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In order to review George of the Jungle, it must be placed in proper context.  This is a Jay Ward cartoon come to life. Jay Ward brought us George of the Jungle, Rocky and Bullwinkle, Cracked Fairy Tales, Dudley Do Right, and many others. The Narrator was a trademark of each tale. George of the Jungle stars a very likeable Brendan Frasier as the main character, Leslie Mann as Ursula Stanhope, George’s true love, and Thomas Hayden Church as George’s competition for Ms. Stanhope’s heart. And, then you have John Cleese providing the voice of an Ape named Ape. My family watched George of the Jungle and it was a big hit with everyone. The language is fairly clean, and most of the jokes are juvenile.

It is best to remember that the twisted mystery in which Ben Affleck ’s character, one Congressman Collins, entangles himself does not bear careful examination. It is convoluted and raises more questions that the film ultimately answers. The real power in director Kevin ( The Last King of Scotland ) Macdonald ’s political thriller is in Russell Crowe ’s star-powered performance as the reporter who manages to unravel it all. It’s not an easy task, but Crowe , playing a methodical, tenacious old-school hard-news reporter makes it look easy. He inhabits the role with such rumpled grace that, as with many of his best roles, the character emerges and remains a dominate force in the film as a whole. The movie becomes less about the mystery itself and more about how Crowe ’s Cal McAffrey goes about solving it all. Much is being made of the issues confronting the film’s fictional Washington Globe, which is helmed by the always solid and compelling Helen Mirren as Cameron Lynne. McAffrey la...