How to Make a Killing

Posted on February 20, 2026 at 3:37 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	R for violence, sexual references, pervasive language, and some drug use

I never had the love for Glen Powell’s “Hit Man” that most people did. The set-up and the wit were all wonderfully entertaining and the chemistry between Powell and Adria Arjona was off the charts, but the “happy” ending was too dark to fit the world of the rest of the film. The same issue creates even bigger problems with Powell’s new film, “How to Make a Killing,” inspired by the classic “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” with Alec Guinness playing eight roles, all relatives who were killed off, one by one, by a wily schemer. The multiple roles gimmick is fun, but that film, a Criterion Collection gem, works because it is an outstanding example of a black comedy. This one should have studied it more closely.

Like the original, this one begins with the hero/anti-hero in prison, waiting for his execution. Powell plays Becket Redfellow, whose mother was disowned by her very wealthy family when she became pregnant at age 18 and refused to have an abortion. His father died when he was an infant, so his mother raised him alone for a few years until she died, making him promise he would do whatever it took to have the “right life,” he deserved. By “right” she meant the wealth and prestige of her family. But when Becket, still a child, asked if his mother could be buried in the family mausoleum, the butler handed him a note with a “polite” refusal that wished him well.

As a child, Becket had a crush on Julia (Margaret Qualley as an adult). In Great Expectations fashion, they are separated for years and then meet again. He is still enthralled by her, but she is engaged to a man who shares her social cachet. She turns down his offer to get together to catch up and makes a joke about how Beckett should kill off those ahead of him in line to inherit his grandfather’s multi-billion dollar estate.

And then Beckett starts to kill off those ahead of him in line to inherit the estate. (Conveniently for the plot, the entire estate automatically goes to whoever is next in line.)

This gives us a chance to meet the relatives, who are all arrogant and selfish and not that interesting. There’s a partying finance bro, a pretentious artist, and a woman who brags about adopting 11 children from different countries. Topher Grace brings some vitality to his role as something between a prosperity gospel huckster and a personal empowerment huckster. One of the relatives turns out to be a decent guy, but he conveniently dies of natural causes. Cut to yet another scene in front of the family mausoleum.

A movie that asks us to root for a ruthless (note the name of a key character) serial killer needs a consistent, heightened, satiric tone and very sharp and specific characters. Think of a film like the original British version of “Bedazzled” (the Brendan Fraser remake is pretty good, too). The actors here seem to be coming from different movies. It should also have clever crimes. Like the characters, the crimes here are bland, and like “Hit Man” the end is unsatisfying and sour. Even a very black-humor-based movie has to have some kind of moral core. This one is just empty.

Parents should know that this film involves a series of murders of family members. Characters drink alcohol, smoke tobacco and weed, and use very strong language.

Family discussion: What is the “right life?” Why were the members of this family so selfish?

If you like this, try: “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “Gross Pointe Blank,” and “Mr. Right”

EPIC: Elvis Presley in Concert

Posted on February 19, 2026 at 5:39 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for smoking and some language
Profanity:	Mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Smoking, some alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Sad death of a parent off-screen
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	February 20, 2026

Until someone invents a time machine, this movie is the only way you will get a chance to experience one of the most electrifying performers of the 20th century at the absolute height of his charisma and musicianship. Go see it, and if at all possible, see it in IMAX.

A professional film crew followed Elvis Presley for about a decade, with more than a thousand live concerts plus rehearsals, behind the scenes footage, and a remarkably candid audio-only interview that serves as the narration for this film. All of that footage was lost until director Baz Luhrmann tracked it down when he was working on his film with Austin Butler as Elvis. There were hours of footage, but the film was fragile and required extensive but very delicate restoration. (No AI, not a single frame, Luhrmann assures us.) That footage has now been assembled into an intimate documentary that shows us Elvis at his best, with the most touching and inspiring footage ever of this incessantly-filmed star, showing us, above all, his broad-ranging and deep love of music, of his audience, and of performing. In under two hours, we hear many of his hits, including my two favorites, “Poke Salad Annie” and “Burning Love,” but also his mastery of an astonishing range of genres: country, R&B, gospel, honky tonk, pop, and rock. When he sings Beatles and Simon and Garfunkel songs, it is not because he is trying to compete or keep up; he genuinely loves their music and brings his own understanding of what makes them great.

