50 FIRST DATES: 2 1/2 stars. Be warned that although the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore courtship film “50 First Dates” announces itself as a romantic comedy, its humor is of the sort that might be found in a case study by neurologist Oliver Sacks. Rated: PG-13

HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG: 3 stars. Vadim Perelman’s grief-stricken portrait of exiles, one forced from his homeland and the other from her home, stars Ben Kingsley as an Iranian emigre and Jennifer Connelly as a scattered California divorcee. As Kingsley’s wife, Shohreh Aghdashloo gives an indelible performance. Rated:R for nudity, violence, profanity and sex

profanity, sex)MONSTER 3 stars. Charlize Theron is scary as Aileen Wuornos, the Death Row inmate who worked as a prostitute, and then killed several of her johns. Christina Ricci plays the young lesbian who hooks up with Wuornos in this sad, impossible love story. R (violence, sexual violence, nudity, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea.

PASSIONADA 2 1/2 stars. A sudsy romance between a Portuguese-American widow and a deceiving cardsharp who doesn’t deserve her yet desires her. PG-13 (discreet sexuality, drug candor) – Carrie Rickey.

PAYCHECK 2 1/2 stars. Ben Affleck stars as a “world-famous genius” trying to figure out what happened to three years of his life, working on a top-secret invention in the company of a beautiful scientist played by Uma Thurman. Based on a Philip K. Dick story, the concept’s kind of cool, the execution generic. PG-13 (violence, profanity, adult themes) – Steven Rea.

RATINGS:

4 stars: Excellent; 3 stars: Good; 2 stars: Fair; 1 star: Poor