Movie Guide

New in Theaters

Director: John Gatins. With Kurt Russell, Dakota Fanning. (102 min.)

They shoot injured horses, right? Not in this tale. When Soñador (Dreamer) breaks a leg, trainer Ben Crane (Russell) sees a potential brood mare, if he can at least get her well enough to walk. The healing is so complete that the vet pronounces Soñador fit to race. The experience heals Ben's family too, as he grows closer to his horse-loving daughter (Fanning), patient wife (Elizabeth Shue), and crotchety father (Kris Kristofferson). We've seen it all before, but this one is so well made and attractively cast it's a sure crowd pleaser. Grade: B
- M.K. Terrell

Director: Shane Black. With Val Kilmer, Robert Downey Jr. (102 min.)

As a petty thief turned aspiring actor and detective in Shane Black's raucously entertaining "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang," Robert Downey Jr. is on screen almost all the time, which is good news, since few performers can hold the screen as well. His live-wire physicality is capable of just about anything. In his new film, he uses it for comic effect; at times he is as jumpy and jerky as a cartoon character (Bugs Bunny, to be exact). Black, who wrote "Lethal Weapon," makes his directorial debut, and he puts a fresh spin not only on that film but also on a whole slew of films noirs. Grade: B+
- Peter Rainer

Director: Marc Forster. With Ewan McGregor, Naomi Watts. (99 min.)

If you're the kind of moviegoer who likes puzzling out the plots of insoluble movies, then by all means rush to see "Stay," a great big blurry mess starring Ewan McGregor as a psychiatrist who gets pulled into the dreamscape of his disturbed patient, played by Ryan Gosling. Besides these two, Naomi Watts and Bob Hoskins also make appearances - the cast, if not the movie, is first-rate. The director, Marc Foster, most recently made "Finding Neverland," which could also serve as the title for his new film, except nothing is found and "neverland" is too kind a term for the chaos he flings at us. Grade: C-
- P.R.

Director: Rupert Wainwright. With Tom Welling, Maggie Grace. (100 min.)

Ghosts hiding in a supernatural fog sail into a small Oregon town in a boat they imagine to be a clipper ship. Their mission is revenge on the descendants of four men who murdered them and used their fortune to found the town a hundred years ago. The scariest thing about this paint-by-numbers remake is that it was No. 1 at the box office last week. Grade: D
- M.K.T.