An introduction gives us an impressionistic mosaic of what has led up to his decision to focus on live performance. We see his early years and his being drafted into the Army and serving in Germany. That would be his only time outside of the United States, and we later hear his wistful longing for a chance to perform in Europe. (His manager, “Colonel” Tom Parker, would not allow him to tour internationally, for a reason we did not learn until both had died: Parker, a Dutch citizen, was in the US illegally and feared that if he left he would not be allowed back into the country.)

We get a sense of his overwhelming life. He is always gracious despite the obnoxious and insulting questions from the press and the constant attention and neediness of those around him. He jokes about Ed Sullivan telling the cameras to show him only above the waist, and about how his sparkly suit is too tight to allow him to kneel.

His interactions with his musicians are mutually respectful, friendly, good-humored, but very professional and specific. He knows what he wants to sing, when it should come in the show, and what it should sound like. He works very hard, telling us he loses 4 or 5 pounds with each performance. At times he looks as skinny as when he first appeared in public.

Elvis is too often reduced to the caricatures of his last years, overweight, ostentatious bling and caped jumpsuits, fried banana sandwiches, giving away cars. It is pure joy to replace that with these vibrant, pulse-pounding, genuinely thrilling performances, very skillfully edited to match the rhythm of the music. We see the wildly appreciative audience (including Cary Grant and Sammy Davis, Jr., who show up after the performance in Presley’s dressing room to say hello, and one-time co-star, dancer Juliet Prowse). Fitting for the gospel and gospel-influenced delivery, at times it feels like a soul-stirring church service. Some of the venues are quite small by today’s arena standards, giving it a palpable air of humility, grace, and connection. We are on stage with him, and one of the purest joys of the film is the private smile when he thinks he has done well. He comes alive in performative mode, drawing energy from the crowd. But that smile of satisfaction invites us into a world that is just Elvis and his music. Thanks to Luhrmann and most of all to Elvis Presley for reminding us — and making available forever — a genuine superstar.

Parents should know that there are some suggestive lyrics and some drinking answers smoking.

Family discussion: Which is your favorite Elvis song? Who is most like Elvis today?

If you like this, try: “Elvis: The Searcher,” “Viva Las Vegas,” and “Elvis: That’s the Way It Is”

Crime 101

Posted on February 12, 2026 at 5:37 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for anguage throughout, some violence, and sexual material/nudity
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Violent crime, characters shot and beaten, injuries and death
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	February 13, 2026

Three people under increasing pressure find their stories intersecting in a tense, old-school crime drama that hopes top acting talent will keep you from noticing, or at least caring. And it pretty much succeeds.

Chris Hemsworth, who also produced, stars as Mike, a smooth, methodical thief who specializes in detailed plans where no one is ever hurt. He also specializes in a particular geographic location. The 101 in the title is not a metaphor for an introductory class but a reference to the Los Angeles freeway. Mike lives a very controlled, sterile, isolated life. He tells the man who acts as a fence for the stolen goods (Nick Nolte, rasping his way through a small role as “Money”) that he is going to quit.

Mark Ruffalo is Lou, the police detective trying to persuade his boss that there is one person behind a series of jewel robberies along the 101, as the boss complains about his low closure rate and pushes Lou to make ethical compromises.

And Halle Berry is Sharon, who sells insurance to wealthy collectors and is under-appreciated by her boorish boss. She has repeatedly been promised she would be made partner, but he keeps telling her she has to wait.

Methodical can also mean predictable, and Lou thinks he knows where the next robbery will be. But Money adds chaos to the mix by telling Orman (Barry Keoghan), a trigger-happy motorcyclist to rob the place Mike had identified.

All of these stories come together in a sleek, moody story that shows off the landscape of Los Angeles very effectively. Mike meets Maya (Monica Barbaro (Joan Baez in “A Complete Unknown”) and is very drawn to her warmth and empathy, two qualities we suspect he avoided because he was afraid of being vulnerable. Sharon is pushed aside by her boss, who gives a younger associate the chance to close the deal she was working on. (Tate Donovan is very good here as the client Sharon is trying to land, an arrogant billionaire engaged to a much younger woman.) Keoghan has a plausible American accent and an even more plausible combination of fear, anger, brutality, and the need to prove himself.

