Summer heroes

June is almost over and the summer movie season is every bit as uninspiring as I thought it would be. At least Mission: Impossible III delivered the action goods, and I'm still holding out some hope for the I'll-get-to-it-eventually flick Cars (and maybe Over the Hedge will be a decent surprise when I get to it on DVD). But what I want to talk about now is a smaller film now making its way to theaters around the country (before we get to the big movie that everyone already knows about).

Wordplay opened last week to strong limited release box office and solid reviews and I'm confident it will continue to play well throughout the summer.

It's the latest entry in the Lite Documentary subgenre, the kind of crowd-pleasing movies that have helped docs muscle in on precious arthouse screen space in a major way. "Fun" docs reached a quality peak with the spelling bee examination Spellbound, a movie to which Wordplay owes some sort of debt. While Spellbound lovingly scrutinized the quirky personalities of the kids who enter spelling bees before thrusting us into the suspenseful world of the bee itself, Wordplay introduces a range of crossword puzzle fanatics on its way to a climax at the annual American Crossword Puzzle Tournament in Stamford, Connecticut.

In both movies it comes as a surprise that such seemingly cerebral challenges can provide such nail-biting tension on screen, but both films deliver exactly that by building interest in the competitors and helping the audience see, through their eyes, what makes these brainy showdowns worth getting worked up over.

Wordplay is, not unexpectedly, a celebration of both words and puzzles. Its subjects' enthusiasm for crosswords is contagious, helped by filmmaker Patrick Creadon's relaxed, entertaining style. And although the movie lacks Spellbound's depth and range, it has a secret weapon of its own: entertaining interviews with celebrity crossword enthusiasts ranging from documentarian Ken Burns to musicians the Indigo Girls to Major League Baseball player Mike Mussina to comedian Jon Stewart (in hilarious form) to former President Bill Clinton (and his former rival Bob Dole, who both help explain one of the cleverest crosswords ever created).

This is the kind of movie that makes moviegoing refreshing, and fun.

Fun is exactly what, I think, Superman Returns is supposed to be. And exactly what, I unfortunately know, it isn't.

Although it doesn't properly arrive in theaters until next week I have to say I'm a bit baffled by the overly kind early reviews. But at least it can be said that Superman is no X-Men-level fiasco. This one actually delivers something. It has the kind of visual dazzle one would hope for from a massively expensive summer movie: the special effects are truly awesome and director Bryan Singer gets strong technical support from his usual ace director of photography Newton Thomas Sigel, who is undeniably gifted when it comes to unusual angles and showy camera moves.

But the rest of the movie falls strangely flat. Especially critical components like writing (including dialogue, storyline, plotting and characterizations) and casting. Even the movie's timeline is weird. The film pays direct tribute to the earlier Superman films and, in puzzling decision #1, is apparently designed to take place after the events of 1980's Superman II. Yet, in puzzling decision #2, the lead actors are ridiculously young. Who decided on a "mature" take on Superman starring two actors who wouldn't be out of place on a WB soap? (Especially since, um, The WB actually has a youthful Superman soap.)

It wouldn't matter much if Brandon Routh and Kate Bosworth delivered inspired performances in their roles (after all, everything about Superman relies on suspension of disbelief) but they don't. Not that they have inspired material to work with, or that they stand out for their failure to elevate it. Everyone in the film either has too little to do (like proven greats Frank Langella as Perry White and Eva Marie Saint as Ma Kent) or is boring doing it (notably Kevin Spacey as a thoroughly unmemorable Lex Luthor and James Marsden in the ill-conceived new role of Lois Lane's fiance). Only Parker Posey adds some spark to her role, as Luthor's lady of the moment (but she might add a bit too much spark, it often seems like she's in a different movie entirely).

Even so Bosworth is asking for a Razzie nom for her entirely unconvincing work as Lois Lane, here a Pulitzer Prize-worthy journalist and young mother (though the actress seems more like a big sister to her onscreen offspring), and Routh leaves little impression at all in the dual roles of Superman and Clark Kent (making it seem doubtful he'll find any more career traction than those who previously portrayed the superhero).

At least the movie delivers the visual goods. And for some that may be enough. There's an epic-ness to the film that is otherwise pretty much absent this summer (with the possible exception of the Pirates of the Caribbean sequel), but at 2 1/2 hours Superman and Singer are really trying the audience's patience, especially when the movie fails to advance these iconic characters in any meaningful way.

And for a movie designed to re-ignite a franchise for its studio it commits an even bigger offense: it doesn't leave you wanting more.