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Show Thursday, September 9, 2004 5 "mi iim i. "-' I. , - ... II ' " t ,. .v .: " If 1 f " ? - ' J1'. . :"vTi j ; I John C Reilly, left. Diego Luna, center, and Maggie Gyllenhaal star in "Criminal." SUZANNE HANOVERWarner Independent Pictures 'Hero' tops slow Labor Day box office Jet Li's Chinese martial-arts epic "Hero" relegated four new movies to the nether regions re-gions of the box office in what ended up as one of the most feeble Labor IDay weekends in memory. "Hero" ranked No. 1 by collecting col-lecting an estimated $11.5 million mil-lion over the four-day holiday, which is traditionally a slow time at movie theaters as many people try to enjoy their last big summer weekend outdoors. out-doors. But this one was particularly partic-ularly low. "Talk about ending the summer sum-mer with a whimper," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Ex-hibitor Relations Co. "This is the lowest-grossing No. 1 film of the year, and one of the lowest grossing Labor Day weekends that I've ever seen." It's the competition that proved to be lacking. Four new movies debuted in theaters this week: the Josh Hartnett romantic thriller "Wicker Park"; the Mel Gibson-produced "Paparazzi" about overzealous celebrity photographers; Reese Wither-spoon's Wither-spoon's take on the 19th century cen-tury class-warfare novel "Vanity Fair"; and the hip-hop comedy "The Cookout." All had lackluster showings. "For 'Hero' to take on all the newcomers and still be No. 1 is impressive," Dergarabedian said. The Associated Press BoxOQice Compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. and Nielsen EDI Inc. for last Friday-Sunday. 1. 'Hero,' Miramax, $11,514,779, 2,092 locations, $5,504 average, $35,237,282, two weeks. 2. "Without a Paddle, Paramount $9,014,918, 2,756 locations, $3,271 average, $39,854,910, three weeks. 3. 'Anacondas: the Hunt For the Blood Orchid," Screen Gems, $8,008,188, 2,905 locations, $2,757 average, $23,860,466, two weeks. 4. "Paparazzi," Fox, $7,855,111, 2,115 locations, $3,714 average, $7,855,111, one week. 5. "The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement," Disney, $7,537,330, 3,139 locations, $2,401 average, $85,500,804, four weeks. 6. "Wider Park," MGM, $6,819,393, 2,598 locations, $2,625 average, $6,819,393, one week. 7. "Collateral," DreamWorks, $6,480,801, 2,348 locations, $2,760 average, $88,897,193, five weeks. 8. "Vanity Fair," Focus Features, ' $6,268,925, 1,051 locations, $5,965 average, $7,406,660, one week. 9. 'The Cookout," Lions Gate, $6,219,794, 1,303 locations, $4,773 average, $6,219,794, one week. 10. 'The Bourne Supremacy," Universal, $5,314,115, 1,717 locations, $3,095 average, $164,769,215, seven weeks. The con is on ws m tin. ic id old ej Ei r Ds I in e - c sb nil John C. Reilly steals show with a rare lead performance David Germain THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Even when he's repellent, repel-lent, John C. Reilly manages to endear. A ubiquitous supporting sup-porting and ensemble player in such films as "The Hours, "Gangs of New York," "Magnolia" and "Chicago" (which earned him an Academy Award nomination), Reilly steps into the lead with "Criminal," "Crimi-nal," a solid, engaging take on the shell-game genre. A remake of the 2000 Argentinian Argen-tinian flick "Nine Queens," "Criminal" spins the tale of a veteran con man who takes on a new protege. First-time writer-director Gregory Jacobs makes a skillful skill-ful and assured debut, delivering deliver-ing a taut little thriller that clips along effortlessly while packing pack-ing in a great deal of action and backstory. Jacobs' ability to load up on the drama is small surprise given giv-en he spent the past decade as an apprentice to Steven Soder-bergh, Soder-bergh, a producer on "Criminal" "Crimi-nal" along with filmmaking partner George Clooney. An assistant director on Soderbergh's movies, Jacobs had been encouraged by his boss to find a project to direct Review cm Criminal Director: Gregory Jacobs Cast John C. Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullan Running time: 1 hr., 27 min. Rating: R for language Location: Opens Friday in select cities on his own. Soderbergh and Clooney steered him toward adapting "Nine Queens" into "Criminal." The story unfolds in a single day in Los Angeles as cynical, heartless con man Richard Gad-dis Gad-dis (Reilly) takes on new partner part-ner Rodrigo (Diego Luna of "Y Tu Mama Tambien"), whom he finds working penny-ante grifts in a bar. A raw recruit, Rodrigo nevertheless has an attribute at-tribute that Gaddis finds valuable valu-able in pulling swindles. "You have one thing money and practice can't buy," Gaddis tells Rodrigo. "You look like a nice guy." Gaddis is definitely not a nice guy. Through the course of their ramblings, it's revealed that Gaddis bilked his sister Va lerie (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and younger brother (Jonathan Tucker) out of their rightful inheritance. in-heritance. The bitterness between Valerie Va-lerie and Gaddis is so sharp she has a lawsuit pending over the money, and she becomes irate when her brother turns up at the hotel where she works to check out a possible scam. Gaddis has stumbled onto a forgery of a rare piece of 19th century American currency, which he's hoping to peddle to a high-rolling hotel guest (Peter Mullan) who must leave the country so quickly he cannot wait around for proper tests to determine the bill's authenticity. It's the score of a lifetime, but one obstacle after another whittles whit-tles away Gaddis' profit margin while fueling his desire to pull off the con at all costs. "Criminal" is packed with the obligatory surprises and questions ques-tions about who's conning whom. The plot twists are not terribly hard to figure out, but they prove satisfying enough even if you see them coming. Jacobs is blessed with earnest players inhabiting the roles as though the movie were their own big con. Reilly is so much fun to watch, here's hoping he gets more leading-man opportunities. 1 J Saturday, September 1 1th 2004 9:00 a.m. - Noon Bonneville LDS Stake Center 85 South 900 East, Provo. ffl I, . The following organizations will be on hand to meet job applicants and provide information about job openings: Brigham Young University MyFamily.com Bright Builders Utah Co. Sheriffs Office PGM, Inc. 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