1408 — This adaptation of a Stephen King story about a guy alone in a haunted hotel room could have been the low-rent version of the author’s The Shining, which had an entire resort hotel in which evil could roam. Yet the movie generally survives and thrives on the strength of John Cusack’s passionate performance as a sceptic of the supernatural who learns that spooks may be real, plus a spirited supporting role by Samuel L. Jackson and some effective chills by director Mikael Hafstrom and his effects crew. Cusack plays a cynical hack who makes a living writing about hotel ghosts he doesn’t believe in — at least until he checks into 1408 at a Manhattan hotel against the pleadings of the manager (Jackson), who informs him 56 people have died in the room over the years. Grisly apparitions of previous lodgers appear to Cusack, along with far greater horrors from his own life. The fun of it all is guessing what’s real and what’s in his head, but the less-than-satisfying conclusion undermines that with a pretty definitive answer. PG-13 for thematic material including disturbing sequences of violence and terror, frightening images and language. 94 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four. ; David GermainA Mighty Heart — When you’re an international superstar — when you’re Julia Roberts or Tom Cruise, for example — it can be difficult for audiences to accept you in challenging roles, difficult for them to dissociate the persona from the performance. Lately this phenomenon also has been true of Angelina Jolie, with her well-documented adventures in adoption and globe-trotting with Brad Pitt. But here as Mariane Pearl, the wife of in Wall Street Journal <$>reporter Daniel Pearl, Jolie reminds us that she really can act, that the supporting-actress Oscar for Girl, Irrupted <$>wasn’t a fluke, that there is indeed substance beneath the sex appeal. She deeply immerses herself and, as a result, stands tall as the film’s graceful heart and soul. (Likely to get overshadowed in the mountain of praise Jolie will duly receive is Dan Futterman as Pearl himself. The Oscar-nominated screenwriter Capote<$> only gets about a half-dozen scenes to give us an impression of who this determined journalist was, and he does so with subtlety and intelligence.) Director Michael Winterbottom wisely applies his trademark documentary approach, making us feel the building tension and dread as a multicultural coalition of investigators and journalists searches for Pearl’s kidnappers.

Like United 93, this is a film that needed no dramatic embellishment. When Jolie is g, though, A Mighty Heart can get a bit draggy and feel like a standard, though strikingly crafted, crime drama. R for language. 108 minutes. Three stars. — Christy LemireOcean;s Thirteen<$> (opens today at Southside Cinema) — Glittery as a Vegas Strip stage revue, smooth and smarmy as a high-roller on the lucky streak of his life, the casino-heist franchise wins back some of the Ocean’s Eleven charm it lost amid the spuring sequel Ocean’s Twelve<$>. Yet the latest caper with George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon and the gang still feels like one trip too many to the craps table. Director Steven Soderbergh and crew play the same hunches, with the outcome unimaginatively clear from the start: Categorical victory for the rascally good guys planning a Robin Hood-style heist, utter defeat and humiliation for the villain (Al Pacino). Except for Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones, everybody’s back, including Don Cheadle, Bernie Mac, Andy Garcia, Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould. Ellen Barkin joins as chief aide to Pacino’s egomaniacal casino owner, whose joint is targeted by the Ocean’s boys for an impossible robbery after he double-crosses one of their own. A highlight is Pacino’s cool, though architecturally absurd, casino tower inserted into the Vegas skyline by computer images. PG-13 for brief sensuality. 122 minutes. Two stars. — David Germain