Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEK
“Friends With Benefits” Reviewed on Page 6D
“How to Live Forever”Reviewed on Page 6D
“Tabloid” Reviewed on Page 7D“Captain America: The First Avenger” Reviewed on Page 7D
“A Little Help” Reviewed above
“Terri” Reviewed above
“Trigun: Badlands Rumble” Not reviewed
CONTINUING
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“Bad Teacher”Comedy. R. All legs and hair and eyeliner and attitude, Cameron Diaz makes a formidable bad teacher in the raunchy new comedy. She’s nasty, conniving and selfish as Elizabeth Halsey, a middle-school instructor who cares more about scamming money for breast implants than about student participation or test scores. (Connie Ogle, McClatchy Newspapers) 92 minutes
“Beginners”Romantic dramedy R. Mike Mills’ semi-autobiographical gem about love, loss and a father who tells his son he’s gay — when he’s 75, no less — is far more sweet than bitter. Christopher Plummer and Ewan McGregor have loving father-son chemistry as Oliver and Hal Fields. Melanie Laurent beguiles as the woman whose arrival helps pose further questions about romance and the era one is born into. (Lisa Kennedy) 104 minutes
“A Better Life”DramaPG-13. A simply affecting look at a man beset with problems, not the least of which is his immigration status. Yet this isn’t some polemic. It’s not pushing immigration reform or a political viewpoint. It’s only pushing Carlos, his humanity, his desperate scramble to support himself and his son, Luis, with a pickup filled with gardening tools. (Amy Biancolli, Houston Chronicle) 97 minutes
“Buck”DocumentaryPG. “Buck” introduces us to the lifelong cowboy who helps trainers and riders of all levels learn to work more patiently and effectively with their horses. His philosophy is that you can’t break a horse in a violent way, as others have done for years. (Christy Lemire, Associated Press) 88 minutes “Cars 2″Animated G. Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) reluctantly takes buddy Tow Mater (an incomparable Larry the Cable Guy) to the World Grand Prix, while Brit agents Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell (Michael Caine and Emily Mortimer) mistake the hayseed vehicle for a super spy. (Kennedy) 106 minutes
“Green Lantern”Superhero flickPG-13. Alien comes to Earth and gives Ryan Reynolds a magic ring. (Kennedy) 114 minutes
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2″FantasyPG-13. A battle-packed, emotionally charged and morally deft end to a series that has never shied away from deep and aching meaning. Harry and dearest friends Ron and Hermione arrive at the showdown with the Dark Lord Voldemort. (Kennedy) 130 minutes
“Horrible Bosses”Payback comedy R. The latest addition to the raunchy-comedy subgenre finds three friends plotting the demise of their respective employers. Not as easy at they might hope — or fear. Justin Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day have carbonated chemistry as the fairly decent bumblers considering the unspeakable. Kevin Spacey, Jennifer Aniston and Colin Farrell have a blast, playing the titular tormentors. (Kennedy) 98 minutes
“Larry Crowne”Romance PG-13. Tom Hanks. Julia Roberts. No-brainer Magic, right? There’s no such thing in Hollywood. Hanks is a downsized guy who heads to community college. Roberts is his disenchanted speech teach, Mrs. Tainot. The nicest surprise: Gugu Mbatha- Raw as Talia, a scooter-riding “free spirit” who changes Larry’s life. A star is born. (Kennedy) 99 minutes
“Midnight in Paris”Comedy PG-13. A magical auto transports successful screenwriter but struggling novelist Owen Wilson from the Paris he’s visiting with his impatient fiancee (Rachel McAdams) and her wealthy parents by day to the Paris of Picasso and Dali, Cole Porter and Ernest Hemingway. (Kennedy) 94 minutes
“Page One: Inside The New York Times”DocumentaryR. This documentary arrives at a peculiar point for print journalism. People are reading the work of journalists more than ever. The Internet has made it possible, for the time being at least, to read the work of journalists for free, and so daily newspapers, including that seemingly unshakable monolith The New York Times, are in peril. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) 108 minutes
“Rejoice & Shout”DocumentaryPG. A relentlessly chronological, talking-head documentary that sets itself the impossible task of telling the whole rousing, spirit-lifting story of African-American Christian music from slavery till now. (Dan DeLuca, Philadelphia Inquirer) 105 minutes
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”Robot sequel PG-13. This outing uses the 1960s U.S.-Soviet space race as its jumping-off point (the Autobots beat everyone) while catching us up on life of robot ally Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf). He’s unemployed. He has a new girlfriend. (Ciao, Megan Fox; hello model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley.) Also new to this outing: a funny John Malkovich and officious Frances McDormand. (Kennedy) 154 minutes
“The Tree of Life”Visual poem PG-13. Terrence Malick has given us a demanding and astonishing gift about family, place and time. Brad Pitt and Sean Penn portray Mr. O’Brien and Jack O’Brien, a father and son occupying very different eras (the 1950s and the present). Newcomer Jessica Chastain is a wonder as Mrs. O’Brien. (Kennedy) 138 minutes “The Trip”Wry road trip Not rated. Restaurant reviewer Steve and friend Rob tour England’s Lake District, consuming some rarified vittles and trading barbs, riffing on Michael Caine and sharing a few weightier insights. British comic actors Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon reunite to greatly amusing as well as truly melancholy effect for a second Michael Winterbottom comedy. (Kennedy) 111 minutes
“Trollhunter”Horror comedy PG-13. Hans is a troll hunter who is good at his job but a little fed up with the bureaucratic morass. A group of young journalists thinks he’s a bear poacher but quickly discover the truth, and he takes them for the story of their lives across the Norway countryside. (Peter Hartlaub, San Francisco Chronicle) 90 minutes
“The Undefeated”DocumentaryPG-13. A persuasive case that Palin was a more accomplished governor than the national media have ever let on and that she’s more of a “maverick” than we’ve been allowed to see. (Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel) 115 minutes
“Winnie the Pooh”Timeless toonG. Tale of a bear and his friends in the Hundred Acre Wood. (Kennedy) 73 minutes
“Zookeeper”Good-hearted comedy PG. Must you like Kevin James or talking animals to enjoy this comedy about a beloved zookeeper whose wards fear he’s about to leave them for love? We don’t think so. But then we love the slightly portly, very affable comic and the actors who lend their voices to the menagerie. Among them: Nick Nolte as a glum gorilla and Adam Sandler as a wiry, wisecracking monkey. (Kennedy) 104 minutes
