MOVIE LISTINGS
Age ratings: G: All ages. PG: Parental guidance advised. 14A: Under 14 must be accompanied by adult. 18A: Under 18 must be accompanied by adult. R: No one under 18 may view. U: Unrated
OPENING FRIDAY
Annabelle » » Working from a silly script by Gary Dauberman, director John R. Leonetti borrows a little too liberally from the demon-doll cookbook, serving up a platter of half-baked clichés seen in everything from Magic to Child’s Play and beyond, all spiced up with lazy jump scares. Annabelle is not without a modicum of verve. It has its unnerving moments, but they’re outweighed by the sheer stupidity and predictability of the story.
Breakup Buddies » Reeling from a messy divorce, a former singer hits the road and the bottle with his best bud.
Gone Girl » Director David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network) adapts Gillian Flynn’s bestseller to the big screen with Ben Affleck playing Nick Dunne, the problematic lead. When Nick’s wife (Rosamund Pike) disappears amid suspicious circumstances, he becomes one of the leading suspects in the investigation. Fincher mines this suspense thriller for dark social satire, especially when it comes to the media glare and our desire to declare complete strangers innocent or guilty based on screen presence. It’s dark and disturbing, yet oddly amusing.
Left Behind » A Christian movie that attempts to recreate the magic of the 2000 Kirk Cameron apocalypse film, this end-of-days premise features Nicolas Cage as a commercial pilot and non-believer who finds himself in the midst of the rapture while mid-air. Meanwhile, back on the ground, half the population has disappeared, leaving nothing but clumps of empty clothing behind. The moment when the skeptics realize they were left behind has the feel of a Murder, She Wrote episode, when Angela Lansbury explains the plot, only that show felt believable.
My Old Lady » Israel Horovitz adapts his own play, an enjoyable if somewhat predictable romp. Kevin Kline plays a penniless New Yorker who inherits a Paris apartment without realizing that due to obscure French real estate practices, it still has two occupants (Maggie Smith, Kristin Scott Thomas). As they get to know one another, family secrets are spilled over expensive wine.
Tusk » Kevin Smith plays on 1970s horror cliché and Canadian kitsch in this story of an arrogant American podcaster (Justin Long) who gets turned into a walrus by a demented old man living outside Winnipeg. Nowhere near as charming as Guy Maddin, nor as horrific
FIRST RUN
as David Cronenberg, Smith nonetheless walks down a cold road laden with Canadian signposts, without tapping a drop of real sap in a bid to make maple syrup.
A Most Wanted Man » The late Philip Seymour Hoffman stars in this adaptation of John le Carré’s novel as a German anti-terrorist agent tracking the movements of a Chechen Muslim living in Hamburg. Hoping to enlist the support of the young lawyer representing his case for asylum (Rachel McAdams), our G-man puts himself on the line one more time. Hoffman’s performance is memorable, even if the movie isn’t.
Boxtrolls » When a young orphan raised by trolls discovers his best friends and family are considered monsters by the human world above, he endeavours to bridge the gap by proving the boxtrolls are caring and kind. But his plan runs into a brick of cheese when an ambitious human declares war on the monsters to further his own career, and make it to the coveted cheese-tasting room. Smart and witty, this piece feels a little weird and soft in the middle, but reeks of strong revolutionary sentiment as it suggests humans live in boxes of our own creation.
Boyhood » Richard Linklater directs this epic coming-of-age movie that follows one actor over the course of 12 years, from boyhood to his entry into college. A feature film that has a documentary feel as a result of the continuous casting, Boyhood also stars Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as parents, while Ellar Coltrane holds down the fort playing a kid who turns into a man.
But Always: Two school friends in Beijing in the 1970s, both from different backgrounds, lose touch, only to rekindle the romance in New York City, where they must decide between a present love or a future love. Directed by Snow Zou and starring Yuanyuan Gao and Nicholas Tse.
Dolphin Tale 2 » It’s a film of torpid amiability, family entertainment in the vein of a carousel: There are enough cute animals and brightness to keep preschoolers thoroughly distracted while everyone else forces a smile and watches the same plastic-and-mirrors parody of vitality mindlessly circle.
Dr. Cabbie » Directed by Jean-Francois Pouliot (La grande seduction), Deepak Veer Chopra (Vinay
Jason Statham and Wesley Snipes appear in The Expendables.
Virmani) comes to Toronto from India to become a doctor, but is devastated to learn the medical establishment there won’t recognize his credentials. So he’s forced to drive a cab — which is how he begins practising medicine in the back seat, soon becoming a local celeb. (David Berry)
The Drop » The story of a Brooklyn bar taken over by Chechen hoods, The Drop is an atmospheric mystery underpinned with a creeping sense of dread. It’s not a big movie, but it’s a nice, chewy story full of solid performances, including a bittersweet final bow by James Gandolfini.
The Equalizer » Denzel Washington stars as a retired secret agent who helps a young prostitute escape evil Russian mobsters in this stylistically rich and somewhat irresistible movie that allows the little guy to triumph. Thanks to Antoine Fuqua’s direction, even the formulaic bits find new edges. And thanks to Washington’s performance, even the heroic sheen finds raw emotional texture.
Expendables 3 » There are some problems that only white men over 60 can fix, which is why Sly Stallone returns as mercenary leader Barney Ross, the leader of a black ops gang called The Expendables. Barney has to stop an evil arms dealer, but he needs help from some new kids — as well as some old, old acquaintances. Harrison Ford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Mel Gibson co-star.
The Giver » Jeff Bridges stars in this postapocalyptic story aimed at young adults. A lesser take on the same themes as Hunger Games and Divergent, this Lois Lowry story focuses on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who must learn the lessons of human history from the titular Giver (Bridges). The ideas are noble, and the cast that includes Meryl Streep and Katie Holmes is brave, but the story is inane.
Hector and the Search for Happiness » There’s little happiness for the viewer as an unhappy psychiatrist (Simon Pegg) leaves his great job, home and girlfriend to travel around the world seeking the meaning of happiness. He returns with a bag of lacklustre bromides.
If I Stay » Chloe Grace Moretz plays a young woman on the verge of musical greatness when tragedy strikes, leaving her in a coma. While she fights for her life, she gets to wander through her past like a disembodied soul, measuring the events that give her life shape and purpose, and the people who make it all meaningful. The mortal questions are deep and surprisingly well handled, but the romantic slop that surrounds the metaphysics could leave anyone in a coma.
Love is Strange » John Lithgow and Alfred Molina play long-term partners suddenly forced to leave the Greenwich Village apartment they called home in this subtle, and beautifully acted portrait of aging, relationships and the importance of a brick and mortar envelope to give us meaning. Director-writer Ira Sachs finds comedy in every human wrinkle, but there’s an existential ache in this movie that persists long after the credits roll.
Lucy » Lucy stars Scarlett Johansson as a U.S. student in Taipei, Taiwan, who gets caught up with drug traffickers and overdoses on CPH4 — a drug that gives her total recall, complete control over her body, and the ability to read people’s minds.
The Maze Runner » A group of young men are stuck in a giant maze surrounded by towering walls, and filled with danger. When one new arrival insists on exploring with an aim to escape the maze, he sows revolution among the inhabitants and prompts a vicious game of survival. Another run at The Hunger Games idea, The Maze
Runner doesn’t have the intelligence of its genre rivals, but it does have the appeal of a built-in puzzle.
My Little Pony Equestria Girls: Rainbow Rocks » In this followup to last year’s film, some of the ponies from the TV series are transformed into girls, living in a human world.
Pride » A sort of Full Monty about Thatcherism and the noted miner’s strike that rocked Britain during the early ’80s, Pride tells the story of a small band of gay activists who forged an unlikely alliance with the striking blue collar types in Wales. Though director Matthew Warchus and writer Stephen Beresford play to a certain amount of genre expectation — complete with a feel-good dance hall sequence ——this movie based on a true story never loses its credibility or sells out to schmaltz, largely thanks to the textured turns from the ensemble cast that includes Dominic West, Bill Nighy, George MacKay and Imelda Staunton.
The Skeleton Twins » Kristen Wiig and Bill Hader play estranged siblings who reunite after a suicide attempt in this surprisingly dark, but trenchantly funny film from the writer of Black Swan. Though the movie wears some stains of family dysfunction, the two leads have so much dramatic range even the predicted bits feel vibrant.
This Is Where I Leave You »Jane Fonda heads up an all-star cast that includes Jason Bateman and Tina Fey in this formulaic family comedy with dramatic undertones. Despite some funny moments delivered via Fonda and Bateman, the movie feels stale and overly self-conscious.
The Trip to Italy » Tuck in for this followup to 2010s The Trip, in which Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon played fictionalized versions of themselves and motored around England’s Lake District, eating fine food and performing duelling Michael Caine impressions. It’s a skimpy premise for a movie, but it works because the two men are just so darned funny.
A Walk Among the Tombstones » Liam Neeson stars as a cop who gives up his badge after a gunfight goes wrong. Now working as a private detective, he takes a job working for a mobster whose wife was kidnapped by two sadists asking for ransom money. It’s all hard-boiled crime stuff, and while some of it feels a little overdone and the relationships don’t really register as sincere, we’re still spellbound by Neeson in the lead as he embodies the battle between heroism and flawed humanity in every breath.