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This week's reviews: Jay-Z album, Andy Richter show, more
(PEOPLE) -- This week, PEOPLE.COM looks at the film "Rabbit-Proof Fence," Jay-Z's album "The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse" and FOX's "Andy Richter Controls the Universe." Movie review: 'Rabbit-Proof Fence'
Three girls, ages 14, 10 and 8, are snatched from their Aboriginal mothers by law officers in Australia in 1931 and transported to a faraway government-run school. The justification: The children (Everlyn Sampi, Tianna Sansbury and Laura Monaghan) are half white. The government, as personified by a priggish bureaucrat (Kenneth Branagh), believes it's acting to benefit the girls; they will be taught English and trained as domestic servants. "Rabbit-Proof Fence," an achingly good film based on a true story, tells how two of the three escaped and walked 1,000 miles home across the barren outback, following a fence that stretched across the country. The movie is directed with great sensitivity by Phillip Noyce ("The Quiet American"). He lets the narrative unfold simply and directly, making its emotional punch all the more powerful. This story may be Australian, but it is really that of all youngsters caught up in political machinations bigger than themselves, and who long only for a safe harbor. Bottom line: Moving and memorable Music review: 'The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse'Jay-Z (Roc-A-Fella) Having released a new studio album every year since his 1996 debut, "Reasonable Doubt," Jay-Z is easily the hardest-working man in rap. So if any emcee could pull off a double disc, it would be Jigga, who does just that on this two-CD set packed with more than 108 minutes of music. Picking up where last year's killer "The Blueprint" left off, Jay-Z again shows why he is one of the most gifted rhymers of his generation. "You put on two tube socks, you couldn't walk in my shoes," he raps on "Diamond Is Forever," the ominous opening track on disc 2, "The Curse." Guests range from gal pal Beyonce Knowles, on the Latin-tinged single "'03 Bonnie & Clyde" to Lenny Kravitz, on the rock-charged "Guns & Roses." Although the album lacks a classic hip-hop anthem on the order of last year's "Izzo (H.O.V.A.)" or 1999's "Big Pimpin'," there aren't many duds. One is "I Did It My Way," which closes disc 1, "The Gift," by lazily sampling Paul Anka's version of "My Way" as Jay-Z likens himself to the Chairman of the Board. Bottom line: A satisfying sequel TV review: 'Andy Richter Controls the Universe'
FOX (Sundays, 9:30 p.m. ET) Sometimes Andy Richter's office sitcom slays me. Sometimes the jokes fall flat and only get worse with repetition. But the highs definitely compensate for the lows. Take the second-season premiere on December 1. Andy, playing a technical writer with an imagination much livelier than his job, makes ethnic cracks that land him and a couple of supervisors in sensitivity training. The result is hilarity in the Archie Bunker tradition, heightened by a fresh touch of the absurd. On the downside there's the subplot involving receptionist Wendy (Irene Molloy) and an antihistamine that makes her sound like Sylvester Stallone. The writers take what would have been a fair throwaway gag and work it to death. I hope it's not a bad omen that Richter narrates the Trio channel's "Brilliant but Cancelled" (December 8, 9 p.m. ET), an interesting documentary on worthy shows with short lives (such as "Action" and "United States"). "Universe" suffered from ratings erosion in its first go-round last spring, but it's always worth a look. Bottom line: Explore Andy's world
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