The Amateur

Posted on April 8, 2025 at 1:50 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for some strong violence, and language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Some alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended peril and violence, fights, guns, explosions, car chase and car crash, some disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	April 11, 2025

Two powerful, enduring fantasies combine in “The Amateur,” the story of a nerdy computer guy who becomes an assassin to kill the four people responsible for murdering his wife. We all like to think that our Clark Kent selves, underestimated by pretty much everyone are just the secret identity of a powerful superhero. Indeed, being underestimated is its own kind of superpower. And we all wish we were capable of bringing justice, even rough justice, to those who cause harm. It is a remake of a 1982 film starring John Savage and Marthe Keller, based on the novel by Robert Littell.

Rami Malek stars as Charlie Heller, a computer guy (“decription and analysis” and apparently also some programming) who literally works in the five-stories-below-ground basement of the CIA, spending all day looking at screens. We see him at home with his beautiful, devoted wife Sarah, played by Rachel Brosnahan, perfectly fulfilling her responsibility to make enough of an impression for us to share Charlie’s sense of devastating loss. (Side note, as someone who well remembers the Aldrich Ames spy scandal, that a computer guy at the CIA who lives in what is clearly a multi-million dollar house in the country, on a huge piece of land with a barn big enough to hold a plane would be a big red flag as a likely double agent no matter how successful his wife is. )

Sarah is leaving on a five-day business trip to London. She asks him to come with her, knowing that he will not travel because he is set in his ways and also because he says he is untangling a puzzle at work. They exchange affectionate goodbyes, and then just to show us what a shy loner Charlie is, we see him going into the CIA office in Langley, Virginia, where he is greeted by someone there to be the opposite: Jon Bernthal as “The Bear,” a field agent (spy) who is confident, personable, and good at wheedling some IT support out of Charlie.

We also see Charlie receiving information from an anonymous contact in an undisclosed location. And then, a couple of days later, we see Charlie informed by his boss that Sarah has been killed in a terrorist attack. The CIA is not going to go after them because they are mercenaries and they want to go after the people who hired them. (At least that’s what they tell Charlie.)

And that is when our humble guy decides to leave the basement and his reluctance to travel behind so he can personally kill the four men who were involved. His boss (burly Holt McCallany as Director Moore) agrees to provide him with field agent training and sends him off to learn from sensei Colonel Henderson (Laurence Fishburne), not because he supports what Charlie wants to do but to get him away from home and the office so they can find out where he has hidden the documentation of the rogue black ops he has threatened to release if they do not give him what he wants.

Apparently all the training a spy gets takes place in a couple of days, so after we and the Colonel see what Charlie is good at (making IEDs) and not good at (shooting or killing), Charlie is off to track down the four mercenary bad guys. Charlie takes a backpack of fake passports and starts jet-setting around Europe (we obligingly are given not just the names of the cities where these various encounters take place but also their longitude and latitude). At this point it’s just counting down the culprits with a series of cleverly designed traps. If you guess that the anonymous person Charlie knew online, the apparently amiable spy, and the Colonel will show up again, plus the obligatory graffiti-covered bathroom in a nightclub scene for any spy movie that doesn’t have a swanky black tie gala scene, you are correct.

If you’ve seen the trailer, you’re probably there for the pool scene, and it is a lulu, especially in IMAX. Nice to have Charlie say “It’s all about integrity” with a double meaning. There are a few good twists, plus the always-welcome Julianne Nicholson as the newly-appointed head of the CIA who has her own concerns about what Moore is up to, and the always-superb Michael Stuhlbarg, who elevates everything he is in and here make a near-ridiculous scene almost make sense. “The Amateur” may not be memorable or make sense, but it benefits from a strong cast, it looks glossy (outstanding work on the settings), the action scenes move along well and that pool scene really is pretty special.

Parents should know that this film includes a brutal capture and murder of a beloved wife followed by the murder of the people involved. Characters are injured and killed. Characters drink alcohol and use some strong language.

Family discussion: How did Charlie make the most of what he was good at? What did we learn from the lunch scene with O’Brien and Moore? (And how likely is it that they would be discussing CIA business in a restaurant?)

