MANDERLAY [*] (One star)
‘MANDERLAY” is another ridiculous anti-American screed by the minimalist Danish director Lars von Trier, who has never set foot in this country.
Bryce Dallas Howard – the directorial progeny who has a movie star’s presence but the kind of acting chops normally associated with high-school theatricals – takes over the role played by Nicole Kidman in “Dogville.”
It’s still von Trier’s wacky version of the Great Depression, and Grace happens on Manderlay, an Alabama mansion where the practice of slavery has lingered decades after the Civil War. Grace frees the slaves, but doesn’t count on a dust storm or the difficulty they have adjusting to self-rulew (under her close supervision, of course).
“Manderlay,” another long haul that largely eschews the use of sets, belabors all of its political points in sarcastic narration delivered by John Hurt.
Running time: 139 minutes. Not rated (sex, nudity, profanity, violence). At the Lincoln Plaza and the IFC Center.