MOVIE REVIEWS YOUR GUIDE TO THE BIG SCREEN
ACT OF VALOR. — H (R). A docu-fiction hybrid starring real-life Navy SEALS in a standard action-thriller that doesn’t need these heroic guys doing what is, essentially, a big-screen recruitment film. A jihadist and a smuggler aim to use suicide bombers in the U.S., and the SEALS risk their lives to stop them. These guys have been to Hell and back; they don’t need to be in front of a camera too. —Joe Neumaier
THE ARTIST. — HHHH (PG-13). Don’t be put off by its old-fashioned description: Michel Hazanavicius’s silent, blackand-white romance is a delight. Jean Dujardin offers a layered portrayal of a 1920s matinee idol whose career wanes with the arrival of talkies. Winner of 5 Oscars, including Best Picture, Actor and Director. —Elizabeth Weitzman
BULLY. — HHH (NR). A flawed, but essential documentary, that chronicles the pain of several families whose children are bullied by peers. As long as anyone espouses the dangerous “kids will be kids” attitudes seen here, this should be required viewing in every school. —E.W.
CASA DE MI PADRE. — H (R). Will Ferrell stars as the doofus son (of course) of a Mexican landowner in this unfunny stunt of a movie, in Spanish with English subtitles. Ferrell’s Armando battles a drug lord (Gael Garcia Bernal), romances his brother’s wife and generally lopes around as the audience waits for something silly to happen. A waste of an idea. —J.N.
THE DEEP BLUE SEA. — HHH (R). Terence Davies’ beautifully-composed tragedy lacks a certain immediacy, but there’s still power in its sad triangle: in postwar England, a wealthy woman (Rachel Weisz) leaves her husband (Simon Russell Beale) for a careless lover (Tom Hiddleston). —E.W.
DELICACY. — HH
can do more than (NR). look pretty, Audrey but Tautou little unmemorable else is required French of dramedy her in this about a young —E.W. widow readjusting to romance.
DETACHMENT. — HH (NR). Adrien Brody is a teacher battling a broken system and bored students, in a movie filled with righteous anger that doesn’t know what to do with it. Good performances by Brody, James Caan and Christina Hendricks help when things devolve into melodrama. —J.N.
DR. SEUSS’ THE LORAX. — HHH (PG). A greedy industrialist destroys a beautiful valley in this charmingly animated family film, based (a bit too loosely)
on Dr. Seuss’s eco-classic. The original solemnity is lightened, but the directors do meld a valuable message into catchy songs, bright images (nicely done in 3D), and funny characters. —E.W.
FOOTNOTE. — HHHH (PG). Wise, witty Israeli drama about the complex and competitive relationship between a father and son, both of whom are Talmudic scholars. —E.W.
4:44 LAST DAY ON EARTH. — HH
A talky meditation on how we face (R). the apocalypse, with Willem Dafoe as a former junkie in an East Village apartment. Some stagy, actorly exercises, but Dafoe lends plenty of Zen gravity. —J.N.
FREE MEN. — HHH (NR). Compelling subject matter - the members of a Parisian mosque aid the Resistance during World War II - gets a boost from strong supporting turns. But there’s a vacuum at the center: a frustratingly blank performance from lead Tahar Rahim, as an Algerian immigrant who aids a Jewish friend. —E.W.
FRIENDS WITH KIDS. — HHH (R). An unabashed descendant of “When Harry Met Sally,” this predictable, but engaging romantic comedy stars writer/director Jennifer Westfeldt and Adam Scott as platonic friends who decide to have a baby together. The supporting cast is the movie’s biggest asset: “Bridesmaids” quartet Kristen Wiig, Jon Hamm, Maya Rudolph and Chris O’dowd. —E.W.
GOOD DEEDS. — HH (PG-13). Though the latest Tyler Perry melodrama could use a little more humor - Madea is missed - Perry and Gabrielle Union have a comfortable chemistry as an upscale couple doubting their engagement. Unfortunately, a miscast Thandie Newton throws everything off, as the homeless janitor who catches Perry’s eye. —E.W.
GOON. — HHH (NR). Rowdy, generally amusing sports dramedy starring an excellent Seann William Scott as a hockey enforcer who just wants a quiet life off the ice. —E.W.
THE HUNGER GAMES. — HHHHH (PG13). An action adventure far better than its bestselling source book. Jennifer Lawrence is Katniss, a 16 year-old in a future North America, fighting for her life in an annual, televised death match. Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Woody Harrelson are terrific in a movie full of dark allegory, serious themes and can’tlook-away action. —J.N.
INTRUDERS. — Zero stars (R). A murky thriller with a less-than-shocking twist and a dumb notion of imagination. Clive
Owen the same is a fiend father, as whose a young daughter boy in an faces unnamed Spanish-speaking town. The ghoul has no face and wants one. After seeing this, he’d certainly be sorry he has eyes. —J.N.
