“Secretariat”
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
Knowing all the while that the horse wins can’t diminish the trampling-the-oval action or the insightful human drama of director Randall Wallace’s tale of the 3-year-old stallion who won racing’s elusive Triple Crown in 1973. “Secretariat” earns its best accolades for asking even larger questions as it highlights the story not just of a terrific horse but of his greatest champion, owner Penny Chenery, portrayed with grace and edge by Diane Lane. John Malkovich proves powerfully amusing as the gifted if sartorially challenged horse trainer Lucien Laurin. It’s edifying to have a multidimensional, family narrative that doesn’t require 3-D glasses or come with yammering animals or fantasy settings. PG. 1 hour, 56 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
*** 1/2 (out of 4)
This action comedy features an ensemble of iconic performers as CIA operatives having way too much fun and all too pleased to take audiences along for the ride. Bruce Willis, all smirk and vulnerable charm, is a retired spy; Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, and John Malkovich (indelibly nutty as a paranoiac who carries a stuffed pink pig) are his former colleagues in the craft. Mary-Louise Parker is the wide-eyed civilian. “Red” mashes up two new pop-culture staples — spies wanting to be loved; mothballed former spies being hunted by their own — into such a well-tooled, smoothly oiled machine of quips, twists and one-upmanship that, despite the temptations, you hate to go all sociological on it. It’s edgy and fantastically gooey — and flaunts it. PG-13. 1 hour, 51 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest”
*** (out of 4)
The perils and triumphs of hacker extraordinaire Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) and journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist) continue in the final chapter of the big-screen version of Swedish writer Stieg Larsson’s trilogy. This installment is a bit subdued and clearly meant to bring the saga to a close. Lisbeth laid up in a hospital for much of the 2 1/2 hour movie doesn’t help. R. 2 hours, 28 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
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