“Reign Over Me”
*** If not for Sept. 11, former college roommates Alan Johnson and Charlie Fineman’s lives would be nearly identical. Alan has a wife, daughters and a thriving dental practice (endangered by a patient who takes a shine to him). Charlie had a wife, daughters, a good dental business. Now he has the the Who’s “Quadrophenia” and Bruce Springsteen’s “The River” drowning out the world and a video game occupying the time of sleep. Adam Sandler does a fine, smirkless job handling the emotional baggage of Charlie. Don Cheadle and Jada Pinkett Smith give the movie a dose of marital reality. Donald Sutherland makes a searingly humane cameo as a judge. With the aid of his cast, director Mike Binder’s film wails and sings about the power of friendship to transform loss and being lost. R; 125 minutes. Released Oct. 9. Lisa Kennedy
“Evan Almighty”
*1/2 Now that Steve Carell is much bigger than Jim Carrey, the makers of the comedy hit “Bruce Almighty” decided to give the smarmy Evan character his own sequel in “Evan Almighty.” God in the form of Morgan Freeman returns to tell anchorman-turned-congressman Evan that he must build an ark and lead the world’s animals to safety. In trying to connect with the religious, “Evan” stumbles badly, forgetting to bring any jokes and insulting everyone’s intelligence in the process. PG; 95 minutes. Released today. Michael Booth
“28 Weeks Later”
** Even a well-done sequel could not have matched the visceral energy and horror of Danny Boyle’s original “28 Days Later.” In that movie, monkeys with a rage virus infected humans, who in turn transformed England into a raging mob of flesh-eating zombies. A few people survived. Now, for the sequel, American troops have occupied London to begin a resettlement, but the virus lingers in a few places, and no one trusts anyone. Even children can’t trust their parents (namely, dad Robert Carlyle), who might have abandoned each other in dire straits. But a few good ideas deteriorate into a typical zombie-chase movie. R; 97 minutes. Released today.
