“All Good Things”
This icy psychodrama has the eerie power of a nightmare. Inspired by a real-life missing-person case that tarnished the reputation of a powerful New York real estate dynasty in the 1980s, it finds an unsettling resonance between its two central themes: a noirish romance and a murder mystery. Ryan Gosling is riveting as David Marks, the heir apparent to his family’s empire. His father, Sanford Marks (Frank Langella), is a monster of depravity. Katie (Kirsten Dunst), an unpretentious charmer, falls for David’s shy manner and shaggy good looks. But fate and family pathology dismantle the promising life the couple might have had.
R. 1 hour, 41 minutes. Colin Covert, Minneapolis Star Tribune
“Black Swan”
Many viewers will be torn when it comes to director Darren Aronofsky’s perversely magnificent psychological thriller, starring an undaunted Natalie Portman as a ballerina who gets the part of a lifetime — the Swan Queen and her dark double — if only she can keep it together. The film is at once serious and silly, absurd and artistically stunning, engaged and wildly boneheaded. Whom will Vincent Cassel’s New York ballet company artistic director promote? The technically gifted Nina or fiercely spirited newcomer Lily (Mila Kunis)? The pas de deux between Nina’s story and the “Swan Lake” characters is vital and hallucinatory. R. 1 hour, 43 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“Fair Game”
For its first 80 minutes, “Fair Game” crackles with urgency and intelligence. We meet CIA agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts), an operative specializing in the Middle East, whose husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson (Sean Penn), is dispatched on a mission to Niger to search for yellowcake uranium. No uranium turns up. What happens next remains one of the most controversial chapters of the Bush era. The filmmakers capture brilliantly the human cost of espionage and political gamesmanship. PG-13. 1 hour, 46 minutes. Christopher Kelly, McClatchey Newspapers
“Made in Dagenham”
This uplifting British drama is based on a real-life 1968 labor dust-up. Sally Hawkins is Rita O’Grady, one of the sewing machinists in the Ford automobile plant in Dagenham, England, where the women stitch together interior upholstery. The film begins with the women demanding Ford’s designation of their pay grade be changed from “unskilled” to “semiskilled.” With the encouragement of their union rep, Albert (Bob Hoskins), their call escalates to one for equal pay. Rita carries the weight of this story of workplace gumption, but the movie is an ensemble affair, chock-full of lovely interpersonal moments. R. 1 hour, 53 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“Tangled”
The 3-D effects are brilliant, the heroine is feisty (if slightly conflicted). The latest animated addition to Disney’s royal court is a romping take on the fairy tale “Rapunzel.” The heroine, voiced by Mandy Moore, is a groomed agoraphobe. Despite her mother’s warnings about the dangers lurking outside their cozy tower, Rapunzel decides to observe her 18th birthday by sneaking outside for a peek. It’s charming, standard Disney fare: Girl, dazzled by the world, enchants Boy, but Girl’s nemesis interrupts the budding romance. G. 1 hour, 40 minutes. Claire Martin
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