Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

Movie Reviews

Thursday

Busman's Honeymoon: Police detective Paul Bellamy (Gerard Depardieu) has been convinced by his wife, Francoise (Marie Bunel), to take his first vacation in years. But an unruly half-brother and a spiraling local mystery lure Bellamy away from his R&R and into a web of betrayal and murder. Moune Jamet/IFC Films hide caption

toggle caption
Moune Jamet/IFC Films

Father Figure: On a business trip, Doug Riley (James Gandolfini) meets wayward teen Mallory (Kristen Stewart) and takes her under his wing, partly to fill the void his own daughter's death has left in his life. Skip Bolen/Patti Perret hide caption

toggle caption
Skip Bolen/Patti Perret

Together at last: In the last installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy, journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Michael Nyqvist, left) and cyber-avenger Lisbeth Salander (Noomi Rapace) barely share any screen time. Music Box Films hide caption

toggle caption
Music Box Films

A Plan Problematic: Scoot McNairy stars as Andrew Kaulder, a photographer who must find his way through a quarantined zone inhabited by squidlike extraterrestrials to get out of Mexico and home to the U.S. Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Magnet Releasing/Magnolia Pictures

Along A Dangerous Border, 'Monsters' Lurk

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130810555/130921086" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

Tough Call: Lt. Gen. Romeo Dallaire, (Roy Dupuis, left) and Maj. Brent Beardsley (James Gallanders) struggle to protect innocent lives and negotiate peace during Rwanda's 1994 genocide, striving all the while to maintain the neutrality required of U.N. peacekeepers. Regent Releasing hide caption

toggle caption
Regent Releasing

Wednesday

Musically Minded: Strange Powers focuses on Stephin Merritt, the main singer and songwriter of the Magnetic Fields, a genre-blurring indie-rock band that grew to prominence in the '90s. Gail O'Hara/Variance Films hide caption

toggle caption
Gail O'Hara/Variance Films

Thursday

Bobby Naderi (left) plays an engineering student who moves into an all-Muslim house in New York and unexpectedly gets drawn into the punk lifestyle of -- and tensions among -- housemates including guitarist Jehangir (Dominic Rains). Strand Releasing hide caption

toggle caption
Strand Releasing

Troubling Truths: When recently single Stanley starts acting strangely, his roommate (Christopher Clark, left) teams up with Stanley's best friend (Nick Stahl) to investigate -- hoping to uncover the whereabouts of Stanley's missing ex as well. Iwan Bagus/Original 4 Releasing hide caption

toggle caption
Iwan Bagus/Original 4 Releasing

A Father's Fight: Cesar Ramos plays Ines and Dermot Mulroney stars as Paul, an American lawyer who crosses the border to Mexico, intent on saving his daughter through the illegal organ trade. Lewis Jacobs/IFC Films hide caption

toggle caption
Lewis Jacobs/IFC Films

Friday

Reluctant Reader: Matt Damon stars as George Lonegan, a psychic who wants to stop doing readings but finds himself intrigued by Hereafter, a book written by Marie Lelay (Cecile de France) after a near-death experience. Ken Regan/Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Ken Regan/Warner Bros. Pictures

Cecile de France plays Marie Lelay, a woman who publishes a book after nearly dying. She makes an unexpected connection with Matt Damon's George Lonegan, a psychic trying to stop communicating with the dead. Ken Regan/Warner Bros. Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Ken Regan/Warner Bros. Pictures

A 'Hereafter' Where Matt Damon Sees Dead People

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130564649/130589614" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Cool And Collected: Helen Mirren and John Malkovich star as retired CIA agents who join up with their old team when they become targets of the agency. Frank Masi/Summit Entertainment hide caption

toggle caption
Frank Masi/Summit Entertainment

'Red': Armed, Dangerous, Downright Smug About It

  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/130514284/130582421" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Thursday

Devotedly Determined: Hilary Swank stars as Betty Anne Waters, a single mother of two who spends 18 years becoming a lawyer in order to free her brother Kenny, played by Sam Rockwell, from prison. Fox Searchlight Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Most Wanted: Edgar Ramirez stars as Carlos the Jackal, a Venezuelan-born terrorist who fought for Palestinian liberation and then became famous for kidnapping members of an OPEC conference in 1975. IFC Films hide caption

toggle caption
IFC Films

Barbara Sukowa (left) plays 12th-centruy abbess Hildegard von Bingen, who teaches Sister Clara (Paula Kalenberg) and her other nuns about medicine and philosophy. Zeitgeist Films hide caption

toggle caption
Zeitgeist Films