A slim weekend before the arrival of “Avatar” next week, as only one new film hits theaters in wide release. A drama about a rugby game is a tough sell here in the States, but with heavy starpower and an uplifting sports theme, “Invictus” might pull in a decent sum this weekend. Although most of America would probably rather hit up the more familiar “The Blind Side” again for their sports tearjerker fix. Surprisingly dark dramas rule the limited release world with new films by Peter Jackson, Werner Herzog, and Tom Ford headlining the art-house marquees.
In Wide Release: Clint Eastwood is back with his yearly Oscar-bait, this time directing the political sports-drama “Invictus.” Morgan Freeman stars as South African president Nelson Mandela, desperate to unite his divided country in the wake of apartheid. Joining forces with the captain of the national rugby team, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), Mandela rallies the squad to the 1995 World Cup championship match. We had the chance to see the film this week, finding it an occasionally rousing piece of work despite some distracting flaws. We won’t count it out of the Oscars just yet, though with half-baked accents and overblown music, it all seems a bit too average to take home the big prize. Critics overall are fairly positive, Rotten Tomatoes gives it a 77% rating, while Metacritic chimes in with a 74 score.
Expanding to wide release is Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.” We wrote about it in our In Theaters piece a couple weeks ago, when the film first hit screens in New York and LA. It’s been doing huge business in limited release and it is a great return to hand drawn animation for Disney. Rotten Tomatoes tracks it with a 79% rating, while it’s a little lower over at Metacritic with a 69 score.
In Limited Release: Peter Jackson returns his focus to personal drama after spending the decade crafting larger-than-life epics such as the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and “King Kong.” Based on the hugely successful novel by Alice Sebold, “The Lovely Bones” is the tale of a girl looking down on her family from the afterlife, after being murdered by a psychopathic neighbor. We reviewed the movie earlier this week, hoping for a “Heavenly Creatures”-style drama but were disappointed by the film’s inconsistent tone and clumsy CGI. Despite a very solid cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Stanley Tucci, and Susan Sarandon, Jackson misfires here. The film doesn’t go wide for a month, so it remains to be seen how the negative buzz will effect the movie’s box office returns. Rotten Tomatoes stands thus far with a 42% rating and Metacritic with a score of 47.
Megastar fashion designer Tom Ford makes a surprising debut as a director with “A Single Man.” Colin Firth gives the performance of his career as a college professor mourning the loss of his partner in early 1960’s Los Angeles. The film also features Julianne Moore, Matthew Goode, and Nicholas Hoult, alongside gorgeous art direction and flawless costumes. We caught the film back at Toronto, finding it an immensely moving and extraordinary first film. The awards season has fallen pretty flat for us this year, and this is a great alternative to much of the hype coming out of Hollywood at the moment. “A Single Man” has a 77% rating from RT and a 73 score from Metacritic.
His second theatrical release in less than a month, Werner Herzog is back with “My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done?” Produced by David Lynch, the film stars Michael Shannon as an actor gone bonkers, killing his mother and holing up in his pink house, claiming to be keeping company with God. Willem Dafoe and Michael Pena are the two detectives brought in to sort out the case. We saw the film at Toronto, where it played like a parody of a David Lynch film and was one of the biggest disappointments of the festival. We can’t really suggest you stay away though, as Herzog is notoriously divisive and his movies can sometimes take multiple viewings to really stick. However, it may be hard to catch this one, as it is only opening at one theater in NYC this week and another in LA next. Rotten Tomatoes has it at an appropriately divided 50% rating, while Metacritic only has a few reviews in so far.
Other options in limited this week: Broken Lizard’s new comedy “The Slammin’ Salmon,” starring Michael Clarke Duncan as a former heavyweight champion turned restaurant owner in Miami. The reviews aren’t promising, with a 36% rating from Rotten Tomatoes, but we suppose that it shouldn’t be a big surprise after “Beerfest.” Russell Crowe appears in a supporting role in John Polson’s “Tenderness.” A drama about a damaged young girl’s obsession with a killer, Crowe plays a detective determined to keep her safe. The buzz-less film has a 57% rating from Rotten Tomatoes.
on Rotten tomatoes web site they actually gave a single man 84% and princess and the frog 85%