This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2014, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Teens in dystopia and siblings in grief are the big players arriving at movie theaters this weekend.
"The Maze Runner" is the movie adaptation of Utah author James Dashner's best-selling 2009 novel about teens who find themselves in a green space surrounded by a massive and deadly maze, with no memory of how they got there. The action and effects are solid in this adaptation, and things are exciting enough — right up to the ending, when director Wes Ball and the writers pull the rug out from everyone, denying a satisfying resolution in order to set up the sequel. (Dashner wrote four books in the series.)
"This Is Where I Leave You" is also based on a book, in this case Jonathan Tropper's seriocomic novel of a family coming home for the funeral of the patriarch. Four feuding siblings — played by Jason Bateman, Tina Fey, Corey Stoll and Adam Driver — are told by their mother (Jane Fonda) that Dad's final wish was for the family to sit shiva, the traditional seven-day period of mourning. Stuck together for a week, the siblings' old disputes come to the surface, along with fresh issues that include divorce, infidelity and pregnancy. Tropper wrote the screenplay, which nicely balances the funny with the sad. The cast is strong, especially the women: Fey, Fonda, Rose Byrne as a love interest for Bateman, and Kathryn Hahn as Stoll's desperate-to-get-pregnant wife.
Director Kevin Smith tries horror on for size with "Tusk," a creepy gorefest about a podcaster (Justin Long) who ventures to Canada to find a good story — and gets more than he bargained for when he meets an old seafarer (Michael Parks) with a walrus obsession. Smith writes clever dialogue, as usual, but he lets the words overwhelm the action, so there are no thrills in this thriller.
Lastly, from the studios, there's "A Walk among the Tombstones," an adaptation of Lawrence Block's crime novel. Liam Neeson stars as a troubled ex-cop doing private-eye work for a heroin dealer ("Downton Abbey's" Dan Stevens), who's desperate to find the people who kidnapped his wife. Due to a scheduling problem, The Cricket was unable to screen this one.
At the art houses, we have "The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby," a talky yet searing portrait of a marriage on the brink. Writer-director Ned Benson shows the couple — exquisitely played by Jessica Chastain and James McAvoy — in happier times, then cuts to them apart after a tragedy, trying to rebuild their lives. The emotions are real and raw, and Chastain especially is brilliant.
Finally, there's "My Old Lady," an overwrought melodrama from playwright Israel Horovitz, who makes his feature-film directing debut. Kevin Kline stars as a down-and-out American who inherits a Paris apartment — and, with it, an elderly Englishwoman (Maggie Smith) who won't budge. Secrets about the old woman and Kline's father are revealed, and the recriminations play out in predictably dark fashion. The main problem is Kline, who performs loudly and hammily, as if he's still on stage.