Boogie Nights

Not your typical coming-of-age story, this tale of the making of a 70s porn star (played by the artist formerly known as Marky Mark, no less) evolves into a touching yet refreshingly quirky family drama, as the "star" finds part of a veritable clan made up of flawed but endearing members of the seamy industry, headed by Burt Reynolds' would-be-visionary filmmaker. Director Paul Anderson displays a remarkable eye and ear for the fluffy vacuousness and conspicuously awful taste of the disco era, while paying sincere cinematic homage to the period's greatest directors. --Marshall I. Lewy

Devil's Advocate

Al Pacino steals the show as the head of a truly diabolical New York law firm that snags Keanu Reeves' hotshot Southern lawyer and quickly enmeshes him in a half-kinky, half-campy world of sin and decadence. Borrowing from The Firm and Rosemary's Baby without quite matching either, it tends to flag whenever Pacino's off screen. Fortunately, he's never away for long and treats us to a devilishly good time with his rip-roaringly over-the-top antics.   --Brandon K. Walston

Gattaca

First-time director Andrew Niccol brings considerable visual style and an intriguing premise to this story of a Brave New World society in which the pre-planned, genetically made-to-order elite get the honors and opportunities, and the natural births are relegated to the grunt work. Ethan Hawke plays Vincent Freeman, a "natural" who borrows the identity a brahmin to fulfill his lifelong dream of leading a mission to outer space. Although the film suffers from unevenness, sketchy characters and muted acting, Niccol's striking images make it all easy to overlook.   --Lynn Y. Lee

The House of Yes

Yet another dysfunctional-family Thanksgiving drama, this time with a little incest and crises of identity thrown in. Josh Hamilton plays a troubled fellow who brings home his supremely normal fiancee (Tori Spelling, surprisingly good in this sugar-cookie role) only to confront the ghost of his past in his sister, "Jackie O" (a delightfully demented Parker Posey), who sports an obsession with the JFK assassination among her myriad kooky charms. What makes this setup more than just a gimmicky grab-bag for originality is the successful mix of the familiar and the disturbing in the composition of the characters.   --Kamil E. Redmond

The Ice Storm

The talented Ang Lee has directed this film about uneasy family relationships in the restless, promiscuous culture of the 1970s with crystalline precision. As the leaders of two archly funny but disturbingly bleak suburban clans, Kevin Kline, Joan Allen and Sigourney Weaver give refreshingly honest performances, but the film's ending sadly offers their characters no hint of redemption. The ice storm in this film, as a natural symbol of change and the wiping away of sins, is like Noah's flood without the rainbow.   --Erwin I. Rosinberg

In & Out

This tale of a small-town high school teacher (Kevin Klive) whose life turns upside down when he's declared gay by a former student-turned-star (Matt Dillon) constitutes Hollywood's own coming-out comedy. It's therefore a bland comedy that ends up reinforcing, not puncturing, gay stereotypes, and squanders a cast that includes Joan Cusack, Tom Selleck, Debbie Reynolds and Bob Newhart. But Kline manages to rise above the plodding humor, as in his show-stopping dance scenes, and Selleck is terrifically funny as the sleazy, sardonic, faintly Mephistophelean tabloid reporter who dogs his footsteps.   --Lynn Y. Lee

L.A. Confidential

You know L.A. Confidential has ended, when it is both daytime and not raining. In a fine version of the somewhat beefy Ellroy crime novel ostensibly about a strange murder, director Curtis Hanson portrays the cool, brutal world of Hollywood glam and corrupt police in 50s Los Angeles, with all its gradations of questionable ethics. Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe turn in fine performances that give us two different approaches to policing, thinking first and hitting later, or vice versa. A reptilian James Cromwell and slick Kevin Space round out a fine cast and a finer tale.   --Nicolas R. Rapold

A Life Less Ordinary