This week, we begin in Italy: Il Cappotto (The Overcoat) (***1/2) Not rated, 107 minutes. Available Tuesday on DVD.
A few years after his Italian filmmaking compatriots forged new cinematic ground with their neorealist movement, director Alberto Lattuada turned out this whimsical satire based on Nikolai Gogol's short story The Overcoat. But even by 1952, things still looked pretty bleak in Italy, enough so that the story of a slow-witted, low-level bureaucrat coveting a new overcoat had resonance.
Carmine (Renato Rascel) uses his savings to have a new coat tailored for him. Freshly attired, his bumbling image improves at work and with his colleagues. When his coat is stolen, however, his stature again plummets, eventually driving him to fatal hysterics. But, like Banquo's ghost, he sticks around to hector those responsible for his humiliation. Lattuada fills his film with many small, clever touches, all outlined to give Carmine his inept portrait and to give the director the opportunity to comment on the arrogance, corruption, and laughable hypocrisy among the privileged classes.
The DVD includes commentary with an Italian film professor, a 13-minute interview with screenwriter and director Angelo Paquini and 25 minutes of deleted scenes.
*
Age of Heroes (***) Sean Bean stars in this World War II action-thriller loosely based on the real-life exploits of Ian Fleming, the author of the James Bond novels. Bean is Maj. Jones, the head of a select British unit sent on special assignments. The motley but well-trained group parachutes into Nazi-occupied Norway in 1942 to grab a radar device that will become instrumental in the war. Their mission seems suicidal, which gives the film a series of white-knuckle sequences, many taking place across the picturesque Norwegian mountains.
Not rated, 108 minutes.
The DVD includes the 15-minute featurette "An Age of Heroes" about the real-life counterparts and their exploits. Plus: interviews with five cast and crew members, brief "behind the scenes" footage and 12 minutes of deleted scenes.
*
Cold Sweat (***) At 31, Adrian Garcia Bogliano has already turned out more than a dozen horror movies, making this clever entry no surprise, even for someone so young. His wild imagination combines with his proficient filmmaking skills to render an effectively horrific film.
Two creepy old men use the Internet to lure beautiful young women to their decrepit mansion. They then tie them up and drench them in nitroglycerin so they can't move. In the end, they do not count on a spurned boyfriend who has followed his now captured girlfriend. Tense and strange.
Not rated, 80 minutes.
The DVD offers 24 minutes of deleted and extended scenes, a 10-minute "behind the scenes" featurette and a six-minute segment on the special effects.
*
Diary of a Single Mom (**1/2) Robert Townsend directed this story of Ocean (Monica Calhoun), a single mom with two children who juggles constant trials. She has moved into a new apartment and has begun a new job, but she still deals with a meddling mother and some unreliable men. The polished cast includes Leon, Billy Dee Williams, Richard Roundtree, and Valery Ortiz.
Not rated, 86 minutes.
*
Dirty Girl (**1/2) Danielle (Juno Temple) is a surly, dangerously feisty high school student in 1987 Norman, Okla. She dresses provocatively, lands in trouble at school and regularly demeans her mother (Milla Jovovich) and her religious Mormon fiance (William H. Macy). When placed in a "special" class at school because of her behavior, she convinces her new best friend, the outcast Clarke (Jeremy Dozier), to steal the car from his mother (Mary Steenburgen) and his abusive father (Dwight Yoakam) and travel to Fresno, Calif. There, she hopes to meet her biological father. Large doses of youth-infused humor blends with a touching reunion tale for a moderately entertaining mix.
Rated R, 9 minutes.
The DVD also offers commentary and four deleted scenes.
*
Division III: Football's Finest (*1/2) Who thinks these things up? Andy Dick as a macho football coach? Really? But that's the premise behind this lame, obvious comedy with Dick playing Rick Vice, a high-strung individual who takes over coaching duties for the Pulham Bluecocks, the worst team in its division.
From there, the broad - very broad - humor comes about as expected with ample amounts of crotch shot gags and excessive pratfalls. With a supporting cast of Adam Carolla, Will Sasso, Bryan Callen and others.
Rated R, 97 minutes.
The DVD offers commentary, 10 minutes of outtakes and nine deleted and extended scenes.
*
Bombay Beach (**1/2) This whimsical documentary from Alma Har'el takes a look at a trio of inhabitants of California's Salton Sea area, a now destitute village that once enjoyed great popularity as a resort. In the 1950s, its proximity to Los Angeles drew celebrities and notoriety. Now, the area and the waters have dried up considerably, leaving a handful of people, several of whom Har'el highlights, including a disturbed boy, a teen who fantasizes about playing pro football, and an old-timer who seems to do little but drink and smoke. The area can sometimes look deceptively beautiful, but it is the human subjects that give the film its interest.
Not rated, 76 minutes. The DVD includes commentary, three music videos by Har'el, four deleted scenes, three different "Where are they now?" segments, and more.
*
Anchor Bay's Manga brand releases two titles this week
Redline A worldwide racing tournament dominates the furious action in director Takeshi Koike and writer Katsuhito Ishii's Redline. Daredevil driver JP looks to be the favorite, if he is not taken down by secret government agents or organized crime operatives.
Not rated, 102 minutes.
The DVD includes two guides to Redline.
First Squad Yoshiharu Ashino directs this film, set at the start of World War II in Eastern Europe. A group of Russian teenagers enlists to fight a special army of Germans who look suspiciously like zombies.
Not rated, 75 minutes.
*
Also available Tuesday on DVD: Abduction, Courageous, The Ides of March, Dutch, License to Drive
DR. BOO ALLEN is an award-winning film critic for the Denton Record-Chronicle.
