ROTTEN TOMATOES: RT on DVD: Saw IV, The Game Plan, Sydney White Are Here

RT on DVD: Saw IV, The Game Plan, Sydney White Are Here

Play spot-the-fresh-release with this week's offerings.

by Jen Yamato | January 21, 2008

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The good news: a slew of new releases await you this week on video shelves! The bad news: woefully few of them are Fresh. That said, you've got your pick of twisted horror (Saw IV), harmless star-driven comedy (The Game Plan, Sydney White), French period romance (Moliere), and more. Choose wisely!

Saw IV

Tomatometer: 20%

Jigsaw is back -- not for the first time, not for the last time -- in the fourth installment of the Saw franchise, helmed by series vet Darren Lynn Bousman. Once again, the metaphor-loving killer pits his victims against themselves in the most meticulously-crafted death traps in movie history, but this time around there's a twist: Jigsaw died in Saw III. Que incroyable! Gore-hounds will delight in the unrated DVD edition and bonus features like deleted scenes, Bousman's audio commentary, and his behind-the-scenes video diary.

The Game Plan

Tomatometer: 27%

There was a time when The People's Champion could inspire awe with an arch of the eyebrow; now, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson commands multiplexes with family fare like this Disney comedy, about a pro football player whose bachelor existence is threatened by the arrival of a daughter he never knew he had.

Sydney White

Tomatometer: 39%

For more in the vein of lukewarm family-friendly fare this week, look no further than Sydney White, starring former Nickelodeon star Amanda Bynes. A retelling of the classic Snow White story, the college-set rom-com failed to impress most critics, due largely to Joe Nussbaum's by-the-numbers direction and a predictable plot heavy on Snow White citations. Watch this if you crave 2 hours of lightweight movie watching, or take a leap and check out...

Moliere

Tomatometer: 69%

It's French, it's a period piece, it's a romantic drama based on the life of a great artist. But Moliere, starring Romain Duris and Ludivine Sagnier, is also one of only a few of the week's new releases that has garnered the praise of critics. Following his fortuitous release from prison thanks to the mercy of the rich Monsieur Jourdain, 17th century playwright Moliere comes to live in Jourdain's house to teach him about the stage, so Jourdain can impress a lady while keeping it secret from his beautiful wife...whom Moliere begins to fall in love with.

The Hunting Party

Tomatometer: 52%

Hunting war criminals seems an arduous enough task for military types, but for fame-hungry reporters (and filmmakers like Morgan Spurlock, whose upcoming doc chronicles his search for Osama bin Laden) it's a career-defining challenge. In writer-director Richard Shepard's black comedy, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, and Jesse Eisenberg head to Sarajevo to find a man called The Fox, based on the real-life story of a group of journalists who tried to find and apprehend Bosnian Serb war criminal Radovan Karadzic.

Blonde Ambition

Tomatometer: N/A

Audiences beware: Jessica Simpson is now a "movie star," as evidenced by her first true starring vehicle. Produced by dad Joe Simpson, and featuring a slew of cameos and appearances by the likes of Rachael Leigh Cook, Luke Wilson, Penelope Ann Miller, Andy Dick, and (sigh) Penny Marshall, Blonde Ambition represents everything that is wrong with the movies -- namely, that castmembers like the luminous, capable actress Rachael Leigh Cook are relegated to supporting roles while Simpson bounces her way around the screen as a small-town girl who falls in love with the mailroom boy (Wilson) while climbing unwittingly up the corporate ladder.

'Til next week, happy renting!

Related Items

Movie:	Sydney White
	Moliere
	The Hunting Party
	The Game Plan
	Blonde Ambition

(1-8 of 8 posts) | Reply

N720MF writes:
on Jan 21 2008 05:15 PM

Uh Blonde Ambition actually has -1% for a Tomatometer rating, not 69%.

-1% ... haha, that is absurd.

(Reply to this)

Cowboyninja writes:
on Jan 21 2008 05:44 PM

Any non-adult film with the word, "BLONDE" in it's title, I avoid like piss on a restroom floor...let...me...tell...you.

(Reply to this)

lestatthevampire writes:
on Jan 21 2008 07:26 PM

Heh. 69.

(Reply to this)

jasperoosterveld writes:
on Jan 22 2008 03:33 AM

Blonde ambition: Box Office: $0

haha i love it, how did luke wilson ended up in that movie? He needs a new agent. Damn!

(Reply to this)

gee4411 writes:
on Jan 22 2008 04:03 AM

i didnt mind Saw IV too badly... it was pretty good until the end when they introduced the other characters to them then it just got weird man
Game Plan just looks like **** lol

(Reply to this)

Jen Yamato writes:
on Jan 22 2008 08:30 AM

Actually, Blonde Ambition has no Tomatometer at all. Fixed the error. Hope that didn't mislead anyone into renting the movie.

(Reply to this)

cypress550 writes:
on Jan 22 2008 10:05 AM

i actually liked saw iv its was better than the 3rd one

(Reply to this)

icon2008 writes:
on Jan 22 2008 01:03 PM

How Jessica Simpson and Blonde Ambition avoided the peering eyes of the Raspberries will remain a mystery to me.

Of the others, I will try Saw 4, just to see how they get out of the trap they wrote themselves into in 3, and the Game Plan, because I like the Rock. As for Sydney White, I have yet to have seen A Cinderella Story with Hilary Duff. And what the hey, I will try Blonde Ambition as well.

(Reply to this)