[VIDEO REVIEWS]New Releases: Angels and Cop DeVito

CHARLIE'S ANGELS (2000) － "Minyeo Samchongsa" (Korean title)

Directed by Joseph McGinty Nichol. Starring Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray, Sam Rockwell, Kelly Lynch, John Forsythe and Tim Curry.

The hype surrounding "Charlie's Angels" and the smash success of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" make it clear that Asian filmmakers, actors and actresses are striding to the center of popular cinema. Lucy Liu steals center stage in "Charlie's Angels" against the likes of Cameron Diaz and Drew Barrymore.

The trio － airhead sweetheart Natalie (Diaz), tough girl Dylan (Barrymore) and super brainy Alex (Liu) － are elite detectives who work for a mysterious man named Charlie (Forsythe). Bosley (Murray) doles out cases and helps them keep the world safe from villains.

Bosley calls the three together for their latest assignment. Eric Knox (Rockwell), a software genius and multi-millionaire, has been kidnapped. His business partner, Vivian Wood (Lynch), wants him rescued.

The ladies leap into action, equipped with martial arts fighting skills, beauty and brains. The movie mixes girl power, James Bond and "The Matrix" type fight scenes as the trio go after Knox's chief competitor, Roger Corwin (Curry). Corwin would do anything to get his hands on Knox's secret cellular phone technology.

The movie is a spin-off of a television series that debuted in 1976. The original stars, Farrah Fawcett, Kate Jackson and Jaclyn Smith, became pop culture icons as a result of the series. The 2000 version has the familiar voice (Forsythe voiced Charlie in the television series), a new but still glamorous cast, and just the right amount of attitude for some mindless fun.

DROWNING MONA (2000)

Directed by Nick Gomez. Starring Danny DeVito, Casey Affleck, Bette Midler, Neve Campbell, Jamie Lee Curtis, William Fichtner and Marcus Thomas.

In the small town of Verplanck, NY, everyone hates Mona Dearly (Midler). She is the meanest mama the town ever had to put up with. Fortunately for everyone, one day she gets into the wrong Yugo (everyone in Verplanck drives a Yugo) and is last seen driving off a cliff into the river.

While most of the townspeople rejoice over her death, Police Chief Wyatt Rash (DeVito) starts sniffing around and decides it was foul play. Someone had cut her brake lines.

When Chief Wyatt comes sniffing, her husband Phil (Fichtner) claims she abused him. Meanwhile, Phil was also having an affair with diner waitress Rona (Curtis). Landscaper Bobby Calzone (Affleck) wanted to fire Mona's lazy son Jeff (Thomas), but Mona wouldn't let him. Bobby is also engaged to Wyatt's daughter, Ellie (Campbell). Even the town cop had his share of run-ins with Mona.

"Drowning Mona" has a versitile cast with the ability to create some very colorful small town characters, but those characters are not fully explored. There are definitely some funny moments, but the movie fails to move beyond the ordinary.

by Joe Yong-hee