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# Movie reviews: The Wedding Date, Hide and Seek, Coach Carter and more
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/whats-playing-20050211/
- Published: 2005-02-11T16:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-23T06:04:58.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Entertainment, Santa Monica, #archive-import

THE WEDDING DATE Why do fools fall in love? Maybe for the same reason they make half-baked chick flicks … cuz some people never learn. Starring: Debra Messing, Dermot Mulroney RORY O’SHEA WAS HERE Dramatically charged, funny, and most of all uplifting, This is the first best movie of 2005\. Starring: Steven Robertson, James McAvoy HIDE AND SEEK What is, for a solid 80 minutes or so, a pretty hair-raising and suspenseful thriller, falls apart more quickly and embarrassingly than a drunken “Real World” cast member. Starring: Robert DeNiro, Dakota Fanning ALONE IN THE DARK A deliriously-edited special-effects cannonade featuring a once-semirespectable movie star slogging through a morass of detritus left over from seemingly every bad sci-fi flick ever committed to celluloid. Starring: Christian Slater ARE WE THERE YET? Ten minutes into this hapless family comedy, you’ll be wishing you were anywhere but there. Starring: Ice Cube, Nia Long COACH CARTER Succeeds thanks to an inspirational story, some highly realistic and exciting basketball action, and a winning performance from Samuel L. Jackson. Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Rob Brown, Ashanti THE AVIATOR The second-best biopic Scorsese has helmed, behind the exalted “Raging Bull.” DiCaprio’s portrayal of Hughes stands out as the finest work of his career. Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett LEMONY SNICKET’S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS Inspired adaptation of the wildly popular kids’ book series that ‘tis a hell of a lot more naughty than nice. Starring: Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep SPANGLISH James Brooks is one of the best in the business at harvesting fresh perspectives on the human condition. Starring: Adam Sandler, Tea Leoni MILLION DOLLAR BABY At its core, this is a heart-wrenching story about overcoming impossible odds and realizing dreams. Starring: Hilary Swank, Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX This one’s all about the action and the actors have grasped that and have fun with it. Starring: Dennis Quaid, Giovanni Ribisi THE LIFE AQUATIC WITH STEVE ZISSOU Filmmaker Wes Anderson’s fourth feature is the ne plus ultra of whimsical cerebration, and fans of his work will no doubt be lifted into the empyrean. Starring: Bill Murray, Angelica Huston, Owen Wilson, Cate Blanchett OCEAN’S TWELVE When taken — not too seriously — as a pastiche of beautiful people, exotic places, groovy tunes, and loosely comic set pieces, this sequel is a snazzy delight. Starring: Julia Roberts, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Catherine Zeta-Jones

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on February 11, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/021105.pdf?ref=smdp.com)