Testosterone rules the big screen this weekend
This weekend’s films have a specific audience in mind: guys.
While today brings 12 new movies to movie theaters across the country, only a few are being shown in local theaters. Among them are films that are particularly testosterone-oriented. “Unknown,” starring Liam Neeson, uses Neeson’s physical stamina to the film’s advantage in a role that Neeson fans will liken to his role in “Taken.”
Less intense but just as marketed to a male audience is “Big Momma: Like Father, Like Son,” which will please fans of the first two films, but not so much the girlfriends of those fans.
Here is a rundown of this weekend’s movies.
Unknown (PG-13)
What it’s about: Dr. Martin Harris and his wife, Liz, travel to Berlin on a business trip when they find themselves in a car accident, sending their taxi flying into Berlin’s Rhine River. Martin wakes up four days later in a German hospital with no wife and no I.D. After his discharge from the hospital, he confronts his wife at the hotel to find she thinks she’s married to someone else — a man who has everyone convinced he’s Dr. Martin Harris. Surrounded by people who either don’t remember him or are trying to kill him, Harris sets out to prove he is the man he says he is.
Why you should see it: Liam Neeson, true to his taste in scripts, takes on another role where the world is out to get him, and it’s up to him to fix it. Similar to his role in “Taken,” he comes up against forces that alter his life. In this film, however, the person he has to save is himself, not his daughter.
Starring: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger and January Jones.
I Am Number Four
What it’s about: “I Am Number Four,” adapted from a teen literature novel of the same name, chronicles the journey of John Smith, a teenage fugitive looking to escape his enemies — who will stop at nothing to track him down and kill him. As he moves from place to place with his guardian, Henri, he meets his first love, Sarah. His special abilities enable him to protect himself and the ones he loves.
Why you should see it: As cliché as some young adult fiction might be, the movies they inspire always make for good cinema. Diana Agron carries the most of the film with poise only seen in glamorous ingénues of Hollywood folklore.
Starring: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Teresa Palmer and Dianna Agron.
Big Momma: Like Father, Like Son
What it’s about: FBI agent Malcolm Turner, in the third installment of the Big Momma Series, heads to an all-girls arts school in the south to hunt down a killer. This time, however, he has backup: his nephew, Trent. As Malcolm takes a job as a housemother to a sorority on campus, he and his nephew find themselves in plenty of cross-dressing skirmishes.
Why you should see it: Moviegoers who are fans of the first two Big Momma movies will like this film for the cheap laughs. More intelligent film audiences, however, will think the immature racial jokes and the way the film objectifies women makes for a terrible comedy only produced to make 20th Century Fox more money.
Starring: Martin Lawrence, Brandon T. Jackson and Jessica Lucas.