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'Coco Before Chanel'

Drama, PG-13, 110 min.

Director Anne Fontaine's film, which she wrote with her sister, Camille, traces the early years of the fashion designer who would come to define a bold kind of feminine style throughout the 20th century, one that was as no-nonsense as the woman herself. Audrey Tautou, above, has great appeal as Gabrielle Chanel - Coco, as she was known - presenting the designer's feistiness not as bravado, but as a straightforward reflection of how she felt. Still, you wonder what moved her, aside from the simplicity of the men's outfits that would inspire her own suits and hats.

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'The Men Who Stare at Goats'

Comedy, R, 93 min.

A fun tone is undermined by disjointed storytelling in George Clooney and producing partner Grant Heslov's romp. Based on Jon Ronson's amusing nonfiction book, it's about the U.S. military's research into psychic warfare and espionage. Director Heslov crafts a hit-and-miss fictional narrative. It is ornamented with some of the brighter anecdotes Ronson uncovered about efforts to create warrior monks who try to walk through walls or glare animals to death. Clooney plays a prodigy of this New Age militarism, with Jeff Bridges, above, as his Dude-like mentor and Ewan McGregor as a reporter uncovering the story amid the war in Iraq.

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'More Than a Game'

Documentary, PG, 102 min.

An inspiring story that works very hard to remind you it's an inspiring story at every opportunity. "Hoosiers" looks subtle by comparison - and this is a documentary. "More Than a Game" traces the origins of LeBron James, right, before he was an NBA superstar, when he and his high-school teammates rose from being scrappy Akron, Ohio, kids to three-time state basketball champions. With his first film, director and co-writer Kristopher Belman combines old home videos and TV-news footage with fresh interviews.

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