The following are movie reviews of "Christmas With the Kranks," "Alexander," "House of Flying Daggers," "National Treasure," "A Very Long Engagement."

Christmas With the Kranks
Lots of Christmas-themed movies promise to become instant yuletide classics. Few deliver. But the agreeable comedy "Christmas With the Kranks" (Columbia) comes closer to being a sugarplum slam-dunk than any film in quite some time.

Directed by Joe Roth and based on the novella "Skipping Christmas" by uber-author John Grisham, this delightful dose of holly-jolly fun will warm the hearts and tickle the funny bones of all but the grinchiest of grinches.

Tim Allen and Jamie Lee Curtis star as Luther and Nora Krank, a couple whose all-out approach to celebrating Christmas has made them famous throughout their close-knit Chicago suburb.

But this year is different. Their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) is flying the coop to join the Peace Corps in Peru, dampening their holiday cheer.

With the nest empty, Luther suggests the unthinkable: skip Christmas.

He proposes that they forgo their usual festivities --- including their annual Christmas Eve bash --- and take a romantic Caribbean cruise instead. Nora hesitates at first, but soon warms up to the idea of a week in the tropics.

The same can't be said for their militantly merry neighbors, who mobilize to persuade the Kranks to reconsider. Their unsuccessful efforts are spearheaded by ringleader and block busybody Vic Frohmeyer (Dan Aykroyd).

Refusing to cave to their pressure, Luther pulls a Scrooge and humbugs anything to do with the holiday, putting the kibosh on decorations and nixing his support of a police charity, as well as the local Boy Scout troop's Christmas tree drive (much to Nora's chagrin).

As the holiday approaches, the war of wills escalates, reaching a boiling point when Luther refuses to put a large illuminated plastic snowman on his roof like everyone else, inciting a "Free Frosty" rally on his front lawn.

But when Blair calls and tells her parents that she has decided to come home for the holiday --- and is bringing her new Peruvian fiancé --- Luther and Nora must make a mad scramble to deck the halls and whip up some last-minute Christmas spirit. To do it in time, they'll need to quickly mend some fences and solicit help from the very neighbors they've alienated.

Allen and Curtis are at the top of their game and totally at ease with the physical comedy their roles demand. The supporting cast is equally pitch-perfect; it includes Cheech Marin and Jake Busey as local cops and Austin Pendleton as a mystery guest at the Kranks' Christmas party.

Though the movie lacks the timeless magic of Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life" or even the Rockwellian nostalgia of "A Christmas Story," it does share one essential ingredient with those two perennial favorites: heart. Unlike several recent yuletide films which serve up sour eggnog, the picture's overall tone is unabashedly uncynical.

"Christmas With the Kranks" manages to be genuinely sentimental without being sappy, as evidenced by a tender olive branch scene between Luther and his neighborhood sparring partner (M. Emmet Walsh), whose Christmas with his ailing wife is made brighter by Luther's generosity.

And while the film makes only passing references to the religious dimension of Christmas, its strong, counter-consumerist message of selflessness, family and coming together as a community clearly embodies the truest spirit of the season. If you're looking for a holiday treat, you might want to spend this Christmas season with the Kranks.

Because of some suggestive humor, comic violence and mildly crude language, the USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-II -- adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG -- parental guidance suggested.

Alexander (Warner Bros.)
Ambitious historical epic which explores the life of Alexander the Great (Colin Farrell), the fabled fourth-century B.C. Macedonian conqueror, chronicling his rise to power, stunning military victories and empire expansion, with breaks in the sword-and-sandal action for some Freudian forays into his bisexuality and estranged relationship with his conniving mother (Angelina Jolie) and roughhewn royal father (Val Kilmer). Though this "Alexander" is far from great, director Oliver Stone's visually impressive film features spectacular, though graphic, battles and lavish re-creations of antiquity which somewhat balance its epic flaws, which include campy acting and dialogue, a plodding pace and an interminable running time of three hours. Strong battlefield violence and associated gore, an attempted rape, several implied gay sexual situations, one involving shadowy rear nudity, an explicit straight bedroom scene and generalized background debauchery. Film rating: L (R)

House of Flying Daggers (Sony Pictures Classics)
Visually dazzling martial arts love story set in ancient China about a lawman (Takeshi Kaneshiro) who finds himself entangled in a web of desire and deception when his superior (Andy Lau) assigns him to infiltrate a gang of anti-imperial insurgents by escorting a beautiful blind courtesan (Ziyi Zhang) with ties to the group to the rebels' secret forest stronghold. Part action adventure, part triangular romance, director Zhang Yimou's melodramatic sword saga of passion, betrayal and the conflict between love and duty is full of eye-popping fight sequences, but its story sometimes gets drowned out by the artistic swirl of silk and steel. Subtitles. Much stylized action violence and associated gore, attempted rape and a sexual encounter. Film rating: A-III (PG-13)

National Treasure (Touchstone)
Unevenly entertaining action adventure about a fortune hunter (Nicolas Cage), who steals the Declaration of Independence, which he believes holds the key to unlocking a 200-year-old mystery surrounding a fabled treasure hidden by America's Founding Fathers. Combining Indiana Jones-inspired action sequences with "Da Vinci Code" intrigues involving secret societies like the Freemasons, director Jon Turteltaub has crafted a fun but forgettable popcorn film. Recurring action violence and some frightening images. Film rating: A-II (PG)

A Very Long Engagement (Warner Independent Pictures)
Bittersweet World War I drama about a crippled French woman (Audrey Tautou) who embarks on a quest to find out the battlefield fate of her betrothed (Gaspard Ulliel) who, along with four other soldiers, was said to have been killed under mysterious circumstances on the front lines. Part romantic tear-jerker, part mystery, part gritty war movie, the film reunites director Jean-Pierre Jeunet with his "Amelie" leading lady, Tautou, and combines an emotionally engaging story with mesmerizing visuals, resulting in a poignant parable about the absurdity of war and the power of love. Subtitles. Graphic warfare violence, including gory dismemberment and self-mutilation, several murders, an execution, a few sexual encounters, some nudity and an instance of masturbation. Film rating: L (R)

David DiCerto is on the staff of the Office for Film & Broadcasting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.