Our critics recommend...

Adventureland

A recent college grad (Jesse Eisenberg) with no prospects for the future takes a dead-end job at the local amusement park.

Alien Trespass Sci-fi comedy about what happens when a UFO crashes in the California desert in 1957.

Fast & Furious Two rivals - an ex-con and a government agent - join forces to battle an enemy. Vin Diesel and Paul Walker star.

Reviewed by critics Carrie Rickey (C.R.), Steven Rea (S.R.), David Hiltbrand (D.H.), and Tirdad Derakhshani (T.D.). W.S. denotes a wire-service review.

Slumdog Millionaire A street kid-turned-gofer gets on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and keeps answering the questions correctly, amazingly. 2 hr. R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Class

Sobering, funny, and finally enlightening portrait of the education tango as danced in a middle-school classroom in Paris' melting-pot 20th

arrondissement

. In French with English subtitles. 2 hrs. 09

PG-13

(profanity) -

C.R.

Coraline Be careful what you wish for, suggests Henry Selick's unnervingly fine (and primal) stop-action animation about a very curious girl - because you just might get it. Coraline (voice of Dakota Fanning) wants her preoccupied parents to close their laptops, open the toy box, and not serve vegetarian glop for supper. When she finds parents who will grant her wishes, she realizes that it comes at a price she can't afford. From the Neil Gaiman novella. 1 hr. 41 PG (psychologically intense, for those 10 and older who like their adventures dark) - C.R.

Gomorrah A searing, documentarylike adaptation of Roberto Saviano's bestselling expose about the Naples mafia. It's tough, compelling stuff: a frightening portrait of corruption, cynicism, intimidation, greed, and violence. 2 hr. 17 No MPAA rating (violence, drugs, profanity, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

I Love You, Man Metrosexual meets caveman in this fresh comedy starring Paul Rudd as a newly engaged guy without a male friend to be his best man, and Jason Segel as a prospect. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. 1 hr. 45 R (profanity, sexual candor) - C.R.

Duplicity **1/2 Clive Owen and Julia Roberts are corporate spies with money and romance on their minds in this riffy, overly intricate caper, from Michael Clayton writer/director Tony Gilroy. Swanky locales - from Dubai to Zurich - but little suspense. 2 hrs. 08 PG-13 (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Knowing ** A weird and gloomy existential sci-fi thriller with Nicolas Cage as an MIT professor who discovers a page of numbers that seem to predict cataclysmic events. Run for your lives! 2 hrs. 02 PG-13 (violence, calamity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Last House on the Left **1/2 The parents of a brutally assaulted young woman get a shot at revenge when the gang that did it unwittingly hides out in their vacation home. 1 hr. 40 R (graphic and pervasive violence, profanity, sex, sadism, rape, gore) - T.D.

Race to Witch Mountain ** Dwayne Johnson stars in this cartoonish remake of the 1975 Disney film Escape to Witch Mountain. He's a Vegas cabbie roped into helping two very human-looking teen aliens. Leave your brain at the concession stand. 1 hr. 38 PG (violence) - D.H.

Taken *** Liam Neeson makes a surprisingly good action hero - an ex-covert op who comes to the rescue of his teenage daughter after she and a friend are abducted by sex traffickers in Paris. Wild chases and martial-arts mayhem ensue in this brisk, no-nonsense thriller. 1 hr. 31 PG-13 (violence, profanity, sex, drugs, adult themes) - S.R.

Watchmen *** A fanboy's fantasy come true, Zack (300) Snyder's reverent adaptation of the lauded graphic novel offers a violent, subversive take on superhero mythology. Set in an alternate 1985, with costumed crimefighters acting cranky and weird, the movie, like the comic, is about power and history - its making, and its reimagining. 2 hrs. 41 R (violence, profanity, sex, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

Reviewed by critics Wendy Rosenfield (W.R.), Howard Shapiro (H.S.), and Toby Zinman (T.Z.).

All the Great Books (abridged)

(Delaware Theatre Company) Western lit, in a loony nutshell. Previews Thursday and Friday, opens Saturday.

Criminal Hearts (Walnut's Studio 3) Two aggrieved women bond when a burglary goes awry. Previews Tuesday and Wednesday, opens Thursday.

Hamlet (Lantern Theatre Company) Geoff Sobelle takes the lead, Mary Martello is Mom. Previews Friday-next Sunday, opens April 7.

Hot 'n' Throbbing (Luna Theater Company) A steamy night, a bloody mess, a detective. From Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive). Previews Saturday-April 8, opens April 9.

