Daddy’s Home 2 PG-13
In the original Daddy’s Home, Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg co-starred as step dad Brad and biological dad Dusty, respectively, competing to impress two adorable kids. Eventually, the men agreed to be co-dads. Two years later, Brad and his wife (Linda Cardellini) along with the kids, plan to share Christmas with Dusty and his new cute step daughter. Then, both Brad’s and Dusty’s fathers (played by a macho Mel Gibson and lovey dovey John Lithgow) arrive proffering unsolicited opinions of their sons’ arrangement. (Lisa Miller)
Murder on the Orient Express PG-13
Star-packed adaptation of Agatha Christie’s famed “whodunit” stars Kenneth Branagh as the mustachioed Belgian detective Hercule Poirot. The cast also includes Johnny Depp as an enigmatic gangster, Judi Dench as the imperious Princess, Penelope Cruz as a dedicated missionary, Willem Dafoe as an anti-Semitic professor, Daisy Ridley as a governess and Michelle Pfeiffer as an aging femme fatale. It’s the 1930s aboard the Orient Express, an opulent train touring Europe, when a passenger is murdered. Poirot interrogates travelers, learning each is connected to the murdered man who himself may be connected to a monstrous criminal affair. Poirot’s enormous mustache becomes a character that is nearly as challenging as the case. (L.M.)
Roman J. Israel, Esq. PG-13
Denzel Washington gives an affecting performance as attorney Roman J. Israel. The lawyer’s encyclopedic knowledge helps courtroom attorneys win cases, but Israel, who lacks both fashion and people sense, stays safely out of sight. After years of helping the downtrodden and earning paltry pay, Israel is hired by George Pierce (Colin Farrell) to do legal research for his upscale firm. Tempted to ignore client confidentially in return for a big payday, Israel strays from his path. The script had interesting places to go, but becomes a shaggy dog tale relying on Israel’s character to keep us interested. (L.M.)
The Thin Man Not Rated
The Thin Man series was one of Hollywood’s first franchises and—as would often be the case—the sequels wore out the initial idea through increasingly patchy plots. However, the first Thin Man (1934) has endured as a classic. It had little to do with its source in Dashiell Hammet’s novel, but rode instead on the charm of its stars. William Powell and Myrna Loy played Nick and Nora Charles as high society sleuths who stepped between cocktail lounges and fancy parties while solving murder. Like James Bond, Nick preferred his martinis shaken, not stirred, and his prodigious consumption hindered neither his investigative prowess nor his witty repartee. (David Luhrssen)
Presented by FOCUS Film Society at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11, at Church in the City, 2648 N. Hackett Ave.
