“Book of Eli”
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Directors Albert and Allen Hughes’ postapocalyptic saga is quite possibly the first Sunday-appropriate, R-rated action flick. Denzel Washington portrays a solitary traveler in possession of a coveted tome. Gary Oldman is a brilliant choice to portray Carnegie, the cultured baddie who covets the book. Jennifer Beals and Mila Kunis are his common-law wife and adopted daughter. The mother is blind. The daughter, Solara, joins Washington’s character on his journey west. Yup, this proto-Western (written by Gary Whitta) is packed with symbolism. But the fine surprise is how unapologetically and wisely it wrestles with belief. R. 1 hour, 58 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“When in Rome”
* 1/2 (out of 4)
You’d think by now Hollywood would have romantic comedies down to a cellphone app any studio exec could access. Cute couple? Check. Romantic location? Check. “Obstacles” to romance? Yup. Wacky, witty friends of each young lover? Check and check. Kristen Bell, a petite, pretty blond, may or may not have the Meg Ryan-Julia Roberts-Sandra Bullock goods. “When in Rome,” a leaden variation on that rom-com recipe, fails utterly to make her case. It’s got cute Kristen playing Beth, a curator at the Guggenheim. She has a quirky staff. And Beth has a younger sister (Alexis Dziena) getting married in Rome. At the wedding, Beth is ready to be “open” to love, as her dad (Don Johnson) suggests. And devil-may-care sports reporter Nick (Josh Duhamel) fills that bill. PG-13. 1 hour, 28 minutes. Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel
“Youth in Revolt”
*** (out of 4)
“Youth in Revolt” gives Michael Cera the twee name Nick Twisp, surrounds his aging-virgin act with divorced parents who are both shacked up with lustful vulgarians and then provides him with a dream come true in the person of Sheeni Saunders, played by Portia Doubleday. R. 1 hour, 39 minutes. Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
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