Now Showing
Some reviews originate at newspapers that do not award star ratings; some movies are not screened in advance for critics. Ratings range from zero to four stars.
OPENING THIS WEEK
“Celeste and Jesse Forever”
* * *
Reviewed on Page 6C
“The Green Wave”
Reviewed on Page 6C
“Cosmopolis” * *
Reviewed on Page 9C
“Unforgivable” * * *
Reviewed on Page 9C
“Premium Rush” * * * ½
Reviewed on Page 8C
“The Apparition”
Not reviewed
continuing
Here are selected mini-reviews of films in theaters, listed alphabetically.
“The Bourne Legacy”
Action thriller. * * * ½ PG-13. The “Bourne” films have always wielded brutality with a sense that there’s something at stake. This is a heft the franchise shares with the even darker Batman films of Christopher Nolan. At the end of 2007’s “The Bourne Ultimatum,” Jason Bourne went into the belly of the beast that robbed him of his memory and remade him. That third installment was Matt Damon’s final as the existentially troubled agent. And while the door has been left ajar for Jason to return, the franchise has found a compelling, new hero in Aaron Cross and a commanding performer in Jeremy Renner. (Kennedy) 135 minutes
“The Campaign”
Comedy. R. The excesses of partisan sniping, negative campaigning and pandering skullduggery are the comic equivalent of fish in a barrel, and every last minnow gets picked off in “The Campaign,” in which Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakis play North Carolina candidates going head-to-head in a farcically conniving congressional election. If only because of the actors involved, “The Campaign” has its share of laughs, which in a script penned by Chris Henchy and Shawn Harwell tends toward the broadest possible takes on slapstick, sophomoric sexuality and post-“Hangover” raunch. (Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post) 85 minutes
“Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days”
Kid flick sequel. * * PG. Kids, even the wimpy ones, grow up so fast. It’s hard to finish a film franchise with them before they’re shaving, dating and turning up in the tabloids. Zachary Gordon, the fresh-faced lad who landed the coveted “Wimpy Kid” role in the adaptations of Jeff Kinney’s “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” movies, has had a growth spurt. His Greg Heffley is taller than his portly pal, Rowley (Robert Capron), almost tall enough not to have to take any more guff from his bullying older brother, Rodrick (Devon Bostick). Greg’s voice has changed. But in the summer before he goes into eighth grade, he’s still inept around girls, still lying to his parents, still self-absorbed and rude to others. The lying is what he does to “make a connection” to the pretty blonde Holly Hills (Peyton List). (Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service) 94 minutes
“The Expendables 2”
Action movie. * R. At one point in “The Expendables 2,” Sylvester Stallone, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger stand shoulder to shoulder in the same frame, armed to the teeth to blast away at some bad guys. The sight of the three huge stars should be fun and exciting and nostalgic all at the same time — a kind of wish-fulfillment fantasy for action-movie fans. Instead, all you notice is how Schwarzenegger, whose stint in politics has left him with a bit of a paunch, winces when he fires his weapon, as if he were a little afraid of it. Or how Stallone’s face has been pulled and stretched to the point that it is almost grotesque. Or how utterly bored and unengaged Willis looks, as if he were wondering how much longer he needs to hang around before his scenes are done and he can go home and cash his paycheck. Stallone co-wrote “The Expendables 2” with Richard Wenk, and he wisely handed over the directorial reins to Simon West, who knows how to orchestrate enormous action set pieces. West throws in everything he can think of — car chases, boat chases, foot chases, jet-ski chases — but he doesn’t cut it together well, so the action becomes abstract: It’s all explosions and guns and crashes and unnaturally loud punches, with faceless, nameless stuntmen taking all the risks. (Rene Rodriguez, The Miamai Herald) 102 minutes
“Farewell, My Queen”
Period drama. R. As the 1-percenter prototype, Marie Antoinette was a carnival of opulence, parading bolts of embroidered silk and ostentatious hair towers. And yet, sometimes the most obvious spectacle isn’t the only sight worth seeing. In the spirit of “Upstairs, Downstairs” and “Downton Abbey,” the French film “Farewell, My Queen” looks at the final days of Louis XVI’s reign through the eyes of a servant. The movie opens on July 14, 1789, which unfolds much like any other day at Versailles; news traveled slowly in pre-Twitter times. Sidonie Laborde (Lea Seydoux) is tasked with reading to the queen (Diane Kruger), who appears to have a rather serious case of attention-deficit disorder. At the Chez. (Stephanie Merry, The Washington Post) 100 minutes
“Hit & Run”
Romantic action film. * * * R. “Hit & Run” is a romantic comedy. It’s a fun-loving summertime flick. It’s … a full-blown action movie? “Hit & Run” is many things — so much so that it suffers from multiple personality disorder. Yes, it’s a romantic comedy starring real-life couple Dax Shepard (who also wrote and co-directed) and Kristen Bell. It’s also a heist movie, picking up the narrative after the heist-gone-wrong and dealing with the troubled aftermath. And mostly it’s a car-chase movie with multiple high-speed scenes that show off the muscle of cars instead of men.
