Luca Guadagnino’s “Call Me By Your Name” is the best film of 2017. This story of unexpected first love set in northern Italy during the summer of 1983 is lushly beautiful and achingly sad, with pitch-perfect performances from Timothee Chalamet and Armie Hammer. It left me a sobbing mess. Come...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — The Last Face
Sean Penn turns African strife into a two-hour perfume commercial with “The Last Face,” veering between gauzy impressionism and shrieky melodrama with his latest directorial effort. The real story is about Charlize Theron and Javier Bardem’s characters, humanitarian aid doctors trapped in a star-crossed romance. It’s all laughably pretentious. Please...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Hero
Sam Elliott is Sam Elliott as Sam Elliott in “The Hero,” a sentimental and sporadically effective celebration of the veteran character actor. Director and co-writer Brett Haley is clearly aware that this dude is iconic, placing Elliott front and center for a rare leading role. But while it’s a pleasure...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Vincent N Roxxy
“Vincent N Roxxy” is a nasty little piece of B-movie trash that lacks both the verve to grab you as a guilty pleasure and the artistry to be taken seriously as a dramatic thriller. It wastes talented actors who usually have a welcome presence on screen — Emile Hirsch, Zoe...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Berlin Syndrome
“Berlin Syndrome” will make you question any wanderlust-inspired notions you may have of traveling alone to a foreign country on a quest for self-discovery. Australian director Cate Shortland creates a dreamlike sense of place within a nightmare scenario with this taut and strongly acted thriller. And Teresa Palmer works wonders...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Space Between Us
“The Space Between Us,” about the romance between a boy from Mars and a girl from Earth, plays like a “Muppet Babies” version of “Starman.” It’s nutty. Not nutty enough that you should run out and see it, but still. It features an exploding barn. My 1 1/2-star review, at...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Two Lovers and a Bear
“Two Lovers and a Bear” does indeed contain two lovers and a bear — and the bear can talk. The story of tortured people (Tatiana Maslany and Dane DeHaan) in a fiery romance in the icy Canadian Arctic is beautiful and strange, and it heads in directions you won’t expect....
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Maggie’s Plan
Echoes of Woody Allen and Noah Baumbach are unmistakable in Rebecca Miller’s romantic comedy about narcissistic, intellectual New York academics falling in and out of love with each other. Writer-director Rebecca Miller’s comic dialogue sparkles, but the dramatic underpinnings don’t work quite as well. My mixed RogerEbert.com review. Read the...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — A Bigger Splash
“A Bigger Splash” is simultaneously sumptuous and startling — a true feast for the senses, featuring four superb performances from Tilda Swinton, Matthias Schoenaerts, Dakota Johnson and especially Ralph Fiennes. He absolutely tears up the screen as well as the film’s idyllic setting on an island off the coast of...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Rio, I Love You
These “Cities of Love” movies — collections of shorts that pay homage to a specific place — keep getting worse. “Paris, Je T’aime” was hit-and-miss but had plenty of charm. “New York, I Love You” strangely failed to capture the essence of a city that’s been depicted on film countless...
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