The Swimming Pool

For those of you sick of this summer's clichˇ blockbuster films like Legally Blonde II: Red, White and Blonde and T3, this artsy, foreign mystery is a tall drink of ice-cold water.

Swimming Pool, French director Fran¨ois Ozon's first film in English, lures the audience into a British mystery novelist's creative process. The bitter, conservative, and accomplished writer, Sarah Morton, escapes to her publisher's house in the French countryside for some peace and quiet to begin her new novel. But peace and quiet is the last thing she gets when her publisher's wild teenage daughter, Julie, arrives.

This film doesn't need one-liners, car chases or high-tech special effects to keep the viewer entertained; the intricacies of the characters' personalities are intriguing enough. It's even interesting to watch the eating and sleeping habits of the two women. Even more interesting is the relationship that develops between the prudish, irritable writer and the promiscuous blonde bombshell.

This film cleverly blurs the line between fantasy and reality. The outstanding character development, dialogue, writing, and acting all outshine the already strong plot. It's refreshing to see a movie where the sex isn't the highlight.

-Cara O'Connor & Jennifer Duffy

How to Deal

How to Deal is a horrible story, made worse by horrible writing, and followed by even more horrible acting.

Think up any clichˇ dilemma that you might find in a teen drama, any one, and you will find it in this movie. Teen pregnancy, the death of a friend, parents' divorce, guy trouble, evil step mom, pain-in-the-ass sibling, tragic car accident, and the Īother girl', just to name a few.

Top that off with cheesy lines like, "I didn't fall in love, I had to crash into it," "If love beats us up let's just beat it up right back," and, "You are grounded until next year, young lady," accompanied by Mandy Moore's occasional temper tantrum and you have the whole movie.

What is good about this movie?

Well, Mandy Moore's new haircut is cute. And for comic relief the writers threw in a grandmother who has an unusual love of textiles and smokes a lot of marijuana to "medicate" her headaches.

I suggest taking your twelve-year-old sister and her friends out to see this movie on your mom's tab (they'll probably love it) and then sneak in to see Pirates of the Caribbean.

-Cara O'Connor