Which movies to watch this week, Nov. 23
Based on the novel of the same name, this latest from director Ang Lee is a languorous and detailed story about a troupe of Iraq soldiers on a publicity tour, days before returning back to the front lines.
The true-life tale of boxer Vinny Pazienza, who heroically overcame a broken neck to return to the ring.
A familiar beating-the-odds story that’s nicely executed, it’s also an intriguing portrait of a working-class Italian American family in Rhode Island.
A fine lead performance from Miles Teller (“Whiplash”) is supported by notable work from Aaron Eckhart.
Far from the usual teen coming-of-age film, this is an interesting comedy-drama with an arresting protagonist — a teenage girl (Hailee Steinfeld) who is outgoing and loquacious but also troubled and spiraling downward.
Written and directed by Kelly Fremon Craig, who shows a rich capacity for working with actors in this, her first feature film.
The latest from Paul Verhoeven (“Basic Instinct”), which is also France’s foreign film entry in the Oscar sweepstakes, provides a signature role for Isabelle Huppert as a woman who is brutally raped in the movie’s opening sequence and seems bizarrely unaffected.
Eddie Redmayne’s excellent performance is emblematic of a “Harry Potter” spin-off that manages to clone the vibe of the earlier films, even as it aggressively distances itself from Hogwarts.
[...] there’s also a sense that the filmmakers were locked in their own Azkaban-style prison, forced at wand-point to replicate a product that has become its own industry.
Amy Adams is superb as as a wealthy art dealer whose new life is hitting a dead end, just as a man from her old life (Jake Gyllenhaal) seems to be returning.