NEW YORK, Aug 31, (Agencies): A faux black-and-white silent film that will gain immeasurably from its road show presentations, “Louis” is more of a novelty than a satisfying cinematic experience. But jazz aficionados certainly will appreciate its evocation of early 20th century New Orleans, and those lucky enough to live in certain cities will have the opportunity to hear its rollicking score performed live by its composer Wynton Marsalis, pianist Cecile Licad and a stellar 10-piece ensemble. As one might have guessed, the film does feature Louis Armstrong as a central character. Set in 1907 New Orleans, it depicts the legendary musician as a chubby-cheeked 6-year-old wandering the streets of Storyville and coveting an unaffordable cornet hung in a pawn-shop window.

Dan Pritzker’s debut film is no biodrama, however, rather an old-style melodrama that apes (and occasionally updates) many of the cinematic stylistic devices of the silent era, including black-and-white (with hints of color) visuals expertly shot by Oscar-winning cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond; herky-jerky movement; and intertitles. It’s accompanied by a wall-to-wall score that incorporates original compositions by Marsalis and jazz standards largely from the period.

Lavished
Unfortunately, less care has been lavished on the screenplay than on the visual and musical trappings, with the result that the proceedings are more confusing than involving. Besides the young Louis, the main characters are beautiful unwed mother Grace (Shanti Lowry), who sings at the local bordello, and the villainous Judge Perry (Jackie Earle Haley), desperate not to let a potential scandal get in the way of his political aspirations. Despite the brief 70-minute running time, the film feels longer than it actually is because of the episodic story line and the insertion of less than effective conceits like a re-creation of the famous sequence from “Modern Times” in which Charlie Chaplin gets swept into the machinery.

Speaking of Chaplin, he’s clearly the inspiration for Haley, who delivers a skillfully accomplished performance that reveals a heretofore unexposed talent for physical comedy.
“Louis,” with Marsalis and the other musicians performing live, were to be presented for one-night engagements in several cities through Aug 30, including Monday night at New York’s historic Apollo Theater. The recorded score that accompanied the film at media screenings demonstrates a clear intention that it will have a life beyond that. And a companion film, “Bolden,” about the famed New Orleans musician, will be released next year.

The next time you’re invited to a French dinner party, you might want to give it a pass, if the tedious proceedings in “Change of Plans” are any indication.
Depicting the endlessly complex and convoluted emotional entanglements among the numerous characters, Daniele Thompson’s comedy of manners doesn’t quite deliver on its tasty promise. The IFC Films release opened last week. Co-written with her son and frequent collaborator, Christopher (also part of the acting ensemble), the film, like an unfortunately high number of current offerings from France, is mainly notable for its showcasing of its terrific cast, which includes Patrick Chesnais, Marina Hands, Karin Viard, Patrick Bruel, Dany Boon, Marina Fois and Emmanuelle Seigner.

As might be expected, the onscreen goings-on encompass adultery — real, prospective and imagined — health issues, divorce, midlife crises and did I mention adultery? The film’s chief imaginative conceit is switching back and forth chronologically between the dinner party and a year later, with the subsequent events forecast in ways subtle and blatant.
Unfortunately, the profusion of characters and situations is more than the film can comfortably handle, especially when its observations rarely rise above the level of banality. As if aware that its culinary delicacies are of more interest than the story line, the film’s end credits include a recipe for the onscreen main course of bigos, a traditional Polish stew, credited to Seigner’s real-life husband, Roman Polanski.


Charisma Carpenter and Ty Olsson have been cast as leads in the indie thriller “Crash Site.”
The story centers on a family vacation in the woods, during which a couple must fight their way back to civilization through injuries, creepy critters and wild animals after their Jeep crashes. Jason Bourque is directing the film, which recently began principal photography in Vancouver. Carpenter, a regular on “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Angel,” is in theaters with “The Expendables.” Olsson’s credits include the series “Men in Trees” and “Battlestar Galactica.”
Olsson, who will probably be hoping he actually gets a character name this time (he’s been mostly seen as the likes of “Flash chamber Colonel” and “policeman” in his recent films, though he did appear in Battlestar Galactica), will star opposite her as her husband.

Carpenter made her first television role in 1994 by appearing in an episode of Baywatch. Shortly after that, she landed a starring role on Aaron Spelling’s short-lived soap opera Malibu Shores.
In 1997, Carpenter auditioned for the title role in the television series Buffy the Vampire Slayer but instead was cast as Cordelia Chase, a snobby and popular high school student. After three seasons on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Carpenter was offered an even larger role as the same character on the spin-off series Angel along with David Boreanaz. She played Cordelia Chase for four seasons on Angel. Although her character leaves the series during Angel’s fourth season, Carpenter returned for the 100th episode in the fifth and final season because she felt that Cordelia’s fans deserved closure after the controversy of her unexplained removal from the show.