If you like this, try: “Three Days of the Condor” and the Bourne movies

Death of a Unicorn

Posted on March 26, 2025 at 12:30 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for strong violent content, gore, language and some drug use
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol and drug use
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended and very gory peril and violence, many characters injured and killed, graphic and disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	Class and economic diversity themes
Date Released to Theaters:	March 28, 2025

Elliot (Paul Rudd), a nervous lawyer who is late to a very important meeting with a vastly wealthy client and constantly sneezing from his allergy to pollen. He is driving much too fast on a precarious mountain road and he hits…a unicorn. He and his daughter Ridley (Jenna Ortega) get out of the car. She touches the unicorn’s glowing horn and makes some kind of connection to the animal and its wisdom about the universe. He, seeing that the animal is suffering and again, frantic about getting to the compound on top of the mountain to meet with the client, hits the unicorn with a tire iron to, well, you saw the title.

They shove the unicorn’s body into the rental car and proceed up the mountain to the compound of the client, Odell (Richard E. Grant), critically ill and on oxygen, his wife Belinda (Tea Leoni) and their son, Shepard (Will Poulter). This visit will determine whether Odell will bring Elliot on as a partner of the pharmaceutical company, and Elliot has brought Ridley along to demonstrate his value as a family man. He does not pay attention to Ridley’s unhappiness with him and with the client as a representative of the oppressive oligarchy. She has grudgingly agreed to pretend to close to him. And he keeps assuring her that all of the compromises he is making are because he wants to take care of her.

This conflict is acutely shown in the first scene, when they are stuck on a plane that has been delayed. Ridley has fallen asleep on her father’s shoulder. He looks at her tenderly. But then the papers he was working on fall into the aisle, and, after some brief efforts to reach them without disturbing her, he stretches out and lets her head fall to the armrest with a thunk.

Odell, Belinda, and Shepard do not exemplify Ridley’s view of the oligarchy; they are even more selfish, fatuous, and predatory than she imagined. Grant and Leoni are right on point in conveying the superficial congeniality and underlying combination of carelessness and ruthlessness that comes from a complete disconnection to any adverse consequences. Why shouldn’t the entire world exist for no purpose other than their comfort and, perhaps, immortality?

Their reaction to the unicorn is to follow the Native American “every part of the buffalo” theory, not out of economy or respect but out of greed. This is amplified when an infusion of unicorn blood brings Odell back from the brink of death to vibrant health. It might even cure cancer. Poulter is also terrific as the spoiled bro heir.” That’s the biggest one!” Shepard shouts joyfully. There’s a recurring joke about the way the family yells “Griff” for the servant (Anthony Carrigan) any time one of them needs something, thinks they need something, or just has a whim.

The dead unicorn is a baby and the other unicorns want it back. Ridley does some research into the legend behind the famous unicorn tapestries now in New York’s Cloisters Museum. The connection she made when she touched the horn helps her understand that it will not go well for anyone who hurts or captures. The movie gets very grisly.

We are in the midst of a prevalent “eat the rich” theme in television series from “Squid Games” to “White Lotus” and “Severance” and movies like “The Menu,” “Triangle of Sadness,” and “Mickey 17.” Some of them are more effective than others. I’d put this somewhere in the middle. The extended bloodbath at the end and the slight nod at one character’s redemption are not as well-executed as the satiric first half. But its audacity and imagination are impressive and the skill and commitment of the cast makes it very watchable.

Parents should know that this movie has extended and very graphic violence with most characters injured or killed and very disturbing images. Characters use strong language.

Family discussion: Why was it hard for Elliot to see that he was not helping Ridley? What do you think will happen after the ending of the movie?

If you like this, try: “Glass Onion,” “Dumb Money,” and “Mickey 17”

Novocaine

Posted on March 13, 2025 at 5:53 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for strong bloody violence, grisly images, and language throughout
Profanity:	Constant very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol, scene in a bar
Violence/ Scariness:	Constant peril and violence, many characters injured and killed, automatic weapons, injuries with ordinary but dangerous objects, graphic and disturbing wounds and other images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	March 14, 2025

Pain has a purpose. It helps keep us safe. We avoid being hurt and we get help when we are hurt. But Nathan Caine (a game Jack Quaid) has a condition called congenital insensitivity to pain and anhydrosis. He can be injured, but the pain message never makes it to his brain. The only way his parents could keep him safe was to keep him away from anything that might injure him. There’s a tennis ball on the corner of his desk just in case it is sharp enough to hurt him if he bangs into it. The tips of the pencils on his desk are covered. Nate does not eat solid food because what if he bit his tongue? He would never know.

