Loving,
directed by Jeff Nichols
(PG-13, 2 hours, 3 minutes)
It seems remarkable that just 60 years ago an American couple could go to prison for marrying. Loving, as told with gentleness and precision by Little Rock native Jeff Nichols, is the story of Richard Loving (Joel Edgerton) and Mildred Jeter (Ruth Negga), young lovers with few aspirations other than living out their lives together.
But because this is 1958 Virginia, and because she is black and he is white and there is a law against miscegenation, they must drive to Washington to marry. The trouble starts after they return home and a midnight raid by sheriff's deputies lands them in jail. Humiliated, the couple stand before an implacable judge who suspends their sentences on the condition that they leave the state and stay away for 25 years.
So they go back to D.C., where Richard plies his trade as a bricklayer and now pregnant Mildred makes a home in a row house. When the time comes for the baby to arrive, they go back to Virginia so the new mother might be surrounded by her family. But once again the law intercedes; once again they stand before the judge. Once again they escape to D.C. -- this time with little hope of ever going home.
Loving will be criticized for not being more heavy-handed and conventional, but Edgerton and Negga have each created deeply authentic characters who might be too quiet for awards consideration. No matter, they perfectly serve this tender film about ordinary people caught up in an extraordinary moment.
Trolls (PG, 1 hour, 32 minutes) This 3-D animated feature, ablaze with neon color and good cheer, is a super-sugary confection meant to be served to young moviegoers. If you're over the age of 6, there's not much for you here unless you're a fan of the weird little dolls with outrageous hair that were the must-have toys of the 1960s, or you're enamored of the music of Justin Timberlake. He provides the voice of a grim gray troll named Branch, the only dour member of a lively tribe led by bubbly princess Poppy (voice of Anna Kendrick). They're celebrating the 20th anniversary of a brave escape by Poppy's dad, King Peppy (voice of Jeffrey Tambor), that saved the lot of them from being snacks for monstrous miscreants known as Bergens.
Branch frets that a party will clue the Bergens in to the location of their lair. Turns out he's right. But he underestimates the amount of grit Poppy inherits from her dad.
Because the story is so basic, youthful audience members won't be left behind; the humor here is mostly visual, relying on the trolls' goofy methods of mobility, pratfalls, and use of their bushy hair as an expandable appendage.
Desierto (R, 1 hour, 28 minutes) A hopeful journey to seek a better life becomes a harrowing and primal fight for survival when a deranged vigilante chases a group of unarmed men and women through the desert at the U.S.-Mexican border. In the harsh, unforgiving terrain, the odds are stacked firmly against them as they discover there's nowhere to hide from the unrelenting killer. With Gael Garcia Bernal, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Diego Catano, Marco Perez; directed by Jonas Cuaron.
Frank & Lola (not rated, 1 hour, 28 minutes) Michael Shannon is overqualified in this lame, pointless drama in which he plays Frank, a temperamental Las Vegas chef who falls in love with younger troublemaker Lola (Imogen Poots), but an act of infidelity forces their relationship to take a dark turn. With Michael Nyqvist, Rosanna Arquette; directed by Matthew Ross.
The Take (R, 1 hour, 32 minutes) Heavy on fast-paced wisecracking and violence but lacking in character development, The Take concerns Michael Mason (Richard Madden), an American pickpocket living in Paris who finds himself hunted by the CIA when he steals a bag that contains more than just a wallet. With Idris Elba, Kelly Reilly; directed by James Watkins.
The 9th Life of Louis Drax (R, 1 hour, 48 minutes) Too sentimental and psychobabbly for most tastes, this clumsy drama describes how, after surviving eight near-death accidents throughout his life, Louis Drax (Aiden Longworth) plunges off a cliff on his ninth birthday. While police investigate the cause of Louis' near-fatal fall and the whereabouts of his violent father, Peter (Aaron Paul), neurologist Dr. Allan Pascal (Jamie Dornan) uses experimental methods to reveal the truth about Louis' behavior. With Oliver Platt, Molly Parker; directed by Alexandre Aja.
Little Sister (not rated, 1 hour, 31 minutes) A dark, affecting and bittersweet comedy drama in which a young nun (Addison Timlin) returns to her childhood home in Asheville, N.C., when she learns her troubled brother, recently returned from the Iraq war, is living as a recluse in the guesthouse. With Ally Sheedy, Peter Hedges; directed by Zach Clark.
MovieStyle on 02/10/2017