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      ‘Rumours’ Review: No One Will Save Us

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      Cate Blanchett stars as a lusty, preening stateswomen in a geopolitical satire from the experimental filmmaker Guy Maddin.“It’s better to burn out than to fade away” is both a Neil Young lyric and the quote that encapsulates the ethos of “Rumours,” an extremely funny geopolitical satire from the fertile imagination of Guy Maddin, the Canadian experimental filmmaker who once put Isabella Rossellini into a pair of beer-filled glass legs.There are no prostheses, see-through or otherwise, in “Rumours,” though there are substitute delights: a brain the size of a Volkswagen Beetle, a chatbot designed to ensnare pedophiles and mummified Iron Age corpses. All these creations bedevil the seven fictional heads of state who have convened at an annual G7 summit hosted by Germany, whose randy leader (Cate Blanchett) can’t wait to get it on with her sexy Canadian counterpart (Roy Dupuis). Over a lengthy lunch in a gazebo at a woodsy estate, the seven struggle to draft a joint statement on an unspecified global crisis, unaware that their anodyne musings on peace and prosperity will soon be derailed by mud-splattered mayhem and onanistic zombies.Sporadically ingenious, occasionally chilling and entirely bonkers, “Rumours” sees Maddin (writing and directing with his longtime collaborators Evan and Galen Johnson) abandoning his more familiar black-and-white, silent-film aesthetic for vibrant color. His fondness for soapy melodrama and bawdy humor, though, remains intact. Canada and Germany slip off for some sylvan slap-and-tickle, unnoticed by Canada’s former lover, the uptight United Kingdom (Nikki Amuka-Bird). Back at the table, France (Denis Ménochet) and Japan (Takehiro Hira) are bonding over historical speeches, while Italy (Rolando Ravello) is repenting for having once dressed up as Mussolini. An apparently addled United States (Charles Dance, who remains however resolutely British) just wants a nap.Shot in Hungary, Stefan Ciupek’s richly textured and often surreal images drive a mood that darkens inexorably from goofy to skin-pricklingly ominous. As night falls, the seven find themselves abandoned in the forest with neither cell service nor servants. Unnerved by eerie sounds and a vile wind, they discover that an ancient bog man, which Germany had exhumed, has now caused other oozing carcasses to rise up, some with penises slung around their necks like knobby necklaces. Or maybe they’re just filthy political protesters?We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘The Line’ Review: Greek Tragedy

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      The dark side of college fraternity life comes to light in this harrowing, well-acted campus drama.Films about fraternities tend to describe a familiar arc of moral degradation, and Ethan Berger’s campus cautionary tale “The Line,” about the initiation of freshmen into a well-heeled but toxic brotherhood at a Southern liberal arts college, is no exception: You probably won’t be shocked to learn that frat life is crude, boorish and dangerous, as “The Line” makes abundantly clear. But if the movie’s portrayal of rivalrous (and homoerotic) hypermasculinity doesn’t always seem original, it is nevertheless realized with seriousness and vigor. Berger takes a keen anthropological approach to the rites and rituals of the fictitious Kappa Nu Alpha house, and he makes it so that you can almost smell the stale beer and crumpled Ralph Lauren. The details are believable, and therefore more disturbing.Our entree into the crass, bad-mannered world of KNA is Tom Backster (Alex Wolff), an obtuse sophomore militantly devoted to the traditions of the frat. Wolff plays him with a thick, mealy-mouthed Southern accent, which he painfully exaggerates to better fit in with his dunderheaded peers, for whom articulating a full sentence is tantamount to betrayal.Tom’s clashes with Gettys O’Brien (Austin Abrams), the club’s handsome, Billy Budd-esque newcomer who repeatedly flaunts the rules, is the conflict at the heart of the movie. Its escalation is predictable, but Wolff and Abrams (both excellent) embody their characters with intensity and conviction, which makes even the film’s most heightened confrontations feel deeply plausible.The LineNot rated. Running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Woman of the Hour’ Review: Who is Bachelor No. 3?

