Holiday Weekend Movie Forecast: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Revolutionary Road

Frank Miller, whose graphic novels 300 and Sin City were previously adapted for the screen by others, steps up with his directorial debut The Spirit. Eva Mendes, Scarlett Johansson, and Samuel L. Jackson are along for the ride in the story about a former rookie cop who returns from the dead as the Spirit (Gabriel Macht) to fight crime from the shadows of Central City. Jackson plays Octopus, his arch-enemy. Roger Ebert isn't really feeling it: "The Spirit is mannered to the point of madness. There is not a trace of human emotion in it. To call the characters cardboard is to insult a useful packing material. The movie is all style -- style without substance, style whirling in a senseless void. The film's hero is an ex-cop reincarnated as an immortal enforcer; for all the personality he exhibits, we would welcome Elmer Fudd."