The Santa Clause 2, I Spy and Auto Focus

NEW YORK – Eddie Murphy, Owen Wilson, Tim Allen and Greg Kinnear in the warm projector bulb glow of The Foxlight.

Owen Wilson can make anyone funny. He did it for Ben Stiller in Zoolander. Jackie Chan in Shanghai Noon. And now -- thank goodness -- he's doing it for Eddie Murphy in the big screen version of I Spy. Where was Owen for Pluto Nash? Nothing was going to save that.

Murphy and Wilson are undercover. Eddie is a middleweight boxer and Wilson is the secret agent. The laughs are big and frequent according to most critics. Plot doesn't matter. All you need to know is that Eddie has his best sidekick since Nick "Anyone Seen My Pills?" Nolte.

Maybe comic-helper Wilson should have taken a role in The Santa Clause 2. Despite what Allen says about waiting seven years for a good script, most agree he should have waited another seven. It's tired and unfunny according to most reviews. And the plot has Santa looking for a new wife. He's The Bachelor with a belly. All of this may not matter to kids. By the way, why is this opening two months before Christmas? Maybe Allen feels once Harry Potter hits theaters, Santa will be left with a big lump of coal.

Finally, Greg Kinnear's take on porn pal Bob Crane opens in more theaters this weekend. Auto Focus has only made a few million bucks so far, so maybe audiences don't want a carousing Colonel. "HOOOGAN!"

And that's the always stripped down version of Hollywood's latest offerings diced and sliced in the handy dandy Foxlight.