“Operation Mincemeat” looks like a proper British spy drama and for the most part, well, it is. But the story itself is so absurd and is told with enough surprises and dry humor that it’s constantly engaging. My review, at RogerEbert.com. Read the review here...
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Reviews
RogerEbert.com — Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore
These “Fantastic Beasts” movies are just not good. They are extremely OK. They’re all chasing the dragon of that astronomical, worldwide, once-in-a-generation “Harry Potter” success, but each new movie in this spinoff franchise reminds us of how unnecessary and inferior they are. My mixed review of “The Secrets of Dumbledore,”...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Gold
Zac Efron scrubs away all vestiges of his pretty-boy persona beneath the baking sun and swirling sands of the Australian survival tale “Gold.” If only the film itself rose to Efron’s extreme level of his commitment. “Gold” is more effective from an aesthetic standpoint than it is from a narrative...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Ted K
Sharlto Copley is on screen for nearly the entirety of “Ted K,” which follows the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, in the years leading up to his arrest. But the man himself remains inherently unknowable—fearsome and fascinating but just out of reach. And that’s probably by design in the impressionistic and hypnotic drama...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — A Banquet
Director Ruth Paxton puts you on edge from the beginning in her psychological thriller “A Banquet,” and holds that unsettling mood throughout. But because the sound design is so vivid and Paxton’s eye for disturbing detail is so creative, it’s even more frustrating that the payoff is so unsatisfying in...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Book of Love
It feels sort of mean trashing “Book of Love,” a bilingual romantic comedy that offers a clever premise but never truly delivers on it in satisfying fashion. Sam Claflin plays an author whose latest novel, “The Sensible Heart,” is a major dud. But the book becomes a huge hit in...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Clean
Adrien Brody stars in “Clean” as the ironically named title character: a garbage collector with a grimy past. He also co-wrote the script, produced the film and composed the score. It’s clearly a labor of love for the Oscar winner. Brody conveys so much emotion and regret simply through his...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Simple Passion
I remain on the Sergei Polunin beat at RogerEbert.com with my review of “Simple Passion,” in which the bad-boy ballet dancer plays an elusive Russian diplomat having a purely physical affair with a divorced Parisian professor. It’s all very torrid, but his character is intentionally vapid and boring, and the...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — The 355
“The 355” amasses some of the most talented and electrifying actresses in the world, then squanders them in a generic and forgettable action picture. It would seem impossible to make a boring spy movie starring Jessica Chastain, Lupita Nyong’o, Diane Kruger and Penelope Cruz, but Simon Kinberg managed to do...
Read moreRogerEbert.com — Parallel Mothers
That magical connection between Pedro Almodovar and Penelope Cruz continues to grow stronger and burn brighter with “Parallel Mothers,” their eighth film together over the past quarter century. The Spanish maestro knows precisely how to get all the colors out of his charismatic muse, and in turn, the veteran star...
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