Synopsis: Ulcerous jewel thief John Dortmunder (Robert Redford) is buttonholed the day of his release from prison by his opportunistic but less than savvy brother-in-law Andrew Kelp (George Segal), who convinces John to steal "The Sahara Stone" on behalf of a South African ambassador (Moses Gunn). ~ The Silver: This is the single most entertaining heist movie I've ever seen, and that its plot (adapted from a Donald Westlake book by William Goldman) has somehow avoided being filched in the two decades since its inception by one of the least innovative genres going primes it for remake by default. That said, it's hard to imagine a rendition of the story sans Redford, who erases any skepticism over whether he was deservedly a star with this one picture, in which he happens to have the quintessential Redford moment: a slight parting of the lips that consigns the entire climax to a seconds-long double-take. The Hot Rock is so much unadulterated fun that it raises your spirits for days after, and it's such a pleasant fun diversion, too: it's a guys-stealing-shit caper without any of the masculine baggage that so often spoils the territory. In what basically amounts to a four-part symphony (in the UK, the film is known as How to Steal a Diamond in Four Uneasy Lessons), Dortmunder spectacularly loses the titular diamond three agonizing times, but as for whether he pulls it off in the end--I really didn't see it coming. Do you realize how much of a blessing that is to someone who sees a gazillion movies a year? ~ The DVD: A disarmingly good 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer atones for the visually incoherent pan-and-scan presentation that's become a late-night TV staple. The remixed stereo soundtrack isn't as hot, nor does it rock, but it's fuller than the original mono recording, also included. Trailers for The Hot Rock, Brubaker, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid fill out the special features. Too bad about that pitiful cover art. ~ Perfect For: People who keep telling you they haven't seen a good movie in ages. (Fox)

Synopsis: Heather Graham plays a website designer (yeah, and Halle Berry was just promoted to a level-two cleric in her "D&D" circle) who leaves a dead-end relationship to be in an erotically charged one with Adam (Joseph Fiennes), a famous mountain climber. But while the sex is good (or my name isn't Edward Stickypants), Adam's Mysterious Past puts their relationship on a short fuse. ~ The Silver: The acclaimed Chen Kaige's English-language debut is handsomely mounted, and so is Graham in a performance that could be said to compensate for her turn in From Hell. (There, she played a London prostitute disinclined to get naked; here, she spares us the wobbly accent as a mere London transplant--and makes up for lost nudity by doffing her clothes with haste.) There's absolutely no reason to suffer this film except to see Graham re-enact The Collected Works of Rollergirl...but that's one hell of a reason. ~ The Tinsel: Frothy and charming in Shakespeare in Love, Fiennes has since reinvented himself as a smouldering brooder--I don't think it's working out for him. (Fiennes debuted this personality in the marginally better Forever Mine, of which Killing Me Softly is a facsimile.) Calling a meddlesome heroine Alice--ooh, looking-glass symbolism!--always goes over like a lead balloon. Oh, and this is an incredibly stupid film; I can't even remember how it ends, though for all intents and purposes, its gears stop moving at the stroke of midnight, when Graham turns back into a prude. ~ The DVD: The framing discrepancies between the flipside 1.85:1 anamorphic and unmatted presentations mean that each transfer has a unique set of virtues, wink wink. (Is it too late to be doing that?) The Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is strictly average, dashing hopes of heavy-petting in Sensurround. A theatrical trailer rounds out the disc despite the film's total absence from North American moviehouses. ~ Perfect For: C'mon, I'm guiding a horse to water here. (MGM)

Synopsis: Mathilda (a 12-year-old Natalie Portman) witnesses the slaughter of her family, and seeks an avenging angel in the "cleaner" (Jean Reno) next door. ~ The Silver: It's apparent that Luc Besson reached his pinnacle with Leon--he's too enamoured of Karate Kid screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen now to do anything but lounge in a creative cesspool. Leon, if you're not up on your Gallic cult cinema, is the original, international version of Besson's The Professional (as the shortened cut was titled Stateside), the former running 26 minutes longer than the latter. And what a difference a half-hour makes: The Professional is a superior action film that knows its cheeky, Lolita-lite asides (courtesy the country that brought us Louis Malle) are discomfiting the average western moviegoer, but Leon restores sequences that depict Mathilda all but consummating her hitman training--which is just a one-scene method of humouring her in The Professional--by going on runs with her mentor; the introduction of a dispassionate regard for human life into their relationship gritties up the film anew, transforming Leon into a challenging statement on how a relationship between a grown man and a prepubescent girl located in violence is more socially acceptable than if they were romantic partners. (Nabokov, eat your heart out.) There are days when I look on Leon and think we really ought to leave filmmaking to the French. ~ The Tinsel: No movie should end with a Sting song. ~ The DVD: Columbia Tri-Star's Superbit DVD is a dazzling rendering of the film. While the 5.1 mix, in Dolby Digital and DTS configurations, could use an intensification of bass, the 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is of deep, lustrous contrast and fine detail. ~ Perfect For: Those searching for a thinking-person's action picture. (Columbia Tri-Star)

