MOVIE CLOSE -UPS
OPENING THIS WEEK
THE IMMIGRANT ★★★ Marion Cotillard plays a young Polish woman who arrives in the United States at the height of Prohibition and is forced to become a prostitute at the hands of an unscrupulous opportunist played by Joaquin Phoenix. Despite the heavy, melodramatic tone created by dour director James Gray, the period production design is so seamless and complete, watching the film almost feels like stepping back in time. (Katherine Monk)
JERSEY BOYS ★★★ Clint Eastwood’s steely-eyed direction brings a dry, oddly clinical edge to this screen adaptation of the Broadway musical based on Frankie Valli’s musical career with the Four Seasons. Though Eastwood makes the period film look perfect, it’s caked in layer after layer of cliché as it turns life in working-class Newark into a two-hour-plus jukebox session of golden oldies. (Katherine Monk)
THINK LIKE A MAN TOO ★ 1/2 How well did the 2012 sleeper hit Think Like a Man do? Enough that the producers have splurged on this sequel — plus Kevin Hart’s fee, rights to an iconic Frank Sinatra song and an opulent setting in Sin City. Whether you enjoy Think Like a Man Too depends on whether you enjoy the Las Vegas cliché of split-screen card games, poolside bikinis and hearing Hart’s voice saying the word “titties” over and over again. (Nathalie Atkinson)
TRACKS ★★★ 1/2 Mia Wasikowska stars as the real-life Robyn Davidson, a woman who trekked 1,700 miles across the Australian desert with four camels and a dog. Despite the obvious challenges, director John Curran and Wasikowska convince us to go along for the ride by pulling us into the quiet mystery of the central character, and her bizarre obsession with being alone. (Katherine Monk)
RECENT RELEASES
22 JUMP STREET ★★★ Better than the first attempt to turn a 1980s teen-themed cop show into a comedy, this sequel to the spoof of TV’s 21 Jump Street starring Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill is steeped in self-awareness and Hollywood genre as it pokes fun at buddy bonding. It works because the two leads not only have chemistry, they have great timing and absolutely no shame. (Katherine Monk)
THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2
★★★ Marc Webb returns to direct, Stan Lee makes another cameo and Andrew Garfield plays Peter Parker/SpiderMan in what feels like an exercise in stock superhero moviemaking. (Chris Knight)
BLENDED ★★ Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore play single parents who wind up at the same African resort with their children. For those who love Sandler’s combination of juvenile humour and shmaltz, it’s a delight. All others, beware. (Jay Stone)
CHEF ★★★ It’s a combination of food porn and family drama from Jon Favreau, who plays a gourmet chef who gets tired of the corporate safety of restaurant cuisine and pursues his own muse in a food truck. It’s an overstuffed meal, but who can resist fried food? (Jay Stone)
EDGE OF TOMORROW ★★★ 1/2 Doug Liman directs Tom Cruise and Emily Blunt in this big-budget action spectacle that explores the idea of going back in time to fight the same battle several times over in a bid to finally win an alien war. Though there are holes in the logic and there’s no chemistry between the leads, the movie still works because Liman is a master of the genre, Blunt is always sharp, and Cruise knows how to sell action sizzle. (Katherine Monk)
FADING GIGOLO ★★★ John Turturro directed and stars in this oddball romantic comedy about a florist who becomes a gigolo with the help of his friend (Woody Allen, the least likely pimp in cinematic history). It’s preposterous, but it gets by on tender charm. (Jay Stone) THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
★★★ 1/2 Shailene Woodley serves up a simple but memorable last supper in the role of Hazel Grace, the heroine from John Green’s novel about two teenage cancer patients who fall in love. Despite the ample doses of tearjerker cliché, the movie still works a tender magic thanks to Woodley’s ability to make every moment real, as well as Laura Dern’s presence as the mother who has to be strong for her kid. (Katherine Monk)
GODZILLA ★★★ Gareth Edwards reboots the radioactive mutant from Japan. But the script fails to develop the human
characters. (Katherine Monk)
THE GRAND SEDUCTION ★★★ In this charming, if unlikely, remake of a Quebec film, a Newfoundland town, headed by grizzled Brendan Gleeson, remakes itself to attract a handsome doctor (Taylor Kitsch). It’s a ridiculous idea that gets by on sheer East Coast charisma. (Jay Stone)
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
★★★★ The story of the human boy Hiccup (Jay Baruchel) and his trusted dragon Toothless resumes in this second instalment that offers just as many wonderful surprises as the first thanks to its molten heart, non- aggressive animated dragon agenda ever. and Gerard the cutest Butler, Craig are also Ferguson featured and voices. Cate (Katherine Blanchett Monk)
HEAVEN IS FOR REAL ★★ 1/2 A non-confrontational tale of a little boy who sees Jesus during an emergency appendectomy. Greg Kinnear plays the lad’s dad, a pastor whose own faith is rattled by his son’s revelation. (Chris Knight)
MALEFICENT ★★★ Though the script is a little thin and the direction a little limp, Angelina Jolie has more than enough screen presence to keep us spellbound as Maleficent, the villainess from Sleeping Beauty. (Katherine Monk) A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST ★★ 1/2 Seth MacFarlane’s spoof of westerns is filled with gross-out gags and ironic commentary: it’s Blazing Saddles with a potty mouth. The gags don’t amount to much, but there are one or two laughs. (Jay Stone)
NEIGHBORS ★ 1/2 Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne are a young suburban couple who go to war with the next-door fraternity president (Zac Efron) and his posse of obnoxious party animals. (Jay Stone) ROCK PAPER DICE ENTER NOT RATED In this homegrown suspense thriller, the fate of North America is in jeopardy when a mysterious caller connects with a city’s top security team. It’s from the filmmaking duo Shreela Chakrabartty and Kash Gauni — the latter also stars as the modernday terrorist who idealizes Edward Snowden. (Melissa Hank)
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
★★★★ Professor X (Patrick Stewart) realizes the only way to save humanity and mutants from destruction is to send Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) into the past. (Katherine Monk)