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Friday, April 15, 2016
Movie Reviews: Criminal, Born to Be Blue, Barbershop, Jungle Book
My Golden Days, The Clan
Posted By Scott Renshaw on April 15, 2016, 8:04 AM
Disney revives Kipling, Ethan Hawke plays Chet Baker and Kevin Costner goes full psycho in some of the new movies opening in Utah theaters this week.
Born to Be Blue avoids some of the pitfalls of cradle-to-grave biopics in its profile of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, but focuses on an era that allows too little opportunity to show why he was great. Arnaud Desplechin tells an engagingly nostalgic tale of first love in My Golden Days, though the filmmaker also indulges his penchant for cinematic flourishes. The Clan relates a true story of a criminal family in 1980s Argentina, but never offers enough insight into the characters or why they do what they do.
Eric D. Snider finds Criminal (pictured) almost ridiculous enough to be entertaining, the kind of movie you'll see on cable in a couple of years and think, "Hey, this isn't bad!" Malcolm D. Lee's Barbershop: The Next Cut offers a similar topical narrative as his cousin Spike's Chi-Raq, raising tough questions but only as deeply as its genial formula permits.
In this week's feature review, Jon Favreau's live-action version of Disney's The Jungle Book can't commit to action-adventure spectacle without making sure to stick to its family-friendly brand.
Also opening this week, but not screened for press: Shah Rukh Khan plays a man obsessed with a movie star who looks like him in the Indian thriller Fan.
Born to Be Blue avoids some of the pitfalls of cradle-to-grave biopics in its profile of jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, but focuses on an era that allows too little opportunity to show why he was great. Arnaud Desplechin tells an engagingly nostalgic tale of first love in My Golden Days, though the filmmaker also indulges his penchant for cinematic flourishes. The Clan relates a true story of a criminal family in 1980s Argentina, but never offers enough insight into the characters or why they do what they do.
Eric D. Snider finds Criminal (pictured) almost ridiculous enough to be entertaining, the kind of movie you'll see on cable in a couple of years and think, "Hey, this isn't bad!" Malcolm D. Lee's Barbershop: The Next Cut offers a similar topical narrative as his cousin Spike's Chi-Raq, raising tough questions but only as deeply as its genial formula permits.
In this week's feature review, Jon Favreau's live-action version of Disney's The Jungle Book can't commit to action-adventure spectacle without making sure to stick to its family-friendly brand.
Also opening this week, but not screened for press: Shah Rukh Khan plays a man obsessed with a movie star who looks like him in the Indian thriller Fan.
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