MASTERMINDS

the magnetic Nyong’o, is too proud to ask for help in their desperate situation. A widow and mother of four, Harriet and her children are evicted from their home, squatting in a roofless building, scraping together a meager living. Coach Robert fosters and recognizes her talent as best he can, though he’s torn between providing for his family in material ways, and providing support to the children in his community. He is a font of inspirational modeling and messaging for the children, and while his mottos could become cliche, coming from Oyelowo, they are entirely heartfelt. Nair excels at capturing the essence of Katwe, this lively community that may be stricken with poverty, social ills and environmental disaster, but suffers no shortage of hopes, dreams, and interconnected unity and pride. She ably shows the culture of the place, from the wild, traffic jam marketplaces to the more treacherous underbelly of dangerous young men on motorbikes and the women who are entranced by them. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service

THE DRESSMAKER

1/2 R, 118 minutes-. Starts Friday at Madison Art Cinemas. In “The Dressmaker,” Kate Winslet plays Myrtle “Tilly” Dunnage, a seamstress who returns to her tiny Australian hometown, nursing a lifelong grudge against her former neighbors and hoisting a Singer sewing machine like a six-shooter. Set in the early 1950s, this toxic tale of madness, mendacity, perversity and revenge is a manic, ultimately wearying pastiche of that era’s cinematic genres. One minute it’s quoting the twangy foreboding of spaghetti Westerns, the next it’s paying homage to moody noir thrillers. Adapted from Rosalie Ham’s novel by the director Jocelyn Moorhouse (who co-wrote the script with her husband, P.J. Hogan), “The Dressmaker” recalls the fable-like grotesqueries of Tim Burton and Terry Gilliam, interleaving witty deep focus shots and carefully designed and staged vignettes with repellent notions of human nature and behavior. More fatally, the filmmakers pay no attention to narrative or tonal coherence, instead trotting out wildly disconnected scenes that, at their best, bear little or no relation to what’s come before, and at their worst, are downright offensive (such as a marital rape scene that is played for laughs). The details of Tilly’s misfortunes in the minuscule outpost called Dungatar eventually become clear, as do the reasons for her 25-year exile. Less logical are the reasons for her return. Granted, she wants to reconnect with her mother, a dotty, cantankerous old bat nicknamed Mad Molly (played with snaggle-toothed relish by the great Judy Davis). And, OK, she wants to avenge her mistreatment as a child, when the mayor, schoolteacher and sundry bullies and hangers-on framed her for an act she didn’t commit. But if she’s so angry, why does she put her sewing talents to use by draping her erstwhile enemies in dazzling couture-like creations? And how are we supposed to believe that an ab-tastic love interest named Teddy (Liam Hemsworth) is remotely believable as her contemporary, let alone someone who didn’t just pop over from the set of a modern-day rom-com? — Ann Hornaday, Washington Post

1/2 PG-13, 94 minutes. Starts tonight at Waterford, Stonington, Westbrook, Lisbon. There’s a certain subset of the population that may find Zach Galifianakis in a ridiculous hairdo the height of comedy. If you are in that segment, welcome, join us. You’ll find much merriment in the lightweight and very silly comedy “Masterminds,” which is astonishingly based on the true story of one of the largest cash robberies in the United States. Also, Galifianakis sports a variety of insane wigs and ‘dos, from a long blonde number, to a kinky black perm, to his own Prince Valiant bob, styled for the heavens. “Masterminds” is a small, very strange film, and definitely doesn’t enter the upper echelons of director Jared Hess’ oeuvre, which includes the wacky comedy classics “Napoleon Dynamite” and “Nacho Libre,” or even the best work of its stars. Nevertheless, the marriage of the insane 1997 true crime story and the murderer’s row of comic performers results in copious laughter. Galifianakis plays aw-shucks naif David Ghantt, an employee of armored truck company Loomis Fargo, trapped in a loveless engagement with Jandice (an unblinking Kate McKinnon), carrying a torch for his co-worker, sassy Kelly (Kristen Wiig). Kelly and her petty thief buddy Stephen (Owen Wilson) hatch a plan to rob the company vault, and ensnare lovelorn David into their plot as their inside man. Despite a complete lack of skill or common sense, David pulls off the robbery, though soon he’s stranded on the lam in Mexico, while Stephen and his family are living high on the hog back in North Carolina, freely spending the millions David stole for them. — Katie Walsh, Tribune News Service