A few films about chance you might want to take a chance on

"Just Another Love Story" (NR, 2007, Koch Lorber): "Just Another Love Story" is one of those wildly original movies that starts twisting so quickly, even describing the premise that dictates the bulk of the film's storyline would qualify as a plot-spoiling disservice. So here are the vague details: One of the main characters lies dead in the first scene. Another, completely unrelated character is shot shortly after. There's a family of four, an unrelated family that's swimming in money, and there's a car crash that begins a bizarre but darkly understandable chain of events that brings the disparate parties together. If you like your movies dark, know what's good for you and wish to enjoy "Story" on the level it's meant to be enjoyed, just take a chance and dive in. In Danish with English subtitles. No extras.

"Taking Chance" (NR, 2009, HBO): The "based on actual events" pretense that precedes some movies can represent anything from the straight story to an awfully loose interpretation of the truth. In the case of "Taking Chance" - which follows the real-life 2004 journey of one Marine (Kevin Bacon as Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl, who wrote the script) as he delivers the remains of 19-year-old Marine Chance Phelps to Phelps' family - it's awfully hard not to want the former to apply. At its most basic, "Chance" merely goes through the motions of Strobl's assignment. But in doing so, the film gives us a close, humane look at what amounts to one extraordinarily exhaustive show of respect for troops who die in combat.

Extras: Two features about the real people behind the story, deleted scene, making-of feature.

"Personal Effects" (R, 2009, Screen Media Films): Were it not for separate tragedies that took family members from each of them, Walter (Ashton Kutcher) and Linda (Michelle Pfeiffer) wouldn't have much of anything in common. But those things happened, and a few chance encounters in courtroom lobbies and group therapy sessions brought them together for what amounts to one strange relationship in one tricky movie to peg down. Loss is the theme of order in "Personal Effects," which erroneously describes itself on its own box as an "uplifting romance" but in reality is no such thing. To the contrary, "Effects" is more frustrating than uplifting.

Extra: Behind-the-scenes feature.

"How it All Went Down" (NR, 2003, E1 Entertainment): Carmine Cavelli (Silvio Pollio) is making a film that, in all likelihood, will bomb upon release if it ever even reaches completion. Unfortunately, he doesn't quite see it that way, he needs nearly half a million dollars to prove it, and in order to raise that kind of money, he needs to return to a chapter of his life he had hoped to have left behind. It's at that point that "How it All Went Down" transforms from potential black comedy about the film business to a dead-serious (albeit very unpolished) look at one bull-headed guy's attempts to achieve a means to his end at any cost.

Extra: Deleted scenes.

- McClatchy-Tribune News Service