In Theaters Now: Orphan, The Ugly Truth, The Answer Man & More

G-Force
directed by Hoyt Yeatman
We’ve seen Nicolas Cage as a family man, a car thief and John Travolta… now he’s making an appearance as Speckles the guinea pig. And when a movie offers gadgets, gizmos and guinea pigs, what more could you want? With a comedic cast like “30 Rock”‘s Tracy Morgan, “Arrested Development”‘s Will Arnett and up-and-coming star Zach Galifianakis (The Hangover), entertainment seems promising. At the very least, you can spend 90 minutes watching guinea pigs fly in your direction in this new 3-D flick; directed by Hoyt Yeatman, who has done the visual effects for more than 40 movies and won an Oscar for one (1989’s The Abyss), the movie’s visuals certainly shouldn’t drag. Time will tell if this Disney (sans Pixar) film will be as popular as other 3-D summer blockbusters, like Pixar’s Up.

The Ugly Truth
directed by Robert Luketic
From the writers of 10 Things I Hate About You (Karen McCullah Lutz and Kirsten Smith) comes 782 Thing I Hate About You, starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Seriously, you can only have so many “boy is an inappropriate misogynist, boy meets girl, girl hates boy, boy and girl hang out despite the fact that girl thinks boy is disgusting, girl falls for boy and vice versa, boy messes up and has to make it up to girl in some sort of climactic public speech involving the words ‘I love you’ and some form of ‘I’m an idiot,’ girl is somehow touched by cheesy romantic gesture and falls back in love with boy” movies. Although, director Robert Luketic (Legally Blonde, Monster-in-Law, Win a Date with Tad Hamilton!) could bring some innovation to the film, and the R-rated dialogue seems promising… or it could be just like every other rom-com you’ve already seen.

Orphan
directed by Jaume Collet-Serra
“There’s something wrong with Esther” and “You’ll never guess her secret”… until about an hour into Orphan, when they tactlessly reveal that she’s been dead for 25 years or her birth mother’s name was Rosemary or some other stale horror twist. Poor Vera Farmiga, not only has she had to deal with Esther, but two years earlier she gave birth to a demonic son in the 2007 horror film Joshua. Orphan screenwriter David Johnson earns his first IMDb writing credit here, working alongside director Jaum Collet-Serra (House of Wax). But really, Esther is not your average, everyday murderous child. She sings a slow creepy melody, her past is a mystery, she’s pale with dark hair… oh, wait, that’s exactly like every other movie creepy child. (Bonus: Check out MM’s countdown of cinema’s creepiest kids!)

The Answer Man
directed by John Hindman
This debut from writer-director John Hindman seems to be a refreshing break from the commonly seen twentysomethings playing late twentysomethings romantic comedy (cough.. The Ugly Truth… cough). But it’s not without its fair share of youngsters; the movie features up-and-comers Olivia Thirlby (Juno) and Kat Dennings (Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist). After being a hit at Sundance, the film is headed for its theatrical opening and, who knows, we may be be seeing Hindman’s name a lot more often.