He has a risk-averse job. That tennis ball-adorned desk is in a quiet neighborhood bank, where Nate is an assistant manager. At the office, he is kind to a widower who has missed his loan payments, giving him an unauthorized extension. And he looks longingly at Sherry (Amber Midthunder) but has no idea of how to talk to her. At home, he plays online games with Roscoe a 6’5″ guy with a man-bun, I mean a mini high ponytail, who rides a Harley. They’ve never actually met in person, but that’s as close to an IRL relationship as Nate has.

It is just before Christmas, and the bank is preparing for a busy day with people depositing their bonus checks. Then three men come in, dressed as Santa, and start shooting. Things go badly. The manager is killed. Many police officers are killed. And Sherry is taken hostage.

Nate immediately switches from being the most careful person on earth to being the most reckless as he races to rescue Sherry and basically turns the movie into something between an old school video game and a Road Runner cartoon. That almost but not quite makes it possible not to be overwhelmed by the constant carnage, with the Dolby sound of the guns making the theater seats shake.

It’s just one scene after another of Nate going after the bad guys, the cops going after him, the bad guys going after him, at one point a booby-trapped house going after him. Screenwriter Lars Jacobson comes up with a very inventive series of ways to inflict injury, if not pain, on Nate, whether he is sticking his hand in boiling oil to retrieve a gun, removing a bullet from his arm and sewing up the wound, being slammed in the back with a giant shining spiked flail, and pulling out a big knife that went through his hand so he can use it on someone else. As they used to say in the Timex watch commercials, he takes a licking and keeps on ticking. None of it makes sense, even if he does stop for an adrenaline injection, but if we wanted to see something make sense we’d be at a different movie.

Hero Quaid and Ray Nicholson, who plays bad guy Simon, are both sons of Hollywood stars, and we can guess who their fathers are when they smile. Quaid is the son of Meg Ryan and Dennis Quaid, and he has his dad’s wickedly charming grin. Nicholson does not look much like his dad, Jack, until we see his smile. Midthunder is also from a show business family; her father is an actor and her mother is a casting director. She is also appearing in another movie opening this week, “Opus,” with John Malcovich. In her first lead role in a film, she is immensely appealing and gives her character more depth than we might expect, deftly rounding some character arcs that would be a challenge for many more experienced performers.

As we careen from fight to shoot-out to chase, it feels more like an FPS game than a story, but what little story there is gives Nate a chance to discover himself and his capabilities, including connections to Shelly and Roscoe. Quaid handles all of that more than capably. It’s not memorable, and there’s too much carnage for the spirited tone it strives for, but the actors make it work.

Parents should know that this film has non-stop very intense peril and violence with many characters injured and killed and many graphic and disturbing images. Characters use constant very strong language. Characters drink alcohol and there is a scene in a bar.

Family discussion: Why didn’t Nate tell the police how to find the robbers? Do you agree with what the judge decided?

If you like this, try: “Crank” and “Shoot ’em Up”

Opus

Posted on March 13, 2025 at 12:50 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for violent content including a grisly image, language, sexual material and brief graphic nudity
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	March 14, 2025

“Opus” is almost smart, almost good, and almost worth your time. A first-rate but mostly under-used cast flounders in the second half of a story that begins as a satire of obsession with celebrity that veers into a less successful thriller.

The first feature film from writer/director Mark Anthony Green stars John Malcovich as Alfred Moretti, a rock star who is a combination of Bob Dylan and Elvis Presley, not in style of music but in prominence and influence. Thirty years ago, he was the most popular musician in the world (every teenager of the era used his signature song as a ring tone, we learn). And then he burnished his legend by disappearing. Now, after decades of isolation, his long-time publicist (a very funny Tony Hale playing a character with the wonderfully name Soledad Yusef) informs the world that Moretti will release a new record and he is inviting a very small group to his compound to be the first to hear it.

They are Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edebiri), a frustrated young journalist working at a Rolling Stone-style magazine whose ideas are always given to more senior writers, her boss, Stan Sullivan (Murray Bartlett), television star Clara Armstrong (Juliette Lewis), estranged former Moretti colleague Bill Lotto (Mark Sivertsen), veteran photographer Bianca Tyson (Melissa Chambers), and “influencer” (I always have to put that term in quotes) Emily Katz (Stephanie Suganami). Other than Ariel, these characters have at most one attribute each, despite the best efforts of the excellent cast. Stan is starstruck and arrogant, telling Ariel to take notes and forbidding her to write even a subsidiary piece about the compound and its residents. The others barely have anything to do except taking for granted this exceptional opportunity and going along (as long as they can) with everything that happens because they want Moretti to keep including them. They keep telling the emperor that his clothes are fabulous. Maybe they’ve deluded themselves into thinking he is. Maybe they just want him to think they’re cool, an even bigger delusion.

