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Blu-ray cover for Midnight Special
Blu-ray cover for Midnight Special

Midnight Special,

directed by Jeff Nichols

(PG-13, 111 minutes)

The opening scene of Midnight Special shows a boy wearing goggles, reading Superman comics beneath his blanket, headphones stopping his ears.

An Amber Alert plays on a television in a shabby motel room where Roy (Michael Shannon) taps his ear and the obedient child, Alton (Jaeden Lieberher), removes his headphones. Roy stoops and the boy's arms loop round his neck.

Somehow we understand this child is being moved by night for reasons as serious as they are obscure. Apparently allergic to sunlight, his eyes sometimes gleam with a white light. In the primer-gray '71 Chevy Chevelle rolling through east Texas, the radio provides a description and a license plate. They dive off the interstate and driver Lucas (Joel Edgerton) pulls on night-vision goggles and douses his headlights. They keep driving.

Eventually we learn that Roy is Alton's biological father, intent on rescuing the boy from an apocalyptic Branch Davidian-type cult led by Calvin Meyer (Sam Shepard). Calvin had adopted Alton, and had been using the boy as a cosmic receiver, snatching numerical combinations from the air. From these coded signals, which he has incorporated into his sermons, Calvin has deduced the end is nigh. He has dispatched thugs to retrieve the boy.

The FBI and NSA have converged upon Calvin's compound, hauling off the faithful on buses to be interviewed about the sect's numerology, which means something to them. And soon the feds are also after Alton as they understand his potential. Meanwhile, Roy and Lucas and the boy race through the darkness, headed toward a date and GPS coordinates.

It's probably better that you not know too much going into Nichols' thrilling joyride, although you've probably already heard how the movie evokes Steven Spielberg's Sugarland Express, E.T. and Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

There are questions about Alton and Roy and Sarah (Kirsten Dunst), Alton's mother, that aren't answered. Nichols is content to let the mystery be, to provide a rich, intelligent entertainment that a lot of people will enjoy. It's mostly about having children and hoping that they live to see wonders.

Like that vintage Chevelle, it's a modest-looking machine, with a monster beneath its hood.

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My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (PG-13, 94 minutes) A sequel to the 2002 original comedy brings back writer Nia Vardalos and the Portokalos family for an even bigger and more Greek wedding; for those who find appeal in such subjects. With Rita Wilson, John Corbett, Mark Margolis, John Stamos; directed by Kirk Jones.

Anesthesia (R, 90 minutes) Nonsensical dialogue and disconnected characters result in an earnest, disjointed flashback-filled drama that concerns events leading up to the violent street attack of a popular Columbia University philosophy professor (Sam Waterston). With Glenn Close, Gretchen Mol, Kristen Stewart, Corey Stoll; directed by Tim Blake Nelson.

MovieStyle on 06/24/2016

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