Frank the Bastard movie rating: red light
Dreary New England noir soap about a woman uncovering family secrets is like a would-be supernatural thriller that forgot the magic and the chills.
2015 theatrical releases
Southpaw movie review: punch drunk and disorderly
Clichéd, obvious, and tired. We’ve seen this story so many times before, but rarely with such a lack of appreciation for just how unheroic its “hero” is.
Best of Enemies documentary review: “the practice of malice”
A brilliant, hilarious, exhilarating look at the Gore Vidal v. William F. Buckley paradigm-busting 1968 debates that changed TV journalism for the worse.
Big Significant Things movie review: road trip to nowhere
A leisurely, slightly absurd drive through 20something ennui that is as maddeningly diffuse as its protagonist’s state of mind.
Mr. Holmes movie review: the case of the missing myth
It looks lovely and Ian McKellen is amazing, of course, but it’s not very Holmesian. I suspect Holmes himself would snort in derision at its sentimentality.
The Gallows movie review: hang it high
Unpleasant characters do things that make no sense in “found footage” clearly edited together from multiple sources. Negligent storytelling at its worst.
The Longest Ride movie review: romantic bargaining
For once, a movie based on a Nicholas Sparks book is populated by relatively realistic people dealing with relationship conflict in realistic ways.
The Suicide Theory movie review: to die or not to die
Guilt, grief, and forgiveness get wrapped up in a Twilight Zone-ish shroud of fate in this downbeat trifle of a crime drama.
Lila & Eve movie review: rage engaged
When movies like this star the likes of Liam Neeson, they open on 3,000 screens. It’s difficult not to see racism and sexism in the disparity.
13 Minutes (aka Elser) movie review: the ultimate what-if
This intense dramatization of the true story of a failed attempt to assassinate Hitler in 1939 is an unpleasant experience but a provocative one.