Their phones and laptops are confiscated “to preserve the integrity” of the experience (so much for the “influencer.” And the residents of this remote compound are more than staff; they all seem to be part of a cult. At first, they seem to be a peaceful arts community. Then things get quirky. Then they get creepy. Then they get terrifying.

Like Moretti, this movie is not as smart as it thinks it is. It is better at raising thoughtful questions than illuminating them. By the end, it does not earn its provocation.

Parents should know that this movie has extended peril and violence with many graphic and very disturbing images. Many characters are injured and killed. Characters use strong language and drink alcohol.

Family discussion: Why do the visitors go along with some of the craziness? At what point would you decide to leave? Who does Moretti remind you of? What is the meaning of the final “thank you?”

Flight Risk

Posted on January 23, 2025 at 7:12 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for violence and language
Profanity:	Very strong and crude languagecdure
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended peril and violence, airplane peril, characters injured and killed, some grisly and disturbing images
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	January 24, 2025

“Flight Risk” has all of the ingredients for a tight little thriller except one. There’s a good set-up — transport of a cooperating witness, accompanied by just one US Marshal in her first return to field work after a failure that left her feeling vulnerable, and a pilot sent by the bad guys to kill the witness. It has a good setting — a small plane flying through the snowy mountains of Alaska. And a good run-time — just over 90 minutes. But the direction by Mel Gibson is sloppy. Not the editing or special effects, which range from serviceable to tense, but some of the choices that interfere with the best the movie has to offer.

Topher Grace, who plays Winston, is, as always, immediately engaging, well cast as the talkative prisoner. He’s first seen in a low-end motel, sitting on the bed and staring into an aged microwave waiting for it to warm up a styrofoam cup of soup. US Marshals break in and he immediately offers to cooperate with them. Like Charles Grodin in the infinitely better “Midnight Run,” Winston was an accountant for a vicious mob boss. He agrees to tell law enforcement everything he knows if they will give him immunity and protection.

Michelle Dockery (“Downton Abbey”) is Madolyn Harris. She has to bring Winston east to testify in the gangster’s trial. Without his testimony, there will not be enough evidence to convict him. She charters a plane, gets Winston settled with handcuffs, and takes the only other seat, next to the pilot (Mark Wahlberg), who says his name is Booth. His backwards baseball cap, chewing gum, and cornpone accent do not create a great deal of confidence, but he assures Madolyn that they’ll be in Anchorage and on their way to Seattle in 90 minutes.

Except he was never told their next stop was Seattle. Madolyn gets suspicious. “Booth” is there to kill Winston. He is also the only pilot on board. There is nothing around them but snowy mountains. The rest of the movie is the very bumpy ride.

The problem is that the fun of all the tension and action is interrupted by weird dialogue that is as off-balance as the plane. As Madolyn is using the limited access to her phone to update her colleagues (and try to figure out who has been leaking key information to the gangster), she is also on with Hassan (Maaz Ali), a pilot who is talking her through the instrumentation. He is creepily predatory, in the midst of the direst possible situation insisting that she go on a date with him. What is the idea behind this? Is there any world where someone might imagine this could be reassuring? It j’ust kept taking me out of the film.

And then there is “Booth.” Reportedly, Gibson let Wahlberg write some of his own dialogue, which gives his character a chance to free-associate a series of comments that he and Gibson may have considered evidence of recklessness and pleasure in hurting people, showing us why he is so dangerous. But they are crude and off-kilter (too many references to prison rape, for example) in a way that is at odds with the tempo and tone of the film. They’re also tedious. They do not add anything to the sense of menace or the stakes. It just comes across as self-indulgent, the last thing you want in a 90-minute thriller.

Parent should know that this is a very violent film with a knife, a flare gun, a very dangerous plane flight, criminal behavior and corruption, and extended strong language with very crude sexual references.

Family discussion: How did Madolyn decide who she could trust? How did her past experience help or hurt her ability to handle the challenges of this transport?

If you like this, try: “Plane,” “Fathom,” and “Con Air”