Recent Reviews
These are our latest reviews of movies at theaters, at the art house, or at festivals.
Dear Evan Hansen
*1/22021, Stephen Chbosky
By the end of it all, this Dear Evan Hansen is less galvanizing and more frustrating.
Dear Evan Hansen, I’m sorry. I know you mean well, but your movie is hard to watch.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye
***2021, Michael Showalter
You can’t move forward by looking in the rearview mirror of your life.
The Eyes of Tammy Faye offers a surprisingly balanced revelation of the ‘80s heydays of televangelism.
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings
***1/22021, Destin Daniel Cretton
Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings should’ve opened Phase 4 of the MCU.
Shang-Chi presents a host of fresh faces that take the Marvel Cinematic Universe into an exciting new realm of possibilities.
The Protege
***2021, Martin Campbell
While The Protege stumbles, it’s still a solid piece of action entertainment.
Hot on the heels of The Suicide Squad, The Protégé is another ultra-violent action flick stuffed with some nifty twists that upend the genre.
Free Guy
***2021, Shawn Levy
Take Free Guy for what it is: a fun little lark that throws off an agreeable ‘80s-movie vibe.
Free Guy is kind of like Stuart Smalley. He’s smart enough, he’s good enough and — gosh darn it — people like him.
The Suicide Squad
****2021, James Gunn
t all works so well because the movie doesn’t back down from its universe.
The Suicide Squad is shocking, salacious, subversive and scurrilous. It’s also sensational.
Jungle Cruise
***1/2Jaume Collet-Serra
What starts as a high-level lark gradually gets more and more detailed with the history.
Buoyed by the chemistry between Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson, Jungle Cruise takes full advantage of its humor-filled source material as it grows into a fun ride all its own.
The Green Knight
***2021, David Lowery
Lowery seems determined to keep the material inaccessible rather than embracing the popular aspects.
This yarn of knights in not-so-shining armor is not for everybody, but the taxing tale is tenacious enough to claw its way to an impactful conclusion.
Old disproves the adage “with age comes wisdom.”
In its most raw moments, Summertime displays a powerful and rare level of authenticity.
Black Widow
**1/22021, Cate Shortland
Much of the story is uninspired and revolves around concepts that have been seen before.
While Black Widow has some entertainment value, it’s one of the weaker entries in the MCU.
The Forever Purge
**2021, Everardo Valerio Gout
The Forever Purge is an exercise in desensitization.
It could’ve been a movie of the times, but The Forever Purge turns into nothing more than an empty calorie sour sucker.
F9
**1/22021, Justin Lin
Maybe the FF series needs to get back on course and stay in its lane, so to speak.
This absurdist series about gearheads working in a James Bond world keeps jumping bigger and bigger sharks and — like the characters — it somehow finds a way to survive.
The Sparks Brothers
***2021, Edgar Wright
“Retirement” is a notion that — happily — has no place here.
It’s a testament to the Sparks Brothers that viewers can walk away from a 140-minute documentary about their career — spanning five decades — with one irresistible and vital message: stay hungry.
In the Heights
***2021, Jon M. Chu
It seemingly misses its own dreams in moving from stage to screen.
In the Heights features a rather flat story that’s elevated by a likable cast and spirited music.