(Baca) 100 minutes
“Hope Springs”
Marital comedy. * * ½ PG-13. Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones, what’s not to like? And yet, this marital dramedy about Kay, a woman who ropes her husband Arnold into a week-long couples’ counseling intensive, isn’t as teasingly agile as one would hope, so to speak. Steve Carell nicely underplays his role as Dr. Feld. lt’s admirable that writer Vanessa Taylor takes seriously the emotional work required to keep the supposedly spontaneous part of a long-term relationship going: the sex. But too much of the movie takes on the flavor of Kay or Arnold’s problems. Jones, like Arnold, looks like he’d rather be anywhere else. Streep is game, but Kay is a self-esteem depleted heroine. It’s all a little deflating. (Kennedy) 113 minutes
“The Odd Life of Timothy Green”
Family. * * PG. This film is an achingly sweet parent-and-child tearjerker that’s every bit as precious as its title. Jennifer Garner and Joel Edgerton (“Warrior”) play the Greens, a small-town couple who long to have a child of their own. They’ve hit the end of the road, medically, for accomplishing that. In tears, Cindy Green declares “We’re moving on.” And husband Jim takes that one step further. They’ll write the baby-they-never-had’s traits on slips of paper. The Greens bury the slips of paper in a box in their garden. And one dark and stormy night, a 10-year-old boy (CJ Adams) pops out of the Earth and calls them “Mom” and “Dad.” (Roger Moore, McClatchy-Tribune News Service) 105 minutes
“ParaNorman”
Animated spooky story. * * PG. The stop-motion animated “ParaNorman” unfolds tragically: So much drawing for such an unworthy script. The labor necessary to create a film like “ParaNorman” is colossal. Tens of thousands of facial expressions were drawn. 3-D printers (a new advancement in stop-motion pioneered here) ran through 3.8 metric tons of printer powder. One scene alone took a year to shoot. So it’s tempting to applaud the 3-D “ParaNorman” politely, sympathetically simply because of the admirable work. No one wants to tell 60 puppet makers that their months of toil were ill spent. But though “ParaNorman” is impressively crafted, the frequently wondrous and whimsical visuals far surpass the disappointingly slipshod story of an 11-year-old boy named Norman (voiced by Kodi Smit-McPhee) who can see and speak to the dead. (Jake Coyle, The Associated Press) 94 minutes
“Ruby Sparks”
Comedy. * * * R. Paul Dano plays a young novelist who was once a boy wonder — he wrote a great work when he was still in his teens, and now it’s 10 years later, and he still hasn’t delivered his second novel. The life of a struggling genius is presented as lonely, lots of writing and tearing things up, and showing up at book signings where the groupies are just not as exciting as those at rock concerts. One day, the author starts imagining his own ideal companion, and when he starts writing about her, the pages come easily. And then just as her whole history is filled in, he comes home to find her in his kitchen. At the Esquire. (Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle) 100 minutes
“Searching for Sugar Man”
Music documentary. PG-13. You never know where social resistance will find its prophets and poets. For young, liberal Afrikaners opposing apartheid in the ’70s, it was an unknown Detroit singer-songwriter named Rodriguez, the mysterious figure at the soulful center of this excellent new documentary. As the story goes, a bootleg copy of the singer’s first album, 1970’s “Cold Fact,” made its way into South Africa. The powerful lyrics of repression and urban decay quickly caught on among the country’s disaffected youth. Rumors that a despondent Rodriguez had committed suicide onstage at the end of a performance, and the government ban on his music, only heightened his appeal. The album went platinum in South Africa and his legend grew. They say he was more popular than Elvis. At the Mayan. (Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times) 85 minutes
“Sparkle”
Musical moments. PG-13. “Sparkle,” the remake of the 1976 film starring Irene Cara, is like a great song with a bad chorus. Just when it looks like it’s settling into a smooth groove, it hits a sour note. The remake moves the period of the story about the rise and fall of a girl singing group from the 1950s to the ’60s and shifts the location to Detroit. “American Idol” winner Jordin Sparks takes over the Cara role as Sparkle Williams, a mousy young woman with a big voice. She and her siblings — Dolores (Tika Sumpter) and Sister (Carmen Ejogo) — defy their controlling mother (Whitney Houston) to chase a singing career. Because this is the late Houston’s final performance, her work will be examined more than any acting she’s done before. Houston was always a better singer than an actor, and, sadly, that doesn’t change with “Sparkle.” She has one good scene around the dinner table. The rest of her work looks tired. (Rick Bentley, The Fresno Bee) 120 minutes
“Total Recall”
Sci-fi thriller. * * PG-13. This super-charged, super-disappointing return to Philip K. Dick’s short story “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” feels less like a movie than the memory of a one, or a number of them. While this may sound perfect for a sci-fi thriller about memories — real and manufactured — it’s hardly satisfying. Colin Farrell stars as a man who learns he’s not who he thought he was. Kate Beckinsale steps in as his wife then nemesis. Jessica Biel arrives as a rebel ally — or is she? Whatever tug “Total Recall” has on the imagination comes from the vague sense we’ve seen it all before, and not just because there was the 1990 Mars adventure of the same name, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Kennedy) 118 minutes
“The Well-Digger’s Daughter”
Traditional French tale. Not rated.
Let “The Well-Digger’s Daughter” take you back in time, not once but several times over. This traditional French film tells the story of a complicated romance between a rich man’s son and a poor man’s daughter in the Provence region of a century ago.
At the Chez. (Kenneth Turan, Los Angeles Times) 110 minutes
