movies
PAGE 36 • GO! MAGAZINE
THE BULLETIN • FRIDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2011
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“50/50” — Adam (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is a writer for Seattle public radio whose nagging back pain is diagnosed as a rare form of cancer of the spine. His chances are 50/50. Seth Rogen plays the best pal who tries to cheer him up, Bryce Dallas Howard is the girlfriend scared away by cancer, and Anjelica Huston is the protective mom. Written by Will Reiser, and somewhat autobiographical (Rogen is his good friend). Not depressing; more comforting. Rating: Three and a half stars. 99 minutes. (R) “The Big Year” — Owen Wilson, Jack Black and Steve Martin are fierce competitors in the annual contest among bird-watchers to spot the most species. They race one another to remote locations where rare birds have been reported, and the movie finds great birds and fair humor along the way. Has an innocence and charm that will make it appealing for families, especially those who have had enough whales and dolphins for the year. Rating: Three stars. 102 minutes. (PG) “Contagion” — A realistic, unsensational film about a global epidemic. It’s being marketed as a thriller, but it’s more of a chiller: A frightening speculation about how a new airborne virus could enter the human species and spread relentlessly in very little time. With Gwyneth Paltrow, Matt Damon, Laurence Fishburne, Kate Winslet, Marion Cotillard, Jude Law. Rating: Three stars. 105 minutes (PG-13) “Courageous” — It’s interesting to track the growing cinematic sophistication of those preaching / filmmaking brothers of Sherwood Baptist Church — from “Facing the Giants” to their breakout hit “Fireproof” to their latest film, “Courageous.” Writer Stephen Kendrick and writer-director-actor Alex Kendrick have mastered building suspense, hiding surprises, action beats (chases, shootouts) and even humor, and that makes their latest faith-based drama a cut and many, many edits above “Fireproof” in simple movie terms. But it also has signs of that sophomore jinx that so many start-up moviemakers suffer after delivering a box-office hit. It’s preachier. Rating: One and a half stars. 124 minutes (PG-13) — Roger Moore, The Orlando Sentinel
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“Dolphin Tale” — A sweet, feel-good film about a boy who helps save a dolphin, and how the dolphin helps save him. Sawyer (Nathan Gamble) discovers a beached dolphin with its tail entangled in the ropes of a lobster trap. A shy, closed-off boy, he is drawn out of his shell through attempts to save the dolphin and provide it with a prosthetic tail after its own tail must be amputated. Incredibly, this is inspired by real events, and the dolphin involved, named Winter, plays herself. A good cast: Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr., Kris Kristofferson, Morgan Freeman, and young Cozi Zuehlsdorff as Sawyer’s new friend at a marine animal hospital. Uplifting family entertainment. Rating: Three stars. 112 minutes. (PG)
The Associated Press
Mary Elizabeth Winstead, left, and Joel Edgerton star in “The Thing.” “Footloose” — Such a close remake of the 1984 movie that I was tempted to reprint my 1984 review. Kenny Wormald as the low-rent version of Kevin Bacon, who moves from Boston to a small Tennessee town that prohibits “dancing in public.” He leads the local kids in a protest, and they turn out to be suspiciously wellchoreographed. Dead in the water. Rating: One and a half stars. 113 minutes. (PG-13) “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2” — After seven earlier films reaching back a decade, the Harry Potter saga comes to a solid and satisfying finale. The time has come for Harry to face Lord Voldemort in their final showdown, and their conflict is staged in a series of dramatic sequences containing power and conviction. Many of the familiar characters from earlier in the series are brought back onstage for a last hurrah. Rating: Three and a half stars. 131 minutes. (PG-13) “The Help” — A safe film about a volatile subject. Presenting itself as the story of how African-American maids in the South viewed their employers during Jim Crow days, it is equally the story of how they empowered a young white woman to write a best-seller about them. At the end, the story has punished the racist and redeemed those who have changed, but it’s still Jackson, Miss. Still, this is a good film, involving and wonderfully acted. I was drawn to the characters and moved. Wonderful performances by Viola Davis, Emma Stone, Octavia Spencer, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jessica Chastain. Rating: Three stars. 146 minutes. (PG-13) “The Ides of March” — Ryan Gosling stars as a press secretary required to more or less lie as an occupation. He works for a Democratic presidential candidate (George Clooney) and his campaign manager (Philip Seymour Hoffman), but his real cause is his own career. With Paul Giamatti as a rival campaign manager, Evan Rachel Wood as a young intern, and Marisa Tomei as a political reporter. The cynicism of its view of politics is not as surprising as director Clooney perhaps believes, but the character portrayals are compelling. Rating: Three stars. 100 minutes. (R)
“Johnny English Reborn” — I spent most of “Johnny English” wondering whom the filmmakers were targeting. While childish and silly, it’s far too violent for young kids. Jokes attempted by “English” worked better in the “Ace Ventura” and “Austin Powers” franchises, where we first saw them. And spy genre fanatics patiently waiting for the next James Bond installment quickly will grow bored with this predictable plot, even as “English” director Oliver Parker wastes large chunks of time advancing a criminal scheme you’ll care very little about. This film was not given a star rating. 101 minutes. (PG) — Sean O’Connell, The Washington Post
“Midnight in Paris” — Woody Allen’s enchanting new comedy stars Owen Wilson as an American who visits Paris with his fiancee (Rachel McAdams), and finds himself seduced by dreams of living there in the 1920s . Rating: Three and a half stars. 94 minutes. (PG-13) “The Mighty Macs” — A sweet, innocuous family movie about a young feminist who defies her husband, becomes a basketball coach, and leads the team of a nearly bankrupt Catholic women’s college to the sport’s first national championship. Carla Gugino stars in a lovable performance as the real-life Cathy Rush, who in her first season leads Immaculata of Pennsylvania to the national championship. There is nothing to complain about except the film’s predictability and the bland, shallow characters. Children up to a certain age may like it just fine. Rating: Two stars. 95 minutes. (G) “Moneyball” — An uncommonly intelligent movie about a showdown in Major League Baseball between human instinct and abstract statistics. Based on the true story of the 2002 Oakland Athletics, it stars Brad Pitt as the team’s general manager, Jonah Hill as a nerdy Yale statistician, and Philip Seymour Hoffman as the hostile manager. Not a traditional sports movie, but one about big business and courage in management. The dialogue is smart and witty. Spellbinding. Rating: Four stars. (PG-13)
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