Enough Said

— I’m on a roll, having seen three good films in the last month. I’m just back from “Enough Said” and was really pleased to see a funny, well-written and well-acted, serious film about love in middle age. It’s an updated version of the romantic comedies I grew up with, complete with an against-all-odds attraction, sharp dialogue, wacky friends who spend a lot of time bickering, and a chance meeting that throws a kink in everything. This is really a good film, owing a lot to James Gandolfini and Julia Louis-Dreyfus, but also to Nicole Holofcener, whose talent as both the writer and the director are obvious throughout.

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[2013. 93 min. Directed by Nicole Holofcener. Written by Nicole Holofcener. . Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, James Gandolfini, and Catherine Keener.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/18/movies/enough-said-stars-james-gandolfini-and-julia-louis-dreyfus.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Captain Phillips

— “Captain Phillips” is well-paced, moving along at a seemingly effortless pace so you’re hardly aware of how well the film’s crafted and how gripping it is. Somewhere near the end you realize what a subtle performance Tom Hanks has been giving and, by the final scene, it’s hard not to feel the emotions washing over you. It’s a successful and complex thriller with a final scene that is incredibly moving. Hanks and director Paul Greengrass are both at the top of their game.

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[2013. 134 min. Directed by Paul Greengrass. Starring Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman, and Faysal Ahmed.]
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/11/movies/captain-phillips-stars-tom-hanks-as-a-high-seas-hostage.html?_r=0

Gravity

— “Gravity” is worth the hype. Alfonso Cuarón knows what’s he’s doing and this film is a 3-D delight. Mind you, I usually don’t think 3-D is worth the extra few bucks but in this case, it really is worth it. For that matter, this is a beautiful, “must see in a real theater” kind of film. In fact, it’s as much an experience as a film. It doesn’t hurt that Sandra Bullock and George Clooney are outstanding. See it.

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[2013. 91 min. Directed by Alfonso Cuaron. Starring Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, and Ed Harris.]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/goingoutguide/movies/gravity-works-as-both-thrilling-sci-fi-spectacle-and-brilliant-high-art/2013/10/02/cffa11bc-2a03-11e3-97a3-ff2758228523_story.html?wpisrc=nl_movies

The Family

— I’d hoped for more from “The Family”, a Luc Besson film with Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfieffer, and Tommy Lee Jones. Billed as a dark comedy/thriller about a former mob boss and his family hiding in the Witness Protection Program, it has a decent premise and decent actors, but the plot is kind of linear, the comedy a little scare, and the pace a little uneven. With these actors, it should have been more clever, but at least it was something other than the slapstick, angst-ridden, overly dirty humor of summer-release, teen comedies. It was vaguely enjoyable but also pretty forgettable.

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[2013. 111 min. Directed by Luc Besson. Starring Robert De Niro, Michelle Pfeiffer, Dianna Agron, John D'Leo, and Tommy Lee Jones.]
http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-family-2013