6 New Movies Our Critics Are Talking About This Week
Coloring inside the lines.
‘Harold and the Purple Crayon’
Directed by Carlos Saldanha, this adaptation of the children’s book of the same name follows Harold (Zachary Levi) with the magical purple crayon that brings his drawings to life as he encounters adulthood and the real world.
From our review:
There’s a standard-issue single mom (Zooey Deschanel, whose visible exhaustion here is actually a little too credible) and her boy, Mel (Benjamin Bottani), whose life is in need of wonder. This wonder will arrive through a tool of “pure imagination” (they really say that!). That is, Harold’s purple crayon, whose concoctions add some not-insubstantial visual interest to the proceedings. One scene in a department store, in which an actual puma and a too-functional kid’s helicopter ride contribute some anarchic slapstick, is a keeper. But it might have been better still as contrived by Terry Gilliam. Or Edgar Wright. Or Spike Jonze.
In theaters. Read the full review.
In a pandemic, don’t kiss the chef.
‘Coup!’
During the 1918 influenza outbreak, a family led by the liberal journalist Jay (Billy Magnussen), hires a new chef Floyd Monk (Peter Sarsgaard), who disrupts the peace of their remote island estate in this satire from Austin Stark and Joseph Schuman.
From our review:
As Monk lifts the veil enshrouding the estate’s hierarchy, he also emasculates Jay in the eyes of the household. This implication that virility trumps effeteness is, amid an otherwise straightforward comedy, an uncomfortably regressive way to tell the story of how people vie for power in hard times.
In theaters. Read the full review.
A gut punch from a refreshing angle.
‘Rob Peace’
In this coming-of-age drama directed by Chiwetel Ejiofor, Rob Peace (Jay Will) is torn between his studies at Yale and the legal troubles of his father (played by Ejiofor).
From our review:
The cinematographer Ksenia Sereda adheres to a blend of low angle shots and varying close-ups, and the visuals help imbue Rob with power and vulnerability in equal measure. While the persistent voice-over of Rob reading his graduate school personal essay as narration seems tacked on rather than poignant, all told, the movie delivers a well-earned emotional gut punch that refreshingly does not come from perpetuating the physical and systemic violence it aims to shed light upon.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Rapping with rakish charm.
‘Kneecap’
Written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, this quasi-biopic follows the pioneering Irish-language rap group of the same name, with its real members (Liam Og O Hannaidh, JJ O Dochartaigh, and Naoise O Caireallain) playing fictionalized versions of themselves.
From our review:
The trio drink, smoke and snort up a storm before each increasingly packed show. These drug-addled antics give the film its snappy, surreal sense of humor, which clicks only half the time. Its lodestar in this regard is “Trainspotting,” though “Kneecap” feels forced by comparison. Good thing the Kneecap boys are genuinely unhinged and amusingly louche. They bring a nerve that offsets the film’s cringe attempts at badassery.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Sex-fueled drama, but no satisfying climax.
‘Sebastian’
To drum up inspiration for his book, the writer Max (Ruaridh Mollica) begins moonlighting as an escort named Sebastian in this drama from Mikko Makela.
From our review:
Makela places significant reliance on his audience to grasp the character’s background, including a long history of stigma about gay sexuality and prostitution. It’s admirable how “Sebastian” combats the lack of genuinely erotic depictions of queer sex throughout cinema history by ramping up its sex quotient, but the film chases its own tail, resulting in a foreseeable transformation that has the emotional resonance of an after-school special.
In theaters. Read the full review.
This triangle is not equilateral.
‘Peak Season’
Amy (Claudia Restrepo) and her fiancé, Max (Ben Coleman), a couple from the city, encounter a rugged a rugged fly-fishing instructor (Derrick DeBlasis) during their retreat to Jackson Hole, Wyo. in this airy drama from Steven Kanter and Henry Loevner.
From our review:
“Peak Season” isn’t quite the simple-minded story of a city slicker who finds peace in the countryside that it initially appears to be. It also isn’t really a romance, although the chemistry between Restrepo and DeBlasis makes that prospect irresistible for a while. Kanter and Loevner also feint in that direction by stacking the deck against the unfailingly obnoxious Max, who can’t extract his head from his laptop and who opts for CrossFit over Grand Teton. But a lovely ending makes up for the filmmakers’ giving this triangle one blunt side.
In theaters. Read the full review.
Compiled by Kellina Moore.
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