Whiskey Neat (Azuka Theatre Company) The world according to guys who park cars. Previews Thursday-April 7, opens April 8.

All Shook Up

(Media Theatre) Elvis' music, in a stupendously silly plot that's purely for fun, gets a kinetic workout from a solid cast. Through next Sunday.

- H.S.

Arms and the Man (Hedgerow Theatre) This most pleasant of George Bernard Shaw's Plays Pleasant gets a lively revival from a theater once admired by the man himself. Through next Sunday.

- W.R.

At Home at the Zoo (Philadelphia Theater Company) A three-actor cast handily brings off Edward Albee's combination of his oldest one-act, "The Zoo Story," and his more recent one-act, "Homelife," to explore an orderly man whose equilibrium is upset twice in one day. Through April 26. -H.S.

Birdy (Iron Age Theatre Company) Naomi Watts' adaptation of William Wharton's novel about a friendship and war. Through April 26.

Born Yesterday (Walnut Street Theatre) A lively, funny production about Washington corruption and thuggish greed. It misses its chance at real relevance, but it's enjoyable and the cast is accomplished. Through April 26. - T.Z.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) (Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre) Lotsa Bard, real fast. Through May 10.

Defiance (Bristol Riverside Theatre) The second, after "Doubt," in John Patrick Shanley's trilogy. Through April 12.

A Few Good Men (Ritz Theatre, Haddon Township) What begins as a cardboard-stiff interpretation of Aaron Sorkin's military crime play turns into a compelling, spirited production. Ends Saturday. - H.S.

Footloose (New Candlelight Theatre) The chemistry in this production about repressed kids who just wanna dance is perfect - and the dancing is among the brightest on a Philly-area stage this season. Through May 30. - H.S.

Happy Days (Academy of Music) This lame evocation of the TV show that was tops in the '70s bottoms out in the '00s. A talented cast can't overcome the ho-hum plot, music, lyrics and choreography. Ends today. - H.S.

The Irish . . . and How They Got That Way (Kimmel Center's Innovation Studio) A musical history of the Irish by Frank McCourt, long on claptrap, short on coherence. The cast knocks itself out, but the show never rises above stage-Irishness. Ends today. - T.Z.

Iron Kisses (Act II Playhouse) James Still's family drama is sensitive to its characters' delicate bonds, even if this production's direction and performances are less so. Through next Sunday. - W.R.

The Karma Cookie (1812 Productions) A sometimes-funny play in many many scenes about two dopey brothers searching for the meaning of life. Their quest is governed by fortune cookies. Ends today. - T.Z.

Long Day's Journey Into Night (Simpatico Theatre Project) Eugene O'Neill's mighty autobiographical play was a work, he said, of "old sorrow, written in blood and tears." Simpatico's production is remarkably accomplished; under Carol Laratonda's direction, the cast makes this famous drama their own. Ends today. - T.Z.

Road (Curio Theatre Company) Jim Cartwright's look at society's dregs. Through next Sunday.

Say Goodnight Gracie (Society Hill Playhouse) Straight-man husband George Burns reflects on life with his wacky wife. Through May 31.

Scorched (Wilma Theater) A long and intense drama about suffering and war in an unnamed Middle Eastern country, seen through a shocking family mystery. The acting is exceptionally good and Blanka Zizka's direction is brisk and smart. Ends today. - T.Z.

A Tale of Two Cities (People's Light & Theatre) Dickens' tale of two men in turbulent times becomes more gripping as a smart cast makes this new stage adaptation jell. Through May 3. - H.S.

Twelfth Night (McCarter Theatre) Delish and dazzling, this production is true to Shakespeare's text but made gorgeously fresh by a brilliant young director, Rebecca Taichman. A superb, nimble cast animates this comedy on a lush set, a rose-filled "playground of desire." Ends today. - T.Z.

A Year With Frog and Toad (Arden Theatre): A musical for children that their parents will enjoy, too. Never sappy, full of good songs and magical theatrical effects, it's about friendship. Jeff Coon and Ben Dibble are the lovable amphibian odd couple. Through April 19. - T.Z.

Tell No One ***1/2

Adapted from Harlan Coben's 2001 bestseller, this is one terrific mystery, equal parts haunting love story and nimble thriller. Yup, it's French, but if you're subtitle-phobic, don't be: It's wildly exciting and quite satisfying. 2 hrs. 05

No MPAA guide

(violence, profanity, nudity, adult themes) -

S.R.