The resiliency of the human spirit is pummeled by a squall of sentimentality in Baltasar Kormákur’s based-on-a-true-story survival drama Adrift, which long vacillates between prettily photographed seafaring and soggy backstory. The movie opens thrillingly in the chaotic aftermath of a storm that has left a luxurious sailboat in ruins and protagonist Tami (Shailene Woodley, “Allegiant”)…
The desire to transcend the environment in which you were raised and choose your own direction in life is central to Disobedience, a clash between religious orthodoxy and the desire for sexual freedom. Adapted from Naomi Alderman’s novel of the same name, it is the first English-language effort for Chilean director Sebastian Lelio whose critically…
The late 80s Garry Marshall directed romantic comedy “Overboard” starring real-life couple Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell was a breezy, amiable vehicle suitable for the celebrity tandem’s collaborative cinematic exposure. The Hawn-Russell cheeky pet project was not necessarily a rom-com that waded in the deep end of watery hysterics, but it still proved to be…
There is no doubt that Eric Stoltz’s latest teen feature film Class Rank won’t exactly mirror the classic formula of “Some Kind of Wonderful” — Stoltz’s breakout role back in 1987 — although it borrows the classic scenario that has the leads asking, “Are we just friends? Or could we be more than just friends?”…
Not since “The Electric Horseman” in 1979 have we had the distinct pleasure of seeing two outstanding actors, Robert Redford (“All Is Lost”), now 81, and Jane Fonda (“Youth”), now 79, working together in the same film. That situation has now changed with the release of Our Souls at Night, directed by Ritesh Batra whose…
As audiences screamed and jumped in the mostly silent screenings of “A Quiet Place” over the weekend, I found myself facing a pregnancy-related horror film of a different type. Leena Pendharkar’s 20 Weeks follows a young couple as they deal with an unplanned pregnancy and then subsequently with the baby having a physical disability and…
The word allure is defined as the quality of being powerfully and mysteriously attractive or fascinating. In the film Allure, formerly titled “A Worthy Companion,” Laura (Evan Rachel Wood, “The Ides of March”) fascinatingly conveys both power and mystery. We first glimpse her inviting a random man into her home and into her bed. With…
