(R, 128 minutes)

Four stars

There’s something thrilling about seeing a large group of actors perform together in one film, especially when the film works on all levels. The story needs to be involved for the many actors, the dialogue must be sharp and effective, and in the end, it must all come together and make sense. Quite a challenge for sure, but more often than not, ensemble films turn out to be surprisingly memorable. Boogie Nights is a good example of success; the last Star Wars film is a huge example of failure.

Don Roos, writer and director for 1998’s fantastic ensemble in The Opposite of Sex, returns with another great ensemble in the dramatic comedy Happy Endings.

Mamie (Lisa Kudrow) regrets her decision as a teenager to give away her child fathered by her step-brother (who later turns out to be gay). She’s sleeping with a massage therapist (Bobby Cannavale) who hasn’t been completely honest with her, and she’s being blackmailed by an aspiring filmmaker who knows the identity of her son. Otis (Jason Ritter), the closeted gay son of Frank (Tom Arnold), is also being blackmailed by a quasi-con artist, Jude (Maggie Gyllenhaal), who sleeps with Otis to prove he’s gay and to get to his father (and his money).

Starring Kudrow, Arnold, Cannavale, Gyllenhaal, Ritter (the late John Ritter’s son), as well as Laura Dern, Jesse Bradford and Steve Coogan, Happy Endings is about the power of our decisions, the people affected by those decisions, and the realization that the two are connected.

All of the actors shine, but Kudrow, Arnold, Ritter, and Gyllenhaal turn in the best and most realistic performances.

While not as bitter as The Opposite of Sex, Happy Endings is quite remarkable in its ability to take sad, depressing characters and make them complex and endearing. Mamie is miserable, Otis is repressed, Frank is being used and Jude hates herself; not a single one is likeable and all of them are depressingly real. Long after the film is over, though, you’ll admire these people for all of their flaws. It’s a great lesson, especially since it doesn’t feel like a moral tale while you’re watching it.

Possessing a great story and fun dialogue, Roos’ and his talented actors have turned in a great film. Happy Endings may not wrap up like its title suggests, but it closes with a realism that is rewarding nonetheless.

(PG, 115 minutes)

Four stars

Ninety-nine percent of the time, remaking a classic film sounds like a mistake. Hollywood, always looking for an easy buck, tends to shoot for remakes and sequels whenever possible. How else do you explain the shot-for-shot remake of Psycho or the terrible sequel to Blair Witch Project? However, we have had better luck with sequels over the years: Godfather Part II and Spiderman 2 are perfect examples of great sequels.

Remakes, on the other hand, have had a far worse fate: Love Affair, an awful Warren Beatty retool of An Affair to Remember; Stepford Wives, a mess of a film that felt edited out of existence; and, of course, Tim Burton’s version of Planet of the Apes, with its confusing, mindless ending. All is forgiven, and a notch is carved on the scorecard for good remakes, with Tim Burton’s revision of Roald Dahl’s classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The story, known by many from their own childhood, is about loveable, impoverished Charlie Bucket. Charlie wins a tour of the greatest, most secretive chocolate factory in the world, run by the equally great and secretive Willy Wonka. Bringing his best friend, his Grandpa Joe, along for the tour, Charlie joins four other children – all of them with huge flaws – on the tour of a lifetime.

Burton went into the project with a lot to live up to, considering that the book and the original film (starring Gene Wilder as the great Willy Wonka) are both considered classics. Wisely, Burton and his writers went back to the original book for their story and combined it with spot-on casting. Johnny Depp (in his fourth Tim Burton production) as Willy Wonka is the most enjoyably odd and unique character you’ll see this year. Depp, known for being a great character actor (see Edward Scissorhands and Pirates of the Caribbean for proof), plays Wonka with zeal and perfection. The nuances of the performance are so intricate, you’ll be thinking about Depp’s Wonka for days. Depp’s work is Oscar-worthy, and it would be a shame if he did not get a nomination next January.

As magical and dark as the original film was, Burton’s vision is grander, more colorful, and ultimately more rewarding. Gone are the musical numbers, replaced with the back story of Wonka’s childhood and the origin of the Oompa Loompas (see the movie if you don’t know what Oompa Loompa’s are).

Burton, who is known for his creative vision, has strayed recently with the smarmy Big Fish and the visually stunning but story deficient Planet of the Apes. But with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Burton redeemed himself with the best, most endearing movie of his career.

(PG-13, 106 minutes)

Two stars

Comic book movies fall into three categories: serious, fun and terrible. Spiderman, Sin City and Batman Begins all fall into the serious category, while Hellboy, Blade and Mystery Men fall into the fun category. And then there’s the terrible category: Daredevil, Batman Forever, Batman & Robin, The Shadow, Judge Dredd and Superman 3 and 4.

Almost all of the major comic book characters out there have had their big-budget chance on the silver screen, with one exception – Fantastic Four. The story is about five astronauts exposed to cosmic radiation, after which they exhibit unique superhero-like powers. Four are good, one is bad. The bad guy realizes he can rule the world, while the four know they are the only ones able to stop him. It’s a typical tale of good versus evil.

Johnny Storm (Chris Evans) is The Human Torch, a flying fireball. To turn on his fire he yells, “Flame on!” and burns off his clothes (which is very similar to most gay men). Then there’s Johnny’s sister, Sue Storm (Jessica Alba), as the Invisible Woman, who can disappear and create force fields when necessary. Sue’s love interest, Reed Richards (Ioan Gruffudd), is Mr. Fantastic, who can bend and stretch into any shape (there’s a joke there). Finally, there’s Ben Grimm as The Thing (Michael Chiklis), who is a giant pile of moving and talking rocks. He’s the brute strength of the group as well as the one we feel sorry for, since he’s the “ugly” one (notice his name is Grimm).

The film shoots for a balance between fun and serious, which ends up being a fatal mistake. The problem with Four isn’t the story, which has plenty of detail and drama. It’s the tone of the movie that ruins the film, even with able actors and top-notch special effects. By trying to be fun and serious, Fantastic Four is neither fun nor serious, causing it to have an identity crisis. Chris Evans and Michael Chiklis are perfectly cast, yet the words they are forced to speak are so predictable and cheesy that their talents are wasted.

Director Tim Story, best known for last year’s verifiably awful Taxi, is at fault. Simply put, the film should have been put in more able hands.

What’s sad about Fantastic Four is that the audience really wants to like the movie. It’s a classic comic book with an appealing premise that translates well into film. Throw in some special effects, spend some time on good dialogue and choose the tone wisely, and you should have a great summer movie. But when a movie has “fantastic” in its title, it would be a wise idea to make sure the movie lives up to its name.