“Tron: Legacy”
** (out of 4 stars)
You don’t have to have a fondness for the 1982 original to rent this reboot of the cult flick; the script weighs down early dialogue with back story for newbies. The “legacy” the title refers to is less that of Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges) to only child Sam (Garrett Hedlund), and more the dazzling bequest of one generation of visual special-effects whizzes to another. The new “Tron” is full of visual and sonic flash. It’s also a glum ride. Original cast member Bruce Boxleitner plays Alan Bradley, Flynn’s confidant — and Sam’s surrogate dad and corporate mentor. It’s all a very big stage for first-time filmmaker Joseph Kosinski, who’s got an ear for music and a fondness for images of sleek tech toys. But these skills are not the same as being able to sustain a story.
PG. 2 hours, 7 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“Casino Jack”
*** (out of 4 stars)
In the film’s opening moments, disgraced Washington, D.C., lobbyist Jack Abramoff (Kevin Spacey) delivers a monologue that is megalomaniacal, venomous and magnetic. He will never succumb to the “disease of the dull,” he insists. The scene has a mean beauty that director George Hickenlooper — late cousin to Gov. John Hickenlooper — exploits well. This is a portrait of an ideologically driven, power-obsessed plunderer and his “evil elf” Michael Scanlon (Barry Pepper). Jon Lovitz gnaws the scenery as nutjob Adam Kidan, a disbarred lawyer. And the score has the sound of an “Ocean’s Eleven”-style heist tale — which makes sense, because grandiose larceny drives this movie. R. 1 hour, 48 minutes. Lisa Kennedy
“I Love You Phillip Morris”
** (out of 4 stars)
Jim Carrey plays Steven Russell, a married, church-going good ol’ boy who, after a near-fatal car accident, comes out of the closet, turning to increasingly brazen scams to support his newly fabulous lifestyle. After he’s caught and sent to prison, he meets and falls in love — with fellow convict Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). The movie is surprisingly sweet; narrated with a jaunty insouciance by Carrey’s character, it’s structured more as farce than documentary. What saves it from itself are the performances of its stars. Carrey’s portrayal is appropriately unrestrained (Steven is, after all, a con man) and as Phillip, McGregor is a simple delight: gentle, grounded and good. R. 1 hour, 40 minutes. Michael O’Sullivan, the Washington Post
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