The Nice Guys - 2 smiles

Russell Crowe (Jackson Healy) and Ryan Gosling (PI Holland March) have a quirky odd-couple relationship in “The Nice Guys” that plays well for the comedy portion of this noir mystery. However, the scene-stealer is 15-year old newcomer Angourie Rice, who plays March’s daughter Amelia. Her natural performance radiates charm and charisma and her skillful interactions with Gosling and Crowe are high points of the movie. For the most part, the two stars breeze happily along. But everything around them seems slightly off. Director Shane Black hits all the Me Decade buttons – Atari Pong, gas lines around the corner, big hair and the digitally added layer of smog that blankets LA. Maybe because of this the entire film feels greasy. Maybe it’s the porn-industry subplot, which gives Black an opportunity to wallow in breasts and butts. There’s just a little too much slapstick for me and that interferes with the forward momentum of the plot.

Now You See Me 2 - 2 smiles

I really liked “Now You See Me,” having seen it multiple times – in theaters, on cable and. most recently, to and from France on United. I liked the story, the characters, the acting and the sheer joy of watching an effective caper flick. Now to the sequel: I like some aspects, the returning characters (although I miss Isla Fisher) and I especially liked the conclusion. However, the things I didn’t like outweigh the positives. Lizzy Caplan’s character, Lula, is just plain irritating. I think she’s supposed to be cute, but every time she opens her mouth, I want to tell her to shut it. Part of the fun of watching Now You See Me was watching how the heroes would use magic as part of their con and to escape various situations. There’s very little magic in “Now You See Me 2” and in order for the climactic illusion to work, all of the victims would have to be stupid. The script, a high point in the first movie, is a huge disappointment in the sequel.  I hope the next one is better.

Me Before You - 3 smiles

From everything I’d read about this movie, I was expecting to be manipulated into tears. Maybe because of that expectation, I found myself not tearing up at all although there are a lot of moments in the film when the music seems to be signaling a time to cry. Didn’t work with me. Nonetheless, I did like “Me Before You,” mainly because of the two characters. Louisa is played by Emilia Clarke, known worldwide for her portrayal as the fierce would-be queen of Westeros, Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s Game of Thrones.  Despite their vast differences in temperament and physical appearance, Clarke is able to imbue both characters with life and personality. Her Louisa is shy and flighty, a chatty young woman with a bizarre fashion sense. She’s instantly likeable and we realize that she’s also sharp, witty and courageous. Clarke’s counterpart is Sam Clafin, who played Finnick in three of the four Hunger Games. His Will is dashing and handsome, even in a wheelchair and he is more complex than Louisa. By his own admission, before his accident, he loved live and, so, by comparison, his current existence is intolerable. This movie doesn’t address the morality of assisted suicide, but given this particular situation, the choice Sam makes is understandable. “Me Before You” does have some uneven moments, when the pacing is off and Louisa seems to be trying too hard, but overall, it’s worth seeing. You might need tissue.

Alice Through the Looking Glass - 1 smile

Visually, “Alice Through the Looking Glass” has its moments, but pretty backgrounds and clever special effects can’t hide the incoherent story and a miscast villain. Not to mention the fact that there’s little Lewis Carroll in writer Linda Woolverton disjointed script. There’s no sense of danger for Alice as she strives to save the Hatter and the world. And what’s this about entropy destroying the universe? And going backward in time? Where did that come from? Strangely enough, this film even steals a few scenes from The Transformers. And there’s Sacha Baron Cohen. The mixture of his slapstick shtick and sinister intentions are off-putting. Compared to his performance, Johnny Depp comes across as restrained (really). This could easily be Disney’s worst high profile movie in years. It’s too confusing for children and older viewers will find the time travel poorly developed and the action sequences tedious. Skip it.