Unless you've been living in a cave, you've probably at least heard of the wildly imaginative Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling and the three successful movies that have been released over the last five years.

"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire," though still featuring all-magic-all-the-time, shifts its focus more to the realities of everyday life. Gone is the childhood of the main characters, the young wizards Harry, Ron and Hermione. These three, now 14, must cope with the much weightier subjects of insecurity, love, jealousy and death.

Mike Newell, famous for his "Four Weddings and a Funeral," directs this film at a brisk pace. There is a lot of material to be covered from the book, so the camera does not have time to linger too lovingly on the dazzling special effects (as it did in the first two films by Chris Columbus).

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) is mysteriously entered into a wizards tournament, a competition among three schools that is deemed so dangerous it is restricted to older students. This divides the Hogwarts students into two camps -- some are rooting for Harry, others for handsome Cedric Diggory.

Also competing is Fleur Delacour, whose lovely blond femininity makes Ron (Rupert Grint) stammer; tall, silent hunk Viktor Krum manages to make Hermoine (Emma Watson) grow up literally before our eyes.

Harry is developing a crush on pretty Cho Chang but, like Ron, is unsure what to do about it. Their angst over getting a date for the Winter Ball is sweetly familiar.

Grint and Watson are really coming into their own as actors. Radcliffe is a bit stiff but still garners sympathy for his role as a boy who's both admired and resented, an outsider among his peers and a geek around girls.

The supporting performances by Britain's premier actors is again icing on the cake. Michael Gambon, Maggie Smith, Robbie Coltrane, Gary Oldman and the deliciously sour Alan Rickman all make return appearances. New in this film is Brendan Gleeson as the aptly named Mad-Eye Moody, a cantankerous professor who is part wizard and part pirate -- peg leg and all.

Finally, we have Ralph Fiennes as the supremely evil Lord Voldemort, Harry's archenemy. Fiennes makes a much more interesting villain than leading man, in spite of makeup that looks to be left over from "The English Patient." His silky-smooth voice and haughty manner reek of evil.

Like the first "Star Wars" trilogy, the Harry Potter series is gradually crossing over to the dark side. Those looking for a happy ending in "Goblet of Fire" may be a bit dissatisfied but should feel confident that all good things come to those who wait for the next in the series.