Stars light up the screen in exciting features

Desperately in need of forgiveness and “reacceptance” by viewers, Mel Gibson plays the protagonist in Jodie Foster’s “The Beaver,” which tells the emotional story of a man on a journey to rediscover his family and restart his life—sounds familiar?

Gibson’s fans (however many or few of them are left) hope that this “last chance” film will help the tormented actor revive his career—and move on.

For their part, Ryan Reynolds and Jason Bateman find themselves bonded together in a  radically different way in “The Change-Up,” the title of which film intimates that they will exchange identities in the course of the story.

True enough, following a drunken night-out together, their worlds are turned upside-down when they wake up in each other’s bodies! Ryan is an irresponsible bachelor, but now, he has to cope with his new reality as husband and father—while Jason finds himself without a care in the world for the first time in years!

Lessons

Despite their new “freedom,” however, they soon discover that each other’s lives are nowhere as rosy as they once thought—and key lessons are lightly, blithely learned!

Similarly, Steve Carell has some important “life lessons” to learn in his latest starrer, “Crazy, Stupid, Love,” in which he plays a man who, after 25 years of marriage, is haled to divorce court by his wife, portrayed by Julianne Moore.

She shocks him even more by revealing she’s had an affair, a literally and figuratively low blow that pretty much obliterates his self-esteem. —Until a dashing playboy who seems to have all the answers (Ryan Gosling) helps him reinvent himself—in more ways than one!

Goal

Another major screen star, Matt Damon, has chosen a “medical thriller” for his next starrer: “Contagion” follows the rapid progress of a lethal airborne virus that kills within days. As the fast-moving epidemic grows, the world’s scientists race to find a cure—

and control the panic that spreads faster than the virus itself.

Aside from Damon, other exceptional actors are cast in significant roles, including Jude Law, Marion Cotillard, Gwyneth Paltrow and Kate Winslet. —Talk about an all-star cast of brilliant thespians, this is it!