Video Rentals

1 Erin Brockovich

$10.48 million 2 weeks in release $23.14 million to date

PLOT Title heroine fights evil utility company that poisons the water supply.

MESSAGE "They" are out to get you, but hard work, determination, and good looks can save the day.

CAUTION Rated R for bad language.

$4.37 million 2 weeks in release $9.84 million to date

PLOT John Irving's saga about a young man who grew up in an orphanage run by a kindly abortionist.

MESSAGE Killing unborn babies is tender and compassionate.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for "mature thematic elements," sexual situations, nudity, substance abuse, and some violence.

$3.7 million 3 weeks in release $14.46 million to date

PLOT An ex-con is dragged into a casino heist.

MESSAGE Turning straight isn't as easy as it looks.

CAUTION Rated R for strong violence, bad language, and sexual situations.

$3.43 million 1 week in release $3.43 million to date

PLOT A deep space medical ship discovers death and danger when it answers a mysterious distress call.

MESSAGE Sometimes rescuers need to be rescued.

CAUTION Rated PG-13 for intense sci-fi action, violence, and sexual situations.

$2.97 million 6 weeks in release $33.98 million to date

PLOT A suburban dentist discovers his neighbor is a hit man hiding from the Mob.

MESSAGE Messing with the Mafia will make you sorry.

CAUTION Rated R for bad language, violence, and nudity.

Burt Reynolds is getting old. At 64, he's one of a quartet of aging mobsters in The Crew (Touchstone; rated PG-13 for sexual content, violence, and language) who try to regain their former glory but wind up looking pathetic. Richard Dreyfuss (who's only 52) is the other leader of this group of thugs whose careers started in childhood and now wind down in a Florida retirement hotel. With their home threatened by incoming young rich people, they decide to make a comeback. The idea of withering wise guys would work in a better movie, but this lowbrow comedy doesn't do enough with the concept. The characters in The Crew are pretty slimy; flashback scenes of their glory days make viewers wish they hadn't lived to see the 21st century. In the present these guys are afraid to fire a gun. Yet they aren't sorry for their past deeds and drool for a chance to be virile and intimidating once again. With the baby boomers starting to age, there's more interest in movies showing older people showing their stuff (i.e., Space Cowboys). Cross that with Hollywood's fetish for funny gangsters and you have this movie.