Mark Wahlberg plays an ex-smuggler trying to settle down and raise a family when his numbskull brother-in-law gets caught up in a drug deal gone bad, and to get him out of it Wahlberg’s character has to make one more contraband run. It’s a well-made if not exceptional movie with enough plot twists to keep it suspenseful.
Grade: C+
The problem with this biopic of 1980′s British prime minister Margaret Thatcher is not Meryl Streep’s stunning performance (which is so good it’s almost supernatural), it’s the fact that the director tells the story using literally hundreds of flashbacks and flash-forwards — sometimes seven or eight in a 60-second period. This effect is so off-putting that it leaves you confused instead of entertained.
Grade: C
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In recent interviews, director Steven Soderbergh has dropped hints that he might stop making movies because he has nothing left to say — Haywire is sad proof of this. It’s a paint-by-numbers spy-revenge flick that seems to exist for the sole purpose of seeing a female martial arts champion beat up men.
Grade: C
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I was not charmed by this modern treatment of the forgotten art of making silent movies. I thought the plot was clichéd and clunky and the characters mugged annoyingly, with the exception of the wife who drew mocking moustaches on photos of her husband (who already had a moustache – now that’s funny).
Grade: C
This is the John le Carré version of the Cold War spy story, so there will be no James Bond-style high-speed chases, spectacular shootouts, glamorous locations or high-tech gadgets. If that’s your cup of tea you’ll love this movie, with its sophisticated plot, minimal (yet effective) violence and understated acting from a cast led by Gary Oldman.
Grade: B+
Michelle Williams is wonderful in this fact-based story of Marilyn Monroe going to London to make a movie. Kenneth Branagh is good as Sir Laurence Olivier, I liked the music, Emma Watson is always cute … but really everything is secondary to the portrait of Marilyn as an emotional wreck and a supernova talent.
Grade: B
A conventional movie with a hokey script is saved by the sheer awesomeness of the action and special effects. Director Brad Bird, best known for his animation work for Pixar, deserves credit for making the stunts easy to follow – when a sports car flips over the hero after a 100 mph crash, you can tell whether it’s the front or back bumper that barely misses him.
Grade: B
This fourth installment of the Mission Impossible film series is 130 minutes of well-shot, well-directed and well-edited action-movie cliches. The problem is nothing really original happens here, just lots of highly polished cliffhanger chase sequences that go on way too long.
Grade: B-
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In this sequel to the 2007 movie, not much has changed: Robert Downey Jr. as Holmes and Jude Law as Dr. Watson once again perform implausible physical feats and preposterous mental gymnastics, pausing only for witty repartee. The movie’s guaranteed entertainment value is both its strength and weakness.
Grade: B
As spry and jaunty as the original film, I don’t understand why Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows is not doing better at the box office. The story in this terrific sequel, with Holmes waging intellectual war against archenemy Professor Moriarty, is vastly superior to the first movie … and the ending will keep you smiling all the way to your car.
Grade: B+
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