12 Strong (Rated R)
Based on Doug Stanton’s 2010 best-selling novel, Horse Soldiers, this film documents a harrowing battle in Afghanistan. Shortly after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Capt. Mitch Nelson (Chris Hemsworth) and his 12-member U.S. Special Forces team persuade a rag-tag band of Afghans to help them bring down a Taliban stronghold. Mitch’s team tries to make sense of outdated maps after learning to ride scrappy Afghani steeds alongside their new allies. Since Jerry Bruckheimer produces, it’s a cinch the settings and explosions will dazzle. In his book, author Doug Stanton carefully brought each soldier to life. Failing to do likewise here will put this one in the line of fire. (Lisa Miller)
Den of Thieves (Rated R)
Written and directed by Christian Gudegast (scribe of 2016’s London Has Fallen), this actioner casts Gerard Butler as the hero. A band of arrogant thieves target the Los Angeles Federal Reserve Bank because, every day, it sends $120 million in U.S. currency to be destroyed. The crooks apparently favor recycling, and they’ve got the weapons, vehicles and body armor to make it happen. Their one mistake is challenging Butler’s cop, Nick Flanagan, to try and stop them. What planet are they from? Every Earthling knows you don’t call out a Gerard Butler character unless you’ve got some weirdo death wish. (L.M.)
Forever My Girl (Rated PG)
Small-town boy Liam Page (Alex Roe) has become a full-fledged country music star when he returns home, hoping to rekindle romance with Josie (Jessica Rothe)—the fiancé he left behind nine years earlier. Josie’s raising a precocious, pigtail-rocking cutie named Billy (Abby Ryder Fortson). It’s only a matter of time until the math prompts Liam to realize he’s the “baby-daddy.” Liam’s also wealthy, handsome and charming...but is he father material? A little bit weepy, a little bit country and a lotta saccharine, this could ‘a been a Nicholas Sparks novel had writer-director Bethany Ashton Wolf not beat him to the punch; sorry Nick, you can’t win ’em all! (L.M.)
