Capsule Reviews of Movies

Reviews

Ratings:

**** Excellent *** Good

** Fair * Poor

Reviewers: C.R., Carrie Rickey; S.R., Steven Rea; D.D., Dan DeLuca; T.D., Tirdad Derakhshani; D.H., David Hiltbrand; W.S., Inquirer wire services.

Annabelle See Tirdad Derakhshani's review on Page 5.

Drive Hard See Tirdad Derakhshani's review on Page 12.

Gone Girl See Steven Rea's review on Page 4.

The Hero of Color City See Tirdad Derakhshani's review on Page 6.

Left Behind See Tirdad Derakhshani's review on Page 5.

Take Me to the River See Dan DeLuca's review on Page 11.

Tracks See Steven Rea's review on Page 4.

As Above/So Below 1/2 Horror and thrills in the catacombs of Paris. From the director of Quarantine and Devil. 1 hr. 33 R (bloody violence/terror, language throughout) - W.S.

The Boxtrolls Antic, stop-motion animation from the company behind Coraline and Paranorman, about a Victorian-era fairy tale town where the titular creatures come and go, creating a fuss, but not a fuss worthy of their extermination, which is what one malevolent soul (voiced by Ben Kingsley) claims he wants to do. 1 hr. 37 PG (cartoon violence) - S.R.

Boyhood Richard Linklater's unassuming masterpiece follows a Texas kid (newcomer Ellar Coltrane) from grade school to college dorm, reconvening cast and crew (including Patricia Arquette and Ethan Hawke as the parents) a few weeks every year for 12 years, and its carefully observed series of small moments take on quiet, metaphoric power. 2 hrs. 46 R (profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Calvary Brendan Gleeson stars as a good priest in a bad world - in the beautiful West country of Ireland - in John Michael McDonagh's stormy whodunit. A furious, darkly funny look at the nature of faith, and the nature of man. 1 hr. 40 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby: Them 1/2 Jessica Chastain owns the title role, and shares the tragic backstory with James McAvoy as her heartbroken beau - the couple trying to put the pieces back together again, in this beautifully acted and crafted film, which still, in the words and scenarios at its core, disappoints. 2 hrs. 3 R (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Dolphin Story 2 1/2 Morgan Freeman and Ashley Judd return for this sequel. Their team must again rescue Winter after her surrogate mother dies. 1 hr. 47 PG (mild action sequences, one intense scene of animals in peril) - T.D.

The Drop 1/2 Tense, evocative neo-noir, expanded from a Dennis Lehane short story, with Tom Hardy as a Brooklyn barkeep and Noomi Rapace as the woman who walks into his life - and into a mess of trouble, when the bar is robbed by masked gunmen. 1 hr. 46 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Equalizer Denzel Washington stars in this moody, noir-ish rethink of the '80s TV series, about an ex-secret ops guy who comes to the rescue of the meek and mistreated. When a teenage prostitute (Chloë Grace Moretz) gets roughed up by her Russian mob pimp, our hero comes out of retirement to retire the bad guys - for good. Directed with a vengeance by Washington's Training Day colleague, Antoine Fuqua. 2 hrs. 11 R (violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Giver A seemingly utopian society, its citizens devoid of memories or feelings, gets shaken up when a young charge (Brenton Thwaites) is assigned to be the Receiver of Memories from the time before "Sameness." Jeff Bridges is the gravelly voiced old-timer who imparts a bygone civilization's flashbacks of war, and tumult, but also of happiness and beauty. 1 hr. 34 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

The Green Prince 1/2 This documentary on the son of a Hamas founder who becomes a spy for Israel is an extraordinary achievement. It has all the suspense of a great espionage yarn, but also manages to be a powerful moral document that calls into question the tactics of terrorism. 1 hr. 35 PG-13 (adult subjects, some violent, disturbing images) - T.D.

Guardians of the Galaxy Chris Pratt rounds up a team of outer-space misfits. Their mission: Does it matter? This breezy comic-book adaptation is the first sci-fi movie to spoof itself. 2 hrs. 2 PG-13 (violence, profanity) - D.H.

Hector and the search for happiness Shaun of the Dead star Simon Peggy loses his groove in this cloying, puerile self-help comedy about a therapist who travels around the world to reconnect with his soul. 2 hrs. R (profanity, brief nudity) - T.D.

The Hundred-Foot Journey 1/2 Helen Mirren is a snooty restaurateur who doesn't like it when a family from Mumbai roll into her quaint little French town, setting up their eatery right across the rue. 2 hrs. 2 PG (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

If I Stay 1/2 Chloë Grace Moretz stars as a high school girl, a cello prodigy with a hot new boyfriend and a chance to go to Juilliard, when a family drive turns tragic. From Gayle Forman's top-selling YA novel. 1 hr. 43 PG-13 (profanity, sex, adult themes) - S.R.

Into the Storm 1/2 A series of deadly tornadoes that wreak havoc in a town leads some to flee, but others to channel their inner storm-chaser. 1 hr. 29 PG-13 (sequences of intense destruction and peril, language, some sexual references) - T.D.

