It’s the week of Thanksgiving, and in the world of movies, that means the start of the holiday movie season, when most films hoping to snag Oscars open in theaters. Here are brief reviews of the five movies opening today to capitalize on the long Thanksgiving weekend. Read more about the films in Friday’s entertainment section.
“Rise of the Guardians”
H 1/2 I I I stars
Cast: The voices of Chris Pine, Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Isla Fisher, Jude Law
Director: Peter Ramsey
Running time: 1:37
Rated: PG; thematic elements and some mildly scary action
“Guardians” is the worst animated movie to ever wear the DreamWorks logo. It’s based on William Joyce’s “The Guardians of Childhood” books, about a team that includes The Easter Bunny (Hugh Jackman), “North” (aka Santa, voiced by Alec Baldwin), The Tooth Fairy (Isla Fisher) and the silent Sandman. They need the help of newcomer Jack Frost (Chris Pine) if they’re to stop “Pitch,” short for “Pitch Black,” the night-terror voiced by Jude Law. He’s seeing to it that kids across the world are giving up their belief in magic. The film is a confused ramble, a film more concerned with the mechanics of how Santa manages to make all those toys than with telling an interesting story. “Rise of the Guardians” is harmless, but it is the studio’s least entertaining film. “Life of Pi”
* * * * *
Cast: Suraj Sharma, Irrfan Khan, Rafe Spall
Director: Ang Lee
Running time: 2:07
Rated: PG; emotional thematic content, some scary action scenes and peril
Science and spirit, technology and transcendence may sometimes be at war, but in “Life of Pi” – Ang Lee’s spectacular take on the popular Yann Martel novel – they instead make for graceful dance partners. The story of a boy who finds his faith challenged after being stranded at sea with only wild animals for company is made stunningly real by the latest developments in computer graphics and 3-D cinematography. The result is that a book that many considered best kept on the printed page comes rapturously alive on screen. Adults beware: This is no Dr. Doolittle. There are moments of dread, panic and terror that may be too intense for some younger viewers. And exactly what happens to Pi on his misadventure, and how it affects him, may make for lively discussion around the turkey this holiday season. But there should be no argument that Lee has made one of the year’s most impressive films. “Red Dawn”
H 1/2 I I I stars
Cast: Chris Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Josh Peck, Adrianne Palicki and Isabel Lucas
Director: Dan Bradley
Running time: 1:54
Rated: PG-13; violence, language.
Was anybody out there clamoring for a remake of “Red Dawn”? Didn’t think so. The original – John Milius’ 1984 right-wing fever dream about a Cuban-Soviet invasion of the United States where a group of small-town American teens form a guerrilla band to resist the commie invaders – is a movie of its time, an artifact of the Reagan era and the dying days of the Cold War. The remake, made in the age of al Qaida and the drone war and featuring North Korean invaders, has not the slightest relationship to contemporary days and times. Think of it as a kiddie version of “The Expendables.” It’s all about the boom-boom, and empty-headed patriotism. “Silver Linings Playbook”
H H H H 1/2 stars
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, Julia Stiles, Chris Tucker and Anupam Kher
Director: David O. Russell
Running time: 2:02
Rated: R; profanity, sex, drugs, violence, adult themes.
Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence do a lot of running in “Silver Linings Playbook.” Their characters are trying to shed weight. Not physical weight, but the burdens they’re carrying around in their heads. Their head-spinning wonder of a movie about love, pain, reinvention, rehabilitation and the totemic power of a National Football League franchise, “Silver Linings Playbook” is, without doubt, a transcendent endeavor, from its exhilaratingly smart screenplay to the unexpected,moving turns of its two leads. ‘Smashed’
H H H 1/2 I
Cast: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Aaron Paul, Octavia L. Spencer, Nick Offerman, Megan Mullally
Director: James Ponsoldt
Running time: 1:25
Rated: R; language, brief drug use, alcohol abuse and some sexual content
In “Smashed,” Mary Elizabeth Winstead is Kate, a high-functioning alcoholic who manages to be a capable first-grade teacher by day and a tipsy karaoke clown by night. The film could be pigeonholed as an addiction drama, and it is certainly serious about Kate’s struggle with her disease. But “Smashed” is modestly scaled but sure-footed and entertaining. It gives us the sense of life unfolding before our eyes. It invites us to invest our hopes in someone who may disappoint us. It never tempts us with the promise of a forced happy ending. Winstead, who rose through the ranks in horror fare, is superb as she battles demons of a different kind. She delivers a sublime performance, capturing both the high spirits a bender can provide and the disastrous depression that follows. We get that rare sense of seeing a great actress in the first role that really taps her talent. – Roger Moore – Cary Darling – Soren Andersen – Steven Rea – Colin Covert
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