FACE THE NATION

It doesn't matter how much you paid for big stars--simply tossing their marquee mugs on a poster isn't enough to cause a stampede. For the high-action Swordfish, suiting up John Travolta, Halle Berry, and Co. in their steppin'-out clothes and posing them stiffly with a laptop in someone's basement doesn't exactly crank an "extreme" vibe. The thoroughly bland art for The Score not only renders the sunglassed Edward Norton unrecognizable (is it Norton or a young Harvey Keitel?), but the dangling man on the right makes the film look less like a heist caper than a spelunking romp. As for Captain Corelli's Mandolin's poster, all we can take away is that we're dealing with moony-eyed Nicolas Cage, as opposed to car-chase Cage. The generic embrace and portentous approaching WWII warplanes give no hint of the plot, serving only to induce an instant bout of post-traumatic Pearl Harbor disorder. America's Sweethearts more effectively hints at its showbiz love triangle with the red-carpet-ready Catherine Zeta-Jones and John Cusack posed like they're part of a cardboard lobby stand. No one would be fooled into thinking they're the real couple, though: Anyone with a working knowledge of Julia Roberts' oeuvre will know how this turns out. SWORDFISH C THE SCORE D CAPTAIN CORELLI'S MANDOLIN D+ AMERICA'S SWEETHEARTS B

Originally posted Jun 29, 2001 Published in issue #602-603 Jun 29, 2001 Order article reprints
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