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A tiny superhero and a big comic talent will duke it out at the box office this weekend.
"Ant-Man" brings Marvel's shrinking superhero to the big screen, in an exciting and humor-filled action movie. Paul Rudd stars as Scott Lang, an ex-con who is chosen by inventor Hank Pym (Michael Douglas) to put on his special suit, which gives him the ability to shrink to the size of an ant — but with super strength and agility. Pym wants Lang to steal a copycat technology from Pym's crazed ex-protege (Corey Stoll), before the tech winds up in the wrong hands. The pacing is strong and the action are engaging — but don't think about it too much afterwards, or you'll pick apart the plot holes.
Amy Schumer makes a big splash in movies in "Trainwreck," a hilariously raunchy romantic comedy that Schumer stars in and wrote. Schumer plays a magazine writer with a habit of partying hard and sleeping with dimbulb guys. Then she meets an altruistic sports doctor (Bill Hader), someone who's different than her usual dates — and she's surprised as anyone when they start a relationship. Director Judd Apatow has his usual pacing problems, but Schumer's sharp humor and a great cast of side characters (led by Tilda Swinton as Amy's horrible boss) bring it all together.
Also opening at several theaters is "Mr. Holmes," which features Ian McKellen in a smart, soulful performance as a retired Sherlock Holmes, struggling against the ravages of age as he tries to recall the details of his final case. He's well matched by Laura Linney, as his down-to-earth housekeeper. [Read The Cricket's interview with Linney.]
Opening at the Tower Theatre this week is an amazing movie from Ukraine, "The Tribe." A new student (Grigoriy Fesenko) at a Kiev boarding school for the deaf soon learns the older students run the place, and run criminal activities — including pimping out two female students as prostitutes. All the characters speak in sign language, and the movie has no dialogue, voice-over, subtitles or other translation. Writer-director Miroslav Slaboshpitsky shoots in long, fluid takes that fully immerse the viewer into this dark world. "The Tribe" is strictly adults-only, with explicit sexuality and harsh violence, but wholly original and fascinating.
"Testament of Youth" is a stately and emotional adaptation of Vera Brittain's best-selling memoir on the futility of war. Vera (Alicia Vikander) is introduced as an enthusiastic writer trying to get into Oxford. Then World War I begins, and Vera watches as the young men in her life — including her brother (Taron Egerton) and fiance (Kit Harrington) — are headed to the front in France. Vikander ("Ex Machina") gives a powerful performance as Vera, as she evolves from a naive student to a passionate pacifist.
Lastly, there's "Strangerland," a brooding Australian crime thriller starring Nicole Kidman and Joseph Fiennes as a troubled married couple whose lives unravel when their children go missing. The visuals of the Australian desert are stunning, but the atmosphere can't compensate for a sluggish pace.