Friday, May 09
BABY MAMA (PG-13). An infertile 37-year-old businesswoman takes on a blue collar type to be surrogate mother to her baby. This enjoyable-enough comedy may appear to have a few women's issues on its mind but it's really a female "Odd Couple" that gets by on the considerable talents of its stars, Tina Fey and Amy Poehler (1:36). HHH (Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News — 4/25)

DR. SEUSS' HORTON HEARS A WHO! (G). Very young children will find plenty to giggle over in the movie's manic slapstick as Horton (voiced by Jim Carrey) incurs the wrath and ridicule of his jungle pals, who refuse to believe he's discovered a tiny land called Who-Ville that exists in a speck resting on a clover. The lyrical nonsense of Seuss' rhymes generally give way to loud pratfall nonsense, though, as the filmmakers stretch a thin, thin story to fit a feature-length movie (1:26). HH1/2 (Germain, Associated Press — 3/14)

FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL (R). Jason Apatow is back in classic form with yet another crowd-pleasing comedy that will make you laugh and squirm the whole way through — usually at the same time — with just the right balance of the salty and the sweet.

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Jason Segel settles comfortably into his first screenplay and first leading role as a big, likable puppy dog of a guy who gets dumped by his glamorous TV-star girlfriend, Sarah Marshall (Kristen Bell). After the break up, Segel's Peter Bretter jets off to Hawaii to get over Sarah, but instead ends up at the same resort where she just happens to be vacationing with her new boyfriend (1:51). HHH (Lemire, Associated Press — 4/18)

HAROLD & KUMAR ESCAPE FROM GUATANAMO BAY (R). Chapter 2 in the adventures of best buds Harold (John Cho) and Kumar (Kal Penn) has them consigned to Gitmo after an airline marijuana mishap is confused with a terrorist attack. Their escape features encounters with partying Klansmen, President Bush and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris as the "How I Met Your Mother" star reprises his bit as a randy, doped-up version of himself. But filmmakers Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg mostly repeat themselves, and you end up wishing for something more consistently smart and amusing for the bright, lovable Harold and Kumar (1:42). HH (Germain, AP — 4/26)

IRON MAN (PG-13). Robert Downey Jr. stars as a billionaire munitions mogul who becomes crime-fighting superhero. A sleek action-adventure film that doesn't push politics. A certified franchise gold mine. You couldn't ask for a better movie to start the blockbuster season (2:06). With Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges. HHH1/2 (Whipp, Los Angeles Daily News — 5/2)

MADE OF HONOR (PG-13). Pretty much a remake of a 1997's "My Best Friend's Wedding." The only difference is a reversal in gender roles. This time, Patrick Dempsey plays the one who realizes he's in love with his best friend (Michelle Monaghan), and when she announces she's getting married, he tries to undermine the wedding from the inside. Because, you see, she's asked him to be her "maid of honor." Dempsey and Monaghan have a likable screen presence individually and together, which makes the movie from British director Paul Weiland vaguely tolerable for a little while. But then the pratfalls and the plotting become painfully cliched, and all you can do is check your watch and wait for the inevitable mad dash to blurt out some long-overdue I-love-yous (1:41). H1/2 (Lemire, Associated Press — 5/2)

NIM'S ISLAND (PG). An agoraphobic writer (Jodie Foster) comes to the rescue of an 11-year-old girl (Abigail Breslin) living an un-Robinson-Crusoe-like existence on a South Sea island when the girl's marine biologist father (Gerard Butler), with whom she lives on the island, is caught in a storm while on a two-day excursion. A rote tale in which all the really exciting adventure happens to the adults (1:35). HH (Henerson, Los Angeles Daily News — 4/4)

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN (R). Faithful, superbly produced adaptation of Cormac McCarthy's novel — sometimes profoundly, sometimes chillingly — but in ways some will find frustrating and pretentious (2:02). HHH (Strauss, Los Angeles Daily News — 11/23)

PRICELESS (PG-13). After a night of incredible, alcohol-fueled sex, a mild-mannered shlub falls head-over-heels for a slinky gold digger and is willing to put up with all kinds of abuse to win her heart. In French, with English subtitles.

PROM NIGHT (PG-13). A sadistic killer targets a high school prom queen and her friends in this remake of the 1980 horror film.

REDBELT (R). David Mamet joins the fight club in this story of a principled martial-arts instructor lured into professional fighting.

SPEED RACER (PG). The Wachowskis ("Matrix") make a family film based on the 1960s Japanese cartoon series about a kid driver battling nefarious forces. Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci star. Review, D5

THE COUNTERFEITERS (R). Drama based on a true story about a Jewish master counterfeiter in Hitler's Germany who survived the Holocaust because of his nefarious trade. Sensitively acted, crisply directed and written with not an ounce of sentimentality, it tells of Jews who survived the Holocaust on wit and the whim of fate. In German, with English subtitles (1:38). HHH1/2 (Biancolli, Houston Chronicle —4/11)

THEN SHE FOUND ME (R). Helen Hunt co-writes, stars and makes her big screen directing debut with this feature film adaptation of Elinor Lipman's tale of a schoolteacher and the quirky birth mom who unexpectedly enters her life. With Matthew Broderick, Bette Midler, Colin Firth. Review, this page

THE VISITOR (R). The life of a 62-year-old widower economics professor goes through an unexpected change when he becomes involved with a Syrian immigrant couple he finds living in his New York apartment, which they believe they have legitimately rented. With Richard Jenkins. Review, D5

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS (PG-13). Annulling an alcohol-fueled ceremony at a Sin City wedding chapel isn't easy when, the next morning, the guy wins a $3 million slot payoff with the girl's quarter. Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz star.