The plot keeps trying to bring all of these parts together, but they never quite mesh. Each segment, even the rumpled Ruffalo with a marital separation scene, feels as sterile and isolated as Mike’s spare, generic apartment. That separation scene features Jennifer Jason Leigh as Leo’s wife. Like Cory Hawkins, who play’s Leo’s partner, Leigh is immensely talented and unforgivably underused.

And then there is the last half hour, which plot holes that overpower the charisma of the stars and the glossiness of the production. The bigger problem is that what is intended to be rough justice comes across as fatuous and cynical.

Parents should know that this movie includes violence, with characters injured and killed, sexual references and situations including a sex worker, strong language, and alcohol.

Family discussion: Do you agree with Lou’s choice at the end? With Sharon’s decision? What will Mike do next?

If you like this, try: “Tequila Sunrise” and “Heat”

“Wuthering Heights”

Posted on February 11, 2026 at 2:40 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Mature High Schooler
MPAA Rating:	ated R for sexual content, some violent content and language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness
Violence/ Scariness:	Some peril and violence, a hanging, medical crisis, sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	Class diversity
Date Released to Theaters:	February 13, 2026

Emerald Fennell’s new film is more of a a sexy perfume commercial than a version of the classic Emily Bronte novel. The title and character names are from the book as are the windswept moors that act as setting and metaphor. But the book is not a romance; it is a story of obsession, repression, grief, and generational trauma. This version changes some of the relationships and, significantly, backstories to center the passionate love affair between Catherine Earnshaw (Margot Robbie) and Heathcliff (Jacob Elordi).

The movie begins with a crude joke. We hear what sounds like a sexual situation, with bedsprings squeaking and increasingly heavy breathing. And then we see that the source of the sounds is….the last strangled breaths of a man who is being hanged. The crowd is watching it as great entertainment. And a young girl (Charlotte Mellington as young Catherine) is mesmerized.

Catherine lives with her dissolute, brutish father (Martin Clunes) in an isolated, once-grand home. There are a few shabby servants and a between-classes woman named Nelly (Hong Chau), the out-of-wedlock daughter of a nobleman, who serves as Cathy’s caretaker. Mr. Earnshaw impulsively brings home a boy he rescued from being beaten. He has no name, so Catherine dubs him Heathcliff (Owen Cooper of “Adolescence” as young Heathcliff), after her late brother.

Catherine and Heathcliff have an instant, deep connection, but it is not entirely reciprocal. They are a lesser version of Buttercup and Wesley; she takes advantage of him and teases him, he is never anything but devoted and sincere, and they never have any kind of honest conversation about their feelings or prospects. She sulks and flounces. When she makes them late for dinner, he takes a beating from Mr. Earnshaw by lying that he was responsible.

The tiny population of the home that gives the book and the movie its name is all the people in this isolated area of the moors until the wealthy Edgar Linton moves five miles away with his ward, Isabella. Fennell is always superb at giving us striking, spectacular images that tell us a great deal about the characters, and the Linton home is one of Production Designer Suzie Davies’ most stunning achievements. Catherine (now played by Robbie) looks almost feral as she goes through a garden wall to enter the Linton’s exquisitely civilized space.

Soon, Heathcliff leaves and Catherine is married to Edgar. She now has magnificent jewels and a series of fabulous gowns in gorgeous settings, a sharp contrast to the wildness of the moors. Just in case we don’t get the point, Isabella makes a doll version of herself and Catherine and puts them in a dollhouse version of the Linton mansion, which itself, like an infinite regression, has a miniature version so the dolls can play with their own dollhouse. Oh, and the Catherine doll has Catherine’s own hair, taken from her hairbrush.

