Sony Pictures Rated PG-13 for intense battle sequences, disaster-related action and brief sexual content. Running time: 105 minutes. One and a half stars out of four Is it wrong to root for the volcano? Mount Vesuvius is the most interesting and expressive character of all in “Pompeii,” a mind-numbingly dull...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — Endless Love
My love … there’s only you in my life. And this remake which in no way resembles the 1981 Franco Zeffirelli original. Director and co-writer Shana Feste kept the names the same in adapting this melodramatic story of forbidden teenage love, but she took out all the crazy. My RogerEbert.com...
Read moreThe Lego Movie
Warner Bros. PG for mild action and rude humor. Running time: 100 minutes. Four stars out of four. “The Lego Movie”: Merely a great film, or the greatest film ever in the history of cinema? I asked this question — jokingly, rhetorically — during our What the Flick?! review, but...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Outsider
Jason Statham apparently was unavailable for this B-action movie about a beefy British bad-ass (Craig Fairbrass) who flies to Los Angeles to identify the body of his estranged daughter. But when he pulls back the sheet at the morgue, the young woman lying before him is a stranger, so he...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The Pretty One
Zoe Kazan is lovely in a multitude of roles, playing various versions of identical twin sisters. She and Jake Johnson share some effortless banter, but this ambitious comic drama doesn’t always hit the right marks tonally. My RogerEbert.com review. Read the review here...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Labor Day
He’s a hunky convicted killer on the run. She’s a lonely divorcee raising a 13-year-old son. Over one unusually hot holiday weekend, they fall in passionate, doomed love—and they bake a heavily metaphorical pie. Josh Brolin and Kate Winslet do their best with some laughably soapy material in Jason Reitman’s...
Read moreGimme Shelter
Roadside Attractions PG-13 for mature thematic material involving mistreatment, some drug content, violence and language — all concerning teens. Running time: 101 minutes. One and a half stars out of four. “Gimme Shelter” is a clunkily-made, batshit-crazy parable that hammers you over the head with its Christian, anti-abortion message. An...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Run & Jump
Will Forte displays even deeper dramatic ability following “Nebraska” — and reveals himself as a surprisingly appealing romantic lead — in the small, Irish gem “Run & Jump.” But the even greater revelation is Maxine Peake, who’s radiant as a housewife and mother of two struggling to maintain her optimism...
Read moreRide Along
Universal Pictures Rated PG-13 for sequences of violence, sexual content and brief strong language. Running time: 100 minutes. One star out of four. “Ride Along” has the dubious distinction of being simultaneously shoddy and straining, lazy and desperate. It’s a comedy that’s never funny with action that’s never thrilling. Director...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Life of a King
Chess: It’s just like life! Did you know that? Cuba Gooding Jr. teaches the game to inner-city youth — and uses it as a not-so-subtle metaphor — in this well-intentioned but ultimately formulaic story of an ex-con trying to rebuild his life. My RogerEbert.com review. Read the review here...
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