Evita

Alan Parker's big-budget adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's surpassingly shrewd stage spectacular isn't a big fat failure. But it isn't a resounding success, either: It's an awkward hybrid, neither lavish eye candy nor credible drama. Eva Duarte's (Madonna) ferociously single-minded rise from illegitimate guttersnipe to the wife of Argentine dictator Juan Peron and bona fide idol of the masses is the quintessential rags-to-riches fairy tale. History takes an inevitable back seat to larger-than-life myth, and it would probably play better if it were all brittle glitter and showstopping pizzazz: Realist musicals are a tough act to sell. Shot on Buenos Aires location...