Review:Win Win

Review: Win Win

Rating: ***

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 94%

Audience: 90%

Paul Giamatti can do no wrong – at least not while he’s acting in movies. In the last few months, I have seen him deliver flawless performances as Mike Flaherty, the fallible “hero” of Win Win; as Barney Panofsky, an irascible man and the subject of Barney’s Version; and as a nuanced Ben Bernanke in HBO’s Too Big To Fail, the story of the 2008 near worldwide economic collapse. Giamatti is a treasure; in Win Win he portrays an ordinary man, a lawyer and wrestling coach, trapped in the recession, making immoral and amoral decisions that help dig his hole a little deeper. Giamatti’s skill in playing this character is that we can watch him do it, disapprove of Flaherty, and still care about him, hoping he’ll dig himself out. As his wife, Amy Ryan is the Rock of Gibraltar with a strong moral compass. Unbeknownst to her, Flaherty is making an extra $1,500 a month by becoming the legal guardian of Leo, a man with dementia played by Paul Young. Out of nowhere, Leo’s grandson Kyle appears (played by Alex Shaffer in his first role), a wrestling phenomenon. There are fine performances all around in this independent film about ordinary people trying to do the right thing.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Of Gods and Men

Review: Des hommes et des dieux (Of Gods and Men)

Rating: ****

Nonna's Rating: $$$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 92%

Audience: 79%

How often do you see a film about religion that isn't sappy or sentimental or overwrought in some way? Well, this one fits that bill. I can't say enough good things about this movie. In fact--full disclosure--I've already preached a sermon about it. It's wonderful. Difficult to watch, but wonderful.

The film tells the story of nine Trappist monks living in Algeria during the civil war of the mid-90s--a time when all foreigners, and especially Christians, were in danger of being killed by fundamentalist Islamic terrorists. These nine men must decide whether to stay -- and almost certainly die -- or go home to the safety of France. The movie depicts their individual struggles with the decision each must make. As viewers, at first we can't believe anyone would decide to stay. By the end of the film, we understand why these men remain -- in faith, in community, and in solidarity with the Islamic people they love who live near their monastery.

The film won second prize at Cannes in 2010, but, for some reason, was completely overlooked as a nominee for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Source Code

Review: Source Code

Rating: ***1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 91%

Audience: 82%

A fast-paced thriller with a heart, Source Code manages to deliver a "what if" message that challenges and entertains us at the same time. The movie is tight (93 minutes) and well-paced -- and it doesn't hurt that Chicago looks summertime-good in the film. Jake Gyllenhaal (Captain Colter Stevens) has been tasked with returning over and over again to a critical 8-minute period of time in which he does everything he can to avert a major disaster. It's Groundhog Day meets every "Will-the-bomb-blow-up?" movie you've ever seen. Excellent performances by Gyllenhaal, Michell Monaghan --as the girl he wants to save -- and Vera Farmiga -- as his "control" who knows a lot more than he does. One of the best movies of the year so far.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: Water for Elephants

Review: Water for Elephants

Rating: *

Nonna's Rating: #

Rotten Tomatoes: 60%

Audience: 78%

A true waste of time. A mess of a movie. And I've never read the book, so I'm not making an unfair comparison. A preposterous plot with holes you could lead an elephant through. Stereotypical characters overdrawn and overwrought. Christopher Waltz, who was so brilliant in The Inglorious Basterds, seems to have taken a course from the Ricardo Montalban School of Overacting. His bombastic posturing and swaggering can only be the result of very poor direction by Francis Lawrence -- which is very much in evidence in every scene in this film. Reese Witherspoon does manage to stay on an even keel and delivers a competent performance, all the while remaining luminously beautiful. But only Rosie the Elephant, played by Tai, gives a performance worthy of any kind of award. Robert Pattinson is the big problem. He generates no heat and even less emotion-- with a resulting complete lack of chemistry between him and Witherspoon. The story is on a road to nowhere. Watch it on cable if you have to, but my advice is to skip it.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review:Bridesmaids

Review: Bridesmaids

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$

Rotten Tomatoes: 88%

Audience: 88%

Here's another movie that critics and viewers loved -- about which I am not quite as excited. I will be the first to admit that there were some very funny moments. Also, it's not just another gross-out comedy; it explores women's friendships and how they endure and triumph over some seemingly unforgivable behavior. This movie just crossed the line into tasteless comedy a few too many times for me. Maybe I need to see it a second time. People keep telling me I need to see Hangover again, insisting it will be funnier the second time around. If you liked Hangover, you'll probably enjoy this movie. And, I will say that Kristen Wiig, Maya Rudolph, Ellie Kemper, and, especially, Melissa McCarthy are excellent comedians.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it

Review: X-Men: First Class

Review: X-Men: First Class

Rating: **1/2

Nonna's Rating: $$$

Rotten Tomatoes: 87%

Audience: 88%

Not having written a review since Feb. 2, I think it's about time that I caught up. My excuse is that I've been working three jobs. I did not, however, use that as an excuse to stop attending movies. I have twelve to review.

I'm starting with the most recent -- X-Men. Saw it yesterday after several weeks of disappointing box office offerings. As you can see by the Rotten Tomatoes average, the film has been well-reviewed and audiences have liked it too. I'll give it a thumbs up, but put it in the "good but not great" category. It has a lot going for it. Terrific special effects, a good story with a tie-in to the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, some terrific actors, and good dialog.

What's not to like? I just never found myself engaging emotionally with the characters -- certainly not in the way I did in the first X-Men movie (which was not reviewed as well by critics but is a far superior film). It is telling that the only scene which elicited an emotional reaction from the audience in which I sat was a 10 second cameo by Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

I didn't really care much what happened to this bunch of mutants despite some excellent performances (especially Michael Fassbender and Kevin Bacon). James McEvoy is disappointingly miscast. A competent actor, he just doesn't have what it takes to light up a screen. It's impossible to believe he will become the Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) of the first movie. January Jones sleepwalks through her role as Emma Frost, and even Jennifer Lawrence (Raven) and Rose Byrne (Moira MacTaggert) don't generate much interest.

I do, however, recommend the film for a matinée viewing -- for the special effects and the fun of seeing the early parts of the X-Men story.

Nonna's Ratings:

$$$$ = Worth paying the Friday evening price
$$$= Worth paying the Matinee price

$$= Worth a rental
$ = Wait for cable
# = Skip it