Inferno,
directed by Ron Howard
(PG-13, 1 hour, 55 minutes)
An aggravatingly dull thriller with a few much-needed lighthearted moments, Inferno concerns clever problem-solving Harvard-trained symbologist Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks, looking more worried than he did in 2006's The Da Vinci Code or 2009's Angels & Demons), who wakes up in a hospital in Florence, Italy (a very attractive setting), with a head wound and no idea where he has been for the last 48 hours.
Somehow he recovers enough to join with emergency-room physician Sienna Brooks (Felicity Jones) to race around Florence and other scenic locations such as Venice and Istanbul because he has become the subject of a targeted manhunt. Only his implementation of cryptic clues found in Dante's The Divine Comedy will save them and prevent a massive global attack.
Based on the novel by Dan Brown. With Irrfan Khan, Ben Foster.
The Light Between Oceans (PG-13, 2 hours, 13 minutes) Talented actors and gorgeous scenery mix with melodrama in this illogical tale about a battle-weary Australian veteran of World War I and his wife, who take up a post-war isolated life in a remote lighthouse. That's where a baby washes up on shore in a lifeboat. The couple intend to raise the child as their own, but eventually discover that the wee one's caretakers may be alive and well and in search of her. With Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz, Bryan Brown; directed by Derek Cianfrance.
I'm Not Ashamed (PG-13, 1 hour, 52 minutes) This is a (mostly true) faith-based story aimed at a specific demographic, told through journal entries and interviews with the mother of Rachel Joy Scott, a devoutly Christian student who lost her life at the 1999 Columbine Massacre. With Masey McLain, Ben Davies, Cameron McKendry; directed by Brian Baugh.
The Monster (R, 1 hour, 31 minutes) Modestly taut in scope and scary in presentation, this horror drama concerns a no-account alcoholic mother who, while driving her daughter through a late-night rainstorm to take the kid to her dad, hits a wolf on the road. A call for assistance brings forth a mechanic, who becomes a victim of an attack that nobody could have anticipated. It's not looking good for mom and her passenger, either. With Zoe Kazan, Scott Speedman, Aaron Douglas; directed by Bryan Bertino.
The Vessel (PG-13, 1 hour, 26 minutes) A dreamy, quiet dive into the power of hope after loss, The Vessel tells a visual story of the aftermath of a disaster. Ten years after a tidal wave destroys a small Latin American town's elementary school and its pupils, an enterprising young man is determined to build a unique boat using the school's shambled remains. With Martin Sheen, Jorge Luis Ramos, Lucas Quintana; directed by Julia Quintana.
USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage (R, 2 hours, 8 minutes) A miserable mess of a war movie that doesn't do justice to its awe-inspiring story of American heroes shipwrecked in shark-infested waters in the waning days of World War II. With Nicolas Cage, Tom Sizemore, Thomas Jane, Emily Tennant; directed by Mario Van Peebles.
A Month of Sundays (PG-13, 1 hour, 45 minutes) A warm, clean-cut and modest comedy in which real-estate agent Frank Mollard (Anthony LaPaglia), suffering in the aftermath of a nasty divorce, an inability to sell houses during a property boom, and an estrangement from his teenage son, gets a call from his mother, who died a year ago. Life changes are inevitable. With Julia Blake, John Clarke; directed by Matthew Saville.
The Girl on the Train (R, 1 hour, 52 minutes)
Everybody loves the book by Paula Hawkins. The movie, not so much. Dull, poorly plotted and afflicted with painfully clumsy dialogue, it follows hard-drinking Rachel (Emily Blunt, doing the best she can with a lumbering script), distressed over a difficult divorce, who daydreams about the imagined perfect lives of a couple living in a house near New York that her daily commuter train passes -- until she sees something there that proves to be disturbing. So she decides to investigate. Flashbacks, along with complications, ensue.
Comparisons with David Fincher's much better Gone Girl are hard to avoid.
With Justin Theroux, Rebecca Ferguson, Lisa Kudrow, Allison Janney; directed by Tate Taylor.
Ouija: Origin of Evil (PG-13, 1 hour, 39 minutes) A satisfying prequel to the less-impressive 2014 original, this gruesome haunted house-horror mystery follows a seemingly simple game of Ouija down a scary road to supernatural activity. With Annalise Basso, Henry Thomas, Parker Mack; directed by Mike Flanagan.
When Elephants Were Young (not rated, 1 hour, 30 minutes) Narrated by William Shatner, this is a softly affectionate drama about 26-year-old Wok and his young elephant Nong Mai, a companionable pair who lead a subsistence life begging on the streets of Bangkok until an opportunity is presented to release the elephant into the wild. Directed by Patricia Sims.
MovieStyle on 01/27/2017