In Theaters Now: Bride Wars, The Unborn, Not Easily Broken

by Kyle Rupprecht | Published January 9, 2009

Bride Wars
directed by Gary Winick
Apparently Anne Hathaway has a predilection for wedding movies. Less than six months after her electrifying turn in the critically acclaimed drama Rachel Getting Married, Hathaway returns for a very different kind of ceremony in Bride Wars. She and Kate Hudson play best friends who enter into a bitter rivalry after their respective weddings are scheduled for the same day. While the one-joke trailer is none too promising, director Winick (who scored a hit with the enjoyable romp 13 Going On 30) can hopefully deliver another buoyant romantic comedy that won’t be so obviously pandering to the female demographic.

The Unborn
directed by David S. Goyer
Writer-director Goyer is something of a genre veteran, having penned everything from Dollman vs. Demonic Toys to the Blade series to Batman Begins. His latest effort is a creepy horror-thriller in the vein of The Exorcist. The movie concerns Casey (Cloverfield‘s Odette Yustman), a young woman haunted by strange dreams and recurring ghostly visions. With the help of a spiritual advisor (Gary Oldman), Casey discovers she had a twin brother who was never born—and that the terrifying little undead tyke is eager to enter the world again, even if it means Casey has to die as a result. Judging by the trailer, the movie seems to have been at least partly inspired by the array of Japanese horror flicks such as The Ring and The Grudge, though it still looks undeniably spine-tingling. Here’s hoping that Goyer creates a film that, while possibly suffering from a lack of originality, might have a chance at starting off the new year with a bonafide creepfest.

Not Easily Broken
directed by Bill Duke
Prolific character-actor-turned-director Duke helms this African-American drama, based upon a novel by popular author and televangelist T.D. Jakes, about a couple (Morris Chestnut and Taraji P. Henson) having marital problems who, after a car accident, begin developing romantic feelings for other people. Despite the lack of a fresh or original premise, the strong cast (which also includes Jenifer Lewis and Wood Harris from “The Wire") will hopefully create some warmth during this chilly movie season.