Fennell has some wild details, including Edgar having Catherine’s bedroom painted the color of her complexion, down to her freckle, and Catherine peeking through the floorboards to watch her servants have sex in the stable, using the horse’s bridle as a sex toy. And, again, a departure from the book, when Heathcliff returns, years later, he and Catherine have an affair. Perhaps the most significant departure is eliminating several characters and the multi-generational elements of the story. Or maybe it is when characters in a sexual relationship of domination and humiliation, and the one who is dominated end up chained like a dog and forced to communicate by barking. There’s no reason to believe these people care about each other beyond the fact that there are literally no other people around.

Pretty people in beautiful settings yearning, hurting each other, having sex — eye candy, titillation, but very superficial. At least a perfume commercial is over quickly.

Parents should know that this movie has very explicit sexual situations and references including domination and bondage, an alcoholic and abusive parent, sad deaths, strong language, drinking and smoking.

Family discussion:

If you like this, try: the book and the other movie versions, especially the one starring Sir Laurence Olivier.

Solo Mio

Posted on February 5, 2026 at 6:01 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for some suggestive material, brief language, violence and smoking
Profanity:	Mild language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness, smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	Scuffle with no injuries
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	February 6, 2026

Kevin James and Angel Studios got together to make a PG-rated romantic comedy that you could easily mistake for a Hallmark movie. Not that there’s anything wrong with that; there’s a reason Hallmark movies are so beloved. They are the comfort food of movies. We know where they are going and we like them not in spite of that but because of that. This is in that category.

James, who produced, co-wrote, and stars, plays a cuddly but shy 50-something 4th grade art teacher who goes to Rome to marry his fiancee, Heather (Julie Ann Emery of “Better Call Saul”). The church is ready, the guests are seated. He waits for her at the altar, only to learn that she has run away, leaving him a letter with a non-explanation explanation.

Since he can’t get a refund on the “two become one” honeymoon tourist package, he is stuck exploring the Eternal City with newlywed couples, riding a tandem bicycle with an empty back seat.

Two men from the honeymoon couples in the group befriend him. Julian (Kim Coates of “Sons of Anarchy”), is not exactly a newlywed. He has just married the same woman (Alyson Hannigan as Meghan) for the third time. He urges Matt to go out drinking and in PG language cheer himself up by getting together with another woman.

Jonathan Roumie (Jesus in “The Chosen”), has just married Donna (Julee Cerda), who was his therapist. The jokes in the film about whether that is appropriate or even legal are not funny. But they don’t really get in the way because Julian and Jonathan are just there like the devil and angel on the shoulders of characters in old Saturday morning cartoons, one to urge Matt to go wild, one to advise him to sit with his feelings. While Matt does not appreciate their advice, he does appreciate their interest and support.

What he appreciates more is Gia (a radiant Nicole Grimaudo), owner of a local cafe. For some reason, possibly because he is played by the movie’s producer, co-writer, and star and has James’ imperishable likability, Matt appeals to her. Even though he is sad and hurt and lost, she wants to help him. As I said, we know where this is going, but it’s where we want to see it go, thanks to a couple of great pleasures.

The first is the lovingly filmed and inexpressibly gorgeous Italian scenery, from the Spanish Steps to the Tuscan countryside. We even get a glimpse of the legendary annual horse-race in Siena. The second is the superb selection of needle drops and diagenetic music in the film, a delicious assortment of pop and classical, English and Italian. The movie begins with Ed Sheeren’s “Perfect” behind the opening montage, and Matt is such a fan he wears a Sheeren t-shirt. Matt loves music and when Gia asks him to pick something for them to listen to as they share a late-night pastry in her cafe, it is the one moment in the film where we see him utterly confident and at home. The jazz record he selects is just right.

The story developments are not as well chosen, and there’s pentimento indicating some last-minute re-cuts, perhaps the reason Hannigan is criminally underused, and the Neil/Donna relationship is so clumsily handled. This is a don’t think too hard, enjoy the scenery and wait for a happy ending movie. In other words, wait for screening at home.

Parents should know that this movie has some drinking, with characters getting tipsy, mild sexual references, and a scuffle with no injuries.

Family discussion: What didn’t Matt see in his relationship with Heather? What part of Italy would you like to visit?

If you like this, try: “Under the Tuscan Sun,’ “Made in Italy,” “Letters to Juliet” and Hallmark movies set in Italy like “Villa Amore” and “The Groomsmen: Last Dance”