Jimi: All Is By My Side OutKast's André Benjamin channels '60s rock god Jimi Hendrix in John Ridley's doc-style, fly-on-the-wall dramatization of the not-yet-a-legend's pivotal trip to London, where he met a girl, a manager and the two Afro-ed English dudes who would become his band. With Imogen Poots and Hayley Atwell, and with a wealth of '60s rock and R & B. 1 hr. 58 R (sex, drugs, violence, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Let's Be Cops Two buddies who dress up as cops for a party wind up getting sucked into doing real police work in this comedy that stars Jake Johnson and Damon Wayans Jr. 1 hr. 44 R (language including sexual references, some graphic nudity, violence and drug use) Not Previewed

Love Is Strange 1/2 John Lithgow and Alfred Molina are a longtime couple whose modest, comfortable New York City life is upended when they decide to take advantage of the new gay marriage laws and officially get hitched. 1 hr. 34 R (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Lucy French action director Luc Besson (The Fifth Element, Nikita) outdoes himself in this English-language comic-book fantasy starring Scarlett Johansson as a student whose brain becomes supercharged after a drug overdose. 1 hr. 30 R (strong bloody violence, sexuality, smoking, drug use, profanity) - T.D.

The Maze Runner 1/2 The first installment in James Dashner's bestselling YA book series, transplanted to the screen with a surprising commitment to creep audiences out. A mix of Lord of the Flies fraternal feuding, Tarantula sci-fi menace, the Kafka-esque social order of the '60s cult series The Prisoner, and the garbage compactor scene from the first Star Wars - squared. 1 hr. 43 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

A Most Wanted Man 1/2 One of Philip Seymour Hoffman's last performances is also one of his greatest - as the rumpled, chain-smoking chief of a covert antiterrorist unit in modern-day Hamburg. 2 hrs. R (profanity, violence, adult themes) - S.R.

My Old Lady Kevin Kline stars as an adrift American who arrives in Paris to lay claim to the apartment long owned by his estranged father, recently deceased. But there's a catch: thanks to an ancient real estate law, the tenant in the apartment, a 90-something ex-pat played by Maggie Smith, is allowed to live there until she expires. 1 hr. 47 PG-13 (adult themes) - S.R.

No Good Deed A suburban mother invites trouble when she unknowingly allows an escaped convict into her home. 1 hr. 24 PG-13 (violence, menace, terror, language)

The November Man Pierce Brosnan is a retired CIA guy, back in the game in this efficient, if not exactly inspiring, espionage thriller, full of Russian baddies, a former protégé turned nemesis and a witness everyone is after - and who just happens to look like a supermodel. 1 hr. 48 R (violence, sex, profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Skeleton Twins Bill Hader and Kristen Wiig play estranged siblings who rediscover their commonality, and the melancholy at their core, in this odd, oddly appealing study of damaged people doing stuff that's at once funny and sad. 1 hr. 33 R (profanity, sex, drugs, adult themes) - S.R.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Uninspired reboot of the jokey '90s franchise, with Megan Fox as intrepid news reporter April O'Neil, friend to those adolescent, anthropomorphic reptiles schooled in the martial arts. 1 hr. 41 PG-13 (violence, adult themes) - S.R.

This Is Where I Leave You When their father dies, the four grown siblings at the center of Shawn Levy's blithely manipulative dysfunctional family comedy - a downer, really - bring their respective spouses, lovers and bags of woe back to their childhood home. 1 hr. 43 R (profanity, sex, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

The Trip to Italy British funny guys Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan serve up a solid sequel to their 2010 road movie hit The Trip, this time driving from the Riviera to Rome, stopping to eat fine food, sip fine wine, and one-up each other. A voyeuristic vacation treat. 1 hr. 48 No MPAA rating (profanity, adult themes) - S.R.

Tusk A Canadian podcaster goes missing while out to conduct an interview. Revolting, tasteless, and sure to be a cult favorite among fans of director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Mall Rats), Tusk is a schizoid horror comedy with an identity crisis. 1 hr. 42 R (profanity, gore, violence, some nudity and sexual content) - T.D.

20,000 Days on Earth A memoir-ish, meta-documentary about Nick Cave, the Australia-born, Britain-based singer/songwriter, novelist, screenwriter and occasional thespian. His persona is grave, his songs full of doom, but the film is actually quite fun. 1 hr. 37 No MPAA rating (adult themes) - S.R.

A Walk Among the Tombstones No over-the-top heroics here, just Liam Neeson as a hangdog New York City cop-turned-private-eye, looking into the kidnapping of a drug dealer's wife. 1 hr. 53 R (violence, sexual violelnce, profanity, nudity, adult themes) - S.R.

When the Game Stands Tall 1/2 Jim Caviezel stars as a high school football coach coming off a record winning streak whose faith allows him to face adversity with equanimity. 1 hr. 55 PG (violence, smoking) - D.H.