frost (Rosamund Pike), who will play vital roles in the adventure.

Scott Calvin has been Santa Claus for the past eight years, and his loyal elves consider him the best Santa ever. But Santa's world is turned upside down when he's dealt a double whammy of bad news: not only has his son, Charlie, landed on this year's "naughty" list, but if Scott doesn't marry by Christmas Eve—just a month away!—he'll stop being Santa forever. (It's right in his contract—the "Mrs. Clause") Desperate, Scott turns to the elves' new invention—a machine that can replicate anything—to create Santa II (a toy version of himself) and he leaves his double in charge. Things quickly go south at the North Pole when Santa II institutes some strange redefinitions of what's naughty and nice; worse, when Scott finally falls for a potential Mrs. Claus, she threatens to drive a wedge between him and Charlie. In a climactic battle pitting Santa, Charlie, the new Mrs. Claus, and the elves against Santa II and his army of tin soldiers, the future of Scott's family, the North Pole, and Christmas itself, hangs in the balance.

When petty thief Cosimo is given the plan for the perfect heist from a lifer in prison--the kind of job you dream about, the kind of job that the reprobates on the block refer to as a 'Bellini'--he has to get out of jail, fast. Opportunities like this don't come along every day for the hard-luck folks who hang around the streets of Collinwood, a working class neighborhood on Cleveland's east side. What Cosimo needs is a fall guy, a 'Mullinski,' somebody who needs the $15,000 Cosimo can offer more than they need one to three years of freedom. But with Cosimo stuck in the joint, it's up to his girl Rosalind to track down a patsy. But while no one wants to do the time for Cosimo's crime, everybody seems to know a guy who will--and for a share in the Bellini, they're willing to track him down. Before long, Rosalind has five guys trailing behind her, looking to get their bungling hands on a piece of the action. Led by Pero, a very amateur boxer who schemes to get the particulars of the job from Cosimo before leaving him in the joint to rot, the group assembles itself. The motley crew consists of: photographer and frustrated artist Riley, a single father with an infant on his hands who needs a thousand bucks to spring his wife from jail; Leon, who desperately wants to secure a better life for his sister, Michelle; Basil, a handsome Italian gigolo who's as broke as a one-wheeled wagon; and Toto, a thief way past his prime who's got nothing but time.

Edward and Connie Summer (Richard Gere, Diane Lane) have the perfect life: a happy marriage, an eight year old son, and a beautiful house in the suburbs. But when Connie's chance encounter with a handsome stranger (Olivier Martinez) erupts into a full-blown affair, desire becomes obsession, and the true price of betrayal takes a shattering toll.

The career of a disillusioned producer, who is desperate for a hit, is endangered when his star walks off the film set. Forced to think fast, the producer decides to digitally create an actress "Simone" to sub for the star--the first totally believable synthetic actress. The "actress" becomes an overnight sensation, with a major singing career as well, and everyone thinks she's a real person. However, as Simone's fame skyrockets, he cannot bear to admit his fraud to himself or the world.

New York City homicide detective Vincent LaMarca has forged a long and distinguished career in law enforcement, making a name for himself as a man intensely committed to his work. But on his latest case, the stakes are higher for Vincent - the suspect he's investigating is his own son, Joey. Vincent and Joey have been painfully estranged ever since Vincent divorced Joey's mother and left the decaying boardwalks of Long Beach, Long Island for the anonymity of Manhattan and a successful career with the NYPD. He lives his life in solitude, keeping his girlfriend at arm's length; the closest relationship he maintains is with his partner, Reg - and Vincent makes sure that friendship stops at the precinct door. As long as Vincent lives in the protection of the present, he doesn't have to deal with the pain of his past - or his sorrow over his broken relationship with Joey. But this murder investigation is drawing Vincent home to Long Beach, the self-proclaimed "City by the Sea," where the past has been waiting for him to return. The agonizing memory that has tortured him all his life - the death of his father, a convicted murderer who was executed when Vincent was just a boy - still plagues him. In the course of the investigation, he discovers that his own unresolved pain and failures as a father have deeply influenced Joey's life, and the destructive choices he has made. As a cop, Vincent must bring a criminal to justice; as a father he must find a way to save his son. Now he will put his life on the line in order to do right by both his family and his profession.

In the late '60s, the self-proclaimed belles of the rock 'n' roll ball (Goldie Hawn and Susan Sarandon) rocked the worlds of every music legend whose pants they could take off - and they have the pictures to prove it. But it's been more than two decades since The Banger Sisters earned their nickname - or even laid eyes on one another. Their reunion is the collision of two women's worlds; one who's living in the past, and one who's hiding from it. Together they learn the value of living in the moment.

14-year-old Jason Shepherd (Frankie Muniz) has a reputation for stretching the truth. So, when big-time Hollywood producer Marty Wolf (Paul Giamatti) steals his class paper and turns it into a smash hit movie, no one believes Jason's latest tall tale! On a cross-country adventure to set the record straight, Jason and best friend Kaylee (Amanda Bynes) devise a high-tech plan to squeeze the truth out of Wolf through a series of outrageous pranks and crazy stunts.

Set in an affluent New England liberal arts college in the 1980's, an emerging sexual triangle emerges between Sean Bateman, who deals drugs on the side, Paul Owen, who's bisexual, and Paul's ex-girlfriend, Lauren.

In present-day London, 12-year-old Quinn watches as his mother, a construction engineer, inadvertently wakes an enormous fire-breathing beast from its centuries-long slumber. Twenty years later, much of the world has been scarred by the beast and its offspring. As a fire chief, Quinn (Christian Bale) is responsible for warding off the beasts and keeping a small community alive as they eke out a meager existence. Into their midst comes hotshot American Van Zan (Matthew McConaughey) who says he has a way to kill the beasts and save mankind - a way Quinn's never seen done.

In the romantic comedy "Two Weeks Notice", Sandra Bullock plays a brilliant but detail-obsessed attorney opposite Hugh Grant as her charming, irresponsible and fabulously wealthy boss in a film that explores whether or not it's ever too late to say "I Love You."