Capsule Reviews: What's playing right now

ELF -- In a dainty green costume, Will Ferrell looks like an elf who should be investigated for steroid abuse. This story about a human (Ferrell) raised at the North Pole falls short of being a laugh riot, but is driven by the intense sincerity of Ferrell's performance. Ferrell's Buddy travels to New York City in hopes of reuniting with his biological father (James Caan). Rated PG. B-

INTOLERABLE CRUELTY --The Coen brothers lighten up for their version of a screwball comedy. George Clooney (as a vicious divorce lawyer) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (as the woman who tries to outsmart him) click nicely, and the movie -- which is better in its buildup than its resolution -- manages some good laughs. Should please mainstream audiences, as well as fans of the brothers' idiosyncratic style. Rated PG-13. B

LOST IN TRANSLATION -- Bill Murray gives one of the best performances of his career as a jet-lagged actor making commercials in Tokyo. Murray's performance, mired in fading hopes, adds weight to this light but moody look at cultural dislocation. In Tokyo, Murray's Bill Harris meets Charlotte (Scarlett Johansson), a young woman who's also lonely and out-of-place. The story takes unexpected turns as Coppola brings a lovely, tender touch to a movie of beautifully presented surfaces. Rated R. A-

LOVE ACTUALLY -- This British version of a comedy all-star game features performances from Hugh Grant, Emma Thompson, Alan Rickman and Colin Firth. The movie charts the criss-crossing paths of Londoners looking for love in the weeks prior to Christmas. Bill Nighy spices things up mightily as an aging '70s rocker who has redone his hit single as a Christmas song. Making his directorial debut, director Richard Curtis (who wrote the screenplays for "Four Weddings and a Funeral" and "Notting Hill") sometimes confuses an embrace with a stranglehold, but his movie is so packed with people and events that many are bound to connect. Rated R. B

THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS -- Action (notably an attack on Zion by an endless swarm of Sentinels) leads the way through this often-addled and not especially deep third chapter of a wildly popular franchise. Fortunately, the Wachowski brothers' movie gets better as it goes along and the movie gives way to furious, excessive but well-imagined battles between man and machine. Better than part II, but still unable entirely to overcome the vacancy of Keanu Reeves' performance as Neo. Rated R. B-

RADIO -- Another trumped-up helping of inspiration from Hollywood, this one focused on a developmentally disabled young man (Cuba Gooding Jr.) who's befriended by a high-school football coach (Ed Harris). Although based on a true story, the movie turns into a series of formulaic gestures. As a result, "Radio" hardly makes a move that can't be predicted, as it tries, like an overzealous player, to deliver a chop block to the heart. Rated PG. C

RUNAWAY JURY -- Dustin Hoffman and Gene Hackman lead a cast that includes John Cusack and Rachel Weisz in a courtroom drama based on a John Grisham novel. Hoffman plays an attorney who's suing a gun manufacturer. Hackman plays a high-priced jury consultant. You wouldn't want to use this one as source material in a debate on the Second Amendment, but the movie moves along nicely and features solid performances from its casts of old and younger pros. Rated PG-13. B

SCARY MOVIE 3 -- David Zucker ("Airplane!," "The Naked Gun") takes over the "Scary Movie" franchise. Packed with gags (a few of them amusing) "Scary Move 3" nonetheless has the feel of an idea whose time has gone, an old-hat mixture of obvious parody and exaggerated bad taste. Rated PG-13. C-

SCHOOL OF ROCK -- Jack Black strikes a great big chord of fun in a rollicking comedy about a washed up musician who poses as a substitute teacher in order to pay the rent. Black and his charges seem to be having a great time and the movie turns out to be a most surprising addition to the fall lineup, a party movie for 10-year-olds and anyone else smart enough to accept the invitation. Rated PG. B+

UNDER THE TUSCAN SUN -- The scenery's great and Diane Lane does a nice enough job, but "Under the Tuscan Sun" mangles Frances Mayes' best seller about discovering the pleasures of life in sunny Italy. In emphasizing personal reclamation over personal reminiscence, director Audrey Wells, who also wrote the script, makes a movie that's both unconvincing and occasionally dull. Rated PG-13. C+

Also playing

MYSTIC RIVER -- Clint Eastwood directs Tim Robbins, Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon in a story of a close neighborhood sharing grief and suspicion after a young woman's death. Rated R. No critic's rating.

THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE -- A remake of the cult classic about a group of teens who happen upon a mass murderer. Based on a true story. Rated R. No critic's rating.