JEFF, WHO LIVES AT HOME. — HHH (R). Jason Segel and Ed Helms are wildly different brothers in this shaggy comedy. Jeff (Segel), a layabout lost soul, believes everything is connected; Susan Sarandon is his mom who would like to see her boys help each other during one crucial day. If you look at it the right way, “Jeff” is endearing. —J.N.
JOHN CARTER. — HHH (PG-13). This movie of a 100-year-old, highly influential Edgar Rice Burroughs story about an earthman teleported to Mars and involved in a civil war is silly, sprawling and easy to make fun of, but also playful, epic and sure of what it is – which in this genre is rare indeed. —J.N.
THE KID WITH A BIKE. — HHHH (PG-13). A foster kid looks for guidance in this beautifully naturalistic (and unusually hopeful) drama from Belgium’s revered Dardenne brothers. —E.W.
MIRROR, MIRROR. — H (PG). This unfunny, nearly unwatchable fairy tale re-do wants to be “The Princess Bride,” but instead is a charmless mess. Julia Roberts is the evil queen, Lily Collins is Snow White and Armie Hammer is the prince. Visually and tonally dull, it’s all made worse by seven unfunny dwarfs. “Dopey” is too good a word for it. —J.N.
PROJECT X. — H (R). Obnoxiously selfcongratulatory teen comedy about three guys who throw an epic party to boost their popularity. There are a couple of likable actors and a few laughs, but overall it’s as if the filmmakers decided “Superbad” could be improved by jettisoning plot and character development. —E.W.
THE RAID REDEMPTION. — HHH (R). A kinetic Indonesian actioner about a SWAT team facing down a drug gang floor by floor in a high-rise building. Bloody and repetitive, but full of adrenaline. —J.N.
RE:GENERATION. — HHH (NR). Electronic artists like The Crystal Method, Mark Ronson, and DJ Premier pair up with older, iconic musicians — like Martha Reeves, Ralph Stanley and members of the Doors — for unexpected collaborations. For the most part, it works. —E.W. SALMON FISHING IN
THE YEMEN. — HH (PG13). Inoffensive, but unexceptional comedy about a bureaucrat (Ewan Mcgregor) and a PR agent (Emily Blunt) working to help a sheik’s wild plans. —J.N.
A SEPARATION. — HHHH (PG-13). An Iranian drama about a married couple’s plans to divorce that becomes an examination of a tragic chain of events. Winner of Best Foreign Language Oscar. —J.N.
SILENT HOUSE. — HH (R). A spooky house thriller wherein the only new angle is that it’s shot in one continuous take, as the camera follows a girl (Elizabeth Olsen) being chased around a shambling house. —J.N.
THIS MEANS WAR. — H (PG-13). Mcg’s depressingly mean-spirited rom-com insults its primary audience and panders to their dates. Tom Hardy and Chris Pine are spies competing over Reese Witherspoon; they’ll each do anything necessary to gain the upper hand. Hardy’s a standout as the good guy, but MCG is far more impressed by Pine’s slickly obnoxious bad boy. —E.W.
A THOUSAND WORDS. — HH (PG-13). The big idea here is seeing Eddie Murphy pantomime wildly as a motor-mouthed agent magically connected to a tree – every leaf falls with every word he says, and when it dies, he dies. But the movie never realizes it’s potential until it’s too late. —J.N.
THE TROUBLE WITH BLISS. — H (NR) Michael C. Hall (“Dexter”) deserves better than this painfully quirky indie dramedy, about a thirtysomething slacker who lives miserably in an East Village apartment with his dad (Peter Fonda). —E.W.
21 JUMP STREET. — HHH (R). Big-screen update of the late ‘80s TV series is like a comedy on Red Bull, and scores laughs by avoiding predictability. Cops Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill are sent undercover at a high school, where, they need to catch teen drug dealers, and get a chance at a do-over. —J.N.
WANDERLUST. — HH (R). David Wain’s disappointingly banal comedy will be remembered only for bringing together off-screen couple Justin Theroux (as the leader of a free-love commune) and Jennifer Aniston (as the uptight New Yorker intrigued by him). Both are totally miscast, but at least Paul Rudd is typically charming as Aniston’s hapless husband. —E.W. WRATH OF THE TITANS.
— HH (PG-13). Though we never do get to see all of the monsters promised in the trailer, this sequel to the 2010 remake of a 1981 fantasy pic has moments that recall grand-old corny swords-n-sandals cinema. Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Danny Huston are old bearded guys stuck in a cave; Sam Worthington again is the demigod hero Perseus. Rosamund Pike is a breath of fresh air as Andromeda. Bad, but watchably bad. —J.N.