Heart-warming romance

You may think romance is code for “chick flick,” but that’s not always the case. Yes, “The Jane Austen Book Club” is the very definition of the term, but there are also unorthodox romantic comedies, such as the Steve Carell-starring “Dan in Real Life” and the latest Tyler Perry film, in which he leaves his Medea dress in the closet. Approach this category with an open mind and you might find something to warm your heart.

“Across the Universe”
Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Jim Sturgess, Max Carrigan, Joe Anderson, Dana Fuchs, Martin Luther, T.V. Carpio
Director: Julie Taymor
Story: Set in the 1960s, this movie musical uses Beatles songs to tell the story of Jude (Sturgess), who travels to America to find his father. There he falls in love with Julie (Wood). But when her brother Max (Anderson) is drafted and sent to Vietnam, they joy of the ’60s is left behind as they join the protests.
Buzz: According to IMdb.com, preview audiences were not happy with Taymor’s (“Frida”) original cut of the film. Revolution Studios head Joe Roth stepped in and recut the film and, according to L.A. Weekly reporter Nikki Finke, the recut version received an 86 percent favorable score when it was shown to a Phoenix, Ariz., audience. The movie combines live action with animation.
Web site: http://www.acrosstheuniverse.com/
Release date: Sept. 14

“Jane Austen Book Club”

Sony Picture Classics

Starring: Maria Bello, Emily Blunt, Hugh Dancy, Amy Brenneman, Kathy Baker, Jimmy Smits, Maggie Grace
Director: Robin Swicord
Story: Five woman and one man (Dancy) meet to discuss the novels of Jane Austen. One is responsible for each novel. But then their lives begin reflecting the books they’ve chosen. Sylvia’s (Brenneman) husband leaves her. Prudie (Blunt) is married but fantasizes about other men. Bernadette (Baker) wants one more chance at happiness. Unmarried Jocelyn (Bello) distracts herself from loneliness by breeding dogs. And Allegra (Grace), Sylvia’s daughter, has stopped talking to her lesbian lover.
Buzz: This film is based on the popular Kay Fowler novel and is a serious chick flick. Bello (“A History of Violence”) described the plot to About.com this way, “The book at my house is ‘Emma’ and my life starts to look like Emma’s life at the same time. I fall in love with this young guy. It’s pretty cool.” Keep an eye out for Blunt, who should have received an Oscar nomination for her sharp work in “The Devil Wears Prada.” 
Web site: http://www.sonyclassics.com/thejaneaustenbookclub/
Release date: Sept. 21

“Dan in Real Life”

Touchstone Pictures

Starring: Steve Carell, Juliette Binoche, Dane Cook, Norbert Leo Butz, John Mahoney, Dianne Wiest, Alison Pill, Brittany Robertson, Marlene Lawston
Director: Peter Hedges
Story: Dan (Carell) is a widower and a parenting-advice columnist who is raising three daughters (Pill, Robertson, Lawston) on his own. But when he falls for his brother’s (Cook) girlfriend (Binoche), none of the rules he’s been living by seem to apply.
Buzz: Carell proved this summer that his name alone can’t open a movie (“Evan Almighty”). But with this film, he teams with an interesting director in Hedges (“Pieces of April”) and the comedy is less broad, which should play to his strengths. He proved in “40-Year-Old Virgin” that he’s an engaging leading man, and luckily, thus far he’s been cast opposite smart, talented actresses (Binoche and “Virgin’s” Catherine Keener).
Web site: http://daninreallife.movies.go.com/
Release date: Oct. TBD

“Feast of Love”