Synopsis: Sully (Paul Newman) is an incorrigible bastard with a bum leg who reconnects with estranged son Peter (Dylan Walsh) over a chance roadside encounter. He's also suing his boss, Carl (Bruce Willis), whose wife (Melanie Griffith) and snow blower he covets even though Carl is the only one giving him work, and he's the border of his eighth grade teacher, Miss Beryl (Jessica Tandy), whom he's practically ensured loves him more than her own son (Josef Sommer). ~ The Silver: Over the years, Nobody's Fool has become one of my favourite movies to watch at Thanksgiving--there is such warmth within its wintry setting that it casts an optimistic glow on the months to come. Don't let the genteel atmosphere fool you, though: some of the dialogue scripted by Robert Benton (who also directed) and Richard Russo (adapting from his same-named novel) cuts like razors ("Mom's biggest fear is that your life was fun," Peter tells Sully; "Tell her not to worry," Sully replies), the amount of nudity is preposterous, and a palpable angst bubbles to the surface as Sully sketchily recalls his abusive father. This is the mediocre Benton's most inexplicable film since his 1972 masterpiece Bad Company--I hope he has at least one more gem in him, to make it a trilogy. ~ The Tinsel: Fresh off Congo, Walsh foists his inferior charms on another Paramount picture; he had to have been forced on Benton, for the rest of the casting (including a young Philip Seymour Hoffman) is too rigorous. ~ The DVD: In 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen, the film looks a little less vibrant than it did on LaserDisc; that's neither here nor there, of course. The front-heavy Dolby Digital 5.1 track is a swell forum for Howard Shore's lovely, Celtic-tinged score. ~ Perfect For: Lovers of Americana (Paramount)

Synopsis: Teenager Victor Vargas (Victor Rasuk) can't seem to get in the good graces of the women--his grandmother (Altagracia Guzman), his sister (Krystal Rodriguez), and his crush (Judy Marte)--in his life. ~ The Silver: An achingly lovely movie about the denizens of a Lower East Side Puerto Rican neighbourhood made by a Caucasian director (Peter Sollett) who's big on subverting expectations--some might say undoing white programming. The film's leering opening shot mutates into a parody of the Calvin Klein aesthetic, and the authentically peaceful setting breaks a vicious cinematic cycle that correlates violence and poverty. ("It was too gentle," one critic uttered to me, thus betraying his canine loyalty to master Pavlov.) The ultra-charismatic neophyte actors improvise their dialogue with unself-conscious ease, DP Tim Orr imports the same sepia brilliance he accorded the David Gordon Green films George Washington and All the Real Girls, and the ending is so low key as to induce goosebumps. Raising Victor Vargas is humane until it feels revolutionary. ~ The Tinsel: The business with the grandmother (Guzman had a problem with her unsympathetic character during the shoot) can be a chore on subsequent viewings. ~ The DVD: Aye, there's the rub: Columbia Tri-Star offers the film Stateside on DVD in a 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer with stereo audio; Seville issues Raising Victor Vargas to disc north of the border in a fullscreen transfer with a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundmix. I'd go with the Columbia--because Orr shot the film in Super16, meaning that the Seville presentation crops vertical screen information, and there aren't a lot of aural fireworks in the first place--while noting that both releases disappoint with their lack of any extras besides a smattering of trailers. Raising Victor Vargas is an extension of Sollett's short film Five Feet High and Rising--wouldn't that have made the perfect supplement? (If it's a director commentary you want, check out our interview with Mr. Sollett.) ~ Perfect For: I shan't dissuade anyone from partaking in Raising Victor Vargas. (Columbia Tri-Star; Seville)