“Religulous”
*** RATING | Bill Maher and director Larry Charles’ globe-trotting sojourn into the heart of fundamentalist darkness — be it Christian, Muslim or Jewish — is awfully funny. Who better to deflate pious windbags than a smug-smart blowhard? Maher is at his best as philosopher-jester — poking holes in other people’s certainties. More often, though, Maher sees himself as philosopher king, even saviour. His fiery epilogue as he stands at Megiddo, Israel, the place the New Testament names as ground zero for Armageddon, scorches all the work that came before. As a comedy exploration, “Religulous” is often hilarious. But in the end, Maher insist on preaching, wielding the weapon of fear and judgment. You others be damned. Sound familiar? R. 1 hour, 41 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“What Just Happened”
** RATING | Robert De Niro keeps it watchable but can’t stop the obvious query that comes at the end of Barry Levinson’s satire: Why do movies skewering the ginormous egos of film-industry types assume that audiences will be intrigued by the ginormous egos and karmic woes of said industry types? Adapted by Art Linson from his memoir, “What Just Happened” often feels like an attempt to, if not make amends for moviemaking myopia, at least show how easily the contagion takes hold. R. 1 hour, 53 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“W.”
** RATING | A black sheep rises to the highest office of the land driven by a hole in his psyche the size of the great state of Texas. Who dug that ditch and — as Oliver Stone suggests — the consequent abyss we find ourselves in? A guy called “Poppy.” Some critics complain that “W.” isn’t hard enough on Bush 43 and his vexed legacy, in particular the Iraq war. For moviegoers, the truth is far less interesting. It’s not that “W.,” starring Josh Brolin as George W. Bush, goes too easy. It’s that it’s so durn facile. Despite a talented cast that includes James Cromwell as George H.W. Bush, a.k.a. “Poppy,” and Jeffrey Wright as Colin Powell, “W.” achieves the insight of a TV miniseries, and not one of those fine HBO ones. Stone’s Oedipal conflict theme, while likely true, doesn’t go beyond armchair psychoanalysis. Just because the movie isn’t the parody trailers suggest doesn’t mean it should be taken seriously. PG-13. 2 hours, 9 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
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