MGM

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Greg Kinnear, Radha Mitchell, Jane Alexander, Alexa Davalos, Toby Hemingway, Selma Blair, Stana Katic, Billy Burke, Fred Ward
Director: Robert Benton
Story: Based on the novel by Charles Baxter, this film about love in all its forms is like a modern version of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Freeman stars in and narrates the story as he watches the people of an Oregon town fall in and out of love. Bradley (Kinnear) is the owner of the local coffee shop, with two ex-wives, Kathryn (Blair) and Diana (Mitchell). Oscar and Chloe (Hemmingway, Davalos) are teenagers who meet at the coffee shop and find love.
Buzz: With all these stories of love, it’s hard not to be reminded of “Love Actually,” though there’s a lot to suggest this film won’t be as corny as that one. Director Benton (“Nobody’s Fool,” “Places in the Heart”) doesn’t usually let sentimentalism overwhelm story, and he starts with a very good one here by Baxter. A Freeman narration (“Shawshank Redemption,” “Million Dollar Baby”) is a keen way to win over audiences — it worked with penguins, why not love?
Web site: http://www.feastoflovefilm.com/
Release date: Sept. 28

“Silk”

Picturehouse

Starring: Keira Knightley, Alfred Molina, Michael Pitt, Koji Yakusho, Sei Ashina, Mark Rendall
Director: François Girard
Story: Based on the novel by Alessandro Baricco, the film tells the story of a French silkworm merchant Herve Joncour (Pitt) who goes to Japan. The journey takes him away from his wife (Knightley) and into the arms of a a local baron’s (Yakusho) concubine (Ashina). Though they don’t even speak the same language, they fall in love.
Buzz: Writer-director Girard is the man behind the gorgeous “Red Violin” and “Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould.” Expect sumptuous visual here and beautiful music (in this case by composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, who won an Oscar for his “Last Emperor” score). Pitt (“The Dreamers,” “Hedwig and the Angry Inch”) is known for his offbeat choices and childlike vulnerability.
Web site: http://www.silkmovie.com/
Release date: Sept. 14

“Sydney White”

Universal Pictures

Starring: Amanda Bynes, Matt Long, Sara Paxton, John Schneider, Jack Carpenter, Crystal Hunt, Jeremy Howard, Samm Levine
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Story: Originally titled “Sydney White and the Seven Dorks,” this film tells the story of college freshman Sydney White (Bynes), who, after being rejected by a snobby sorority, goes to live with seven geeks. With the help of a smitten frat boy (Long), she and the dorks campaign to take over student government.
Buzz: Why is it that in movies like this one, which seem so pro-geek, the heroine ends up with the frat boy rather than one of the seven dorks? Among those actors playing the dorks are some familiar TV faces including, Levine (“Freaks and Geeks”), Danny Strong (“Gilmore Girls,” “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”) and Adam Hendershott (“Gilmore Girls”). Director Nussbaum is the man behind the straight-to-video: “American Pie 5: The Naked Mile.”
Web site: http://www.myspace.com/sydneywhite
Release date: Sept. 21

“Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married”

Paul Buck / EPA

Starring: Tyler Perry, Janet Jackson, Sharon Leal, Jill Scott, Tasha Smith, Malik Yoba, Richard T. Jones, Michael Jai White
Director: Tyler Perry
Story: Eight married friends gather in Colorado for their annual seven-day reunion. But when one wife brings along a sexy temptress, the rest of the couples are forced to take a hard look at their own relationships. 
Buzz: This film is based on Tyler’s own stage play, and he actually plays a man in this one (not Medea). Tyler shocked critics when his “Medea’s Family Reunion” earned over $63 million, but his more serious “Daddy’s Little Girls” only earned about half that. This current film has more comedy, but it will be interesting to see if Perry can win an audience without dressing in drag.
Web site: NA
Release date: Oct. 12

MORE FROM MOVIE OPINIONS

Does ‘Precious’ stereotype big black women?

Does ‘Precious’ stereotype big black women? Newsweek: The problem with ‘Precious’ When it comes to stardom, Clooney has smarts ‘Saw’ franchise creates buzz, but is it any good? Remembering concert documentaries that rock theGrio: ‘This Is It’ a final act fit for a king Best actress category looks slim for Oscars theGrio: Tyler Perry can’t do bad all by himself Is ‘Wild Things’ too scary for young children? Newsweek: The death of shock cinema   Add Movie opinions headlines to your news reader: