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man’s land after the first half-hour and never completely recovers. Still, not bad — just not good enough. Rated PG-13. 110 minutes.
— M. LaSalle My Cousin Rachel Based on the Daphne du Maurier novel, this is the story of a young man who becomes obsessed and baffled by his guardian’s widow, a charming but mysterious woman (played by Rachel Weisz). It’s a fascinating and well-made film directed by Roger Michell that seems to be a morality tale, but is something more complicated. Rated PG-13. 106 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Norman Richard Gere gets a strong and unusual showcase as a small-time hustler trying to crack into the big time, by putting over a deal involving American big business and the Israeli government. It features excellent character work by Gere and a swift-moving story by writer-director Joseph Cedar. Rated R. 117 minutes.
— M. LaSalle
Nowhere to Hide A documentary about damages caused by warfare in the “triangle of death” in central Iraq. Not reviewed. Not rated. 86 minutes. In Arabic with English subtitles.
Paris Can Wait Written and directed by Eleanor Coppola, this is an achingly dull and poorly acted film about the wife of a producer (Diane Lane) who goes on a seemingly endless road trip with a man who wants to seduce her. The movie loses its way about 15 minutes in and never gets better. Rated PG. 92 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Raising Bertie Margaret Byrne’s documentary follows a trio of struggling young men in rural North Carolina for six of the most formative years of their lives, as they face educational challenges, fatherless home sand a hard uphill struggle with uncertain rewards. A spare observational presentation creates an immersive and moving experience similar to “Hoop Dreams” and “American Promise” — a movie Byrne worked on as well. Not rated. 104 minutes.
— P. Hartlaub
Rough Night This bachelorette party misadventure looks as if it was significantly more fun for the actors to make than for audiences to watch. But it does yield rewards, with heavy contributions from the makers of “Broad City,” and an incredibly deep comic cast. Whenever the story goes off the rails, there’s always someone funny there to will it back into a humorous place. Rated R. 101 minutes. — P. Hartlaub
Slack Bay This misanthropic French comedy is an odd combination of “The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie,” Monty Python and Laurel and Hardy, with some cannibalism, incest FILM and gender identity issues thrown in. It’s uneven, but shows imagination. Not rated. 122 minutes. In French with English subtitles. — D. Lewis
Transformers: The Last
Knight Two and a half hours — with a plot seemingly stretched to make it that long — filled with scenes of robots fighting each other, and you’d need a program to know who are the good robots from the bad. This sequel, based on a series based on toys, is about as cynical an enterprise as the modern cinema can devise — and a chore to sit through. Rated PG-13. 149 minutes.
— M. LaSalle Walking Distance Alejandro Guzman Alvarez’s Mexican indie is a sweet, slow-moving film about a 450-pound man mostly confined to his apartment whose world opens up when he discovers the joys of photography. At the Roxie Theater. Not rated. 104 minutes. In Spanish with English subtitles. — G. Allen Johnson The Wedding Plan Writer-director Rama Burshtein’s Israeli drama is a twist on crowdpleasing marriage-minded romantic comedies, with a wonderful performance by Noa Koler as a woman who is dumped a month before her wedding. She decides to hold the wedding anyway, confident that God will provide a replacement. Rated PG. 110 minutes. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
— G. Allen Johnson The Women’s Balcony This crowd-pleaser concerns a rift within an Orthodox Jewish congregation in Jerusalem. It’s entirely predictable but totally charming. Not rated. 96 minutes. In Hebrew with English subtitles.
— D. Lewis
Wonder Woman This is a different kind of comic book movie, with a sense of history and purpose, featuring a starmaking performance by Gal Gadot in the title role. Costarring Chris Pine and directed by Patty Jenkins (“Monster”). Rated PG-13. 141 minutes. — M. LaSalle
Your Name What starts out as a “Freaky Friday”-type body exchange between high school kids — a rural village girl and a Tokyo boy — becomes a rumination on time travel, cataclysmic fate, ruralurban dynamics and, of course, a love story in novelist-turned-director Makoto Shinkai’s anime, which is more Miyazaki than “Ghost in the Shell.” Rated PG. 106 minutes.
— G. Allen Johnson