'Match' makes its way to the screen

In Match -- a film based on a play -- you'll find meager attempts to disguise the fact that the material is better suited to the stage. Despite a few stabs at opening the drama, Match remains far too theatrical to work as a movie. Taking over the part Frank Langella played on stage, Patrick Stewart portrays Tobi Powell, a famous ballet dancer who -- after an injury -- has become a fabled instructor at Juilliard. Tobi's life is shaken when he's visited by a couple (Carla Gugino and Matthew Lillard) who purport to be doing research on dance history. Written and directed by Stephen Belber, who adapted his own play, the movie's multiple hidden agendas and twists never feel entirely credible. Stewart makes the most of a showcase role, and Gugino and Lillard do their part, but absent the spark of live performance, Match seldom bursts into convincing life.

Making money without scruples

A been-there-done-that aura limits Americons from the start. In taking aim at subprime lenders, Americons evokes memories of movies such as Boiler Room, Margin Call and The Wolf of Wall Street, but the movie is neither as good nor as entertaining its predecessors. Beau Martin Williams plays Jason Kelly, a former NFL player who's working as a doorman at a Los Angeles night spot when he meets Devin (Matt Funke). Devin offers to help Jason get rich quick and introduces him to a dubious endeavor, getting people into homes they can't afford, thus setting them up to go bust. Jason doesn't quite know how unethical he's being, so he arranges a home purchase deal for a former college teammate (Trai Byers). You don't need to be a financial wizard to know the deal will go bad. Director Theo Avgerinos makes the most of an attractive -- if unknown -- cast, although he spends too much time showing how hot-shot young men with money amuse themselves: drugs, gambling and generalized debauchery. Americons doesn't really break enough fresh ground for big-time impact. I don't know when the movie was conceived, but if it had arrived earlier, Americons might have had a better shot at capturing some attention.