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      Anna Kendrick’s ably directed drama about a real-life serial killer focuses on his victims instead.An oft-repeated quotation usually attributed to the writer Margaret Atwood — it’s actually a paraphrase, but no matter — posits that men are afraid women will laugh at them, while women are afraid men will murder them. It’s repeated frequently because it has the ring of truth. Most women have experienced the panicked discomfort of placating a man who seems unhappy with some response of hers, because it’s unclear what will happen if she doesn’t. Whether he is a guy at a bar, an explosive partner, a random stranger, a colleague after hours or someone else, her own unease takes a back seat to mollifying his bruised ego.“Woman of the Hour,” directed by Anna Kendrick and written by Ian McDonald, is this maxim in the form of a feature-length movie. It’s based on the true story of Rodney Alcala, a serial killer who sexually assaulted his victims. He was convicted of murdering six women and one girl in the 1970s, though text at the end of the movie states that some authorities believe he murdered as many as 130 women.Alcala also, improbably, appeared as Bachelor No. 1 on a 1978 episode of “The Dating Game,” right in the middle of a yearslong killing spree. He won, though the woman on the show subsequently declined to go on a date with him because he creeped her out.That “Dating Game” appearance, lightly fictionalized (he’s become Bachelor No. 3, for one thing), provides one of the main narrative threads in “Woman of the Hour,” named for the woman who queries the three bachelor contestants during the show. Kendrick plays the woman, here named Sheryl, an aspiring actress on the verge of giving up altogether and leaving Los Angeles. Her agent convinces her to go on the show because it will get her “seen,” and Sheryl reluctantly agrees.There are other women in other timelines, too. In 1979, a teenage runaway (Autumn Best) is trying to find somewhere to sleep and meets a gentle man who compliments her looks. In 1971, a flight attendant (Kathryn Gallagher) is moving into her new New York City apartment and asks the guy across the street for help. In 1977, a pregnant woman abandoned by her boyfriend (Kelley Jakle) has met a longhaired photographer who seems like a sweet guy. And in 1978, a woman (Nicolette Robinson) attending a taping of “The Dating Game” suddenly begins to feel nervous about one of the guys onstage.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      ‘High Tide’ Review: Between Two Worlds

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      Written and directed by Marco Calvani, this film follows a gay Brazilian man working under the table one summer in Provincetown, Mass.Finding and securing a sense of belonging is at the heart of “High Tide.” This poignant film, written and directed by Marco Calvani, highlights the life that Lourenço (Marco Pigossi) strives to protect as a gay Brazilian in the United States.Newly dumped by his boyfriend, Lourenço is suddenly alone for the summer, working under the table in Provincetown, Mass., on a tourist visa. In this gay haven, he is far away from his religious mother, whom he isn’t out to. (On a video call, she questions whether he has a photo of Jesus in his bedroom.)The cinematographer, Oscar Ignacio Jimeñez, shoots Provincetown — a “beautiful bubble,” as Lourenço calls it — as if it is wrapping its cleansing shores and cozy cottages around Lourenço, who makes ends meet by cleaning houses.Kindness and community flourish through compassionate figures, including Lourenço’s protective landlord (Bill Irwin) and a free-spirited artist (Marisa Tomei, also an executive producer) whom he befriends while working on a painting job at her house. At the beach, he hits it off with a nurse from New York named Maurice (James Bland), one of the few Black tourists in the mostly white town.Even though it’s unclear whether Lourenço will return to rural Brazil, the thought haunts him throughout his visit. With his exceptionally lived-in performance, Pigossi brings Lourenço’s heartbreaking emotions to life, making even the script’s contrivances feel natural.His eyes alone are evocative, like flickering bulbs fighting to stay lit.High TideRated R for language, club drugs, nudity and steamy sex. Running time: 1 hour 41 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Goodrich’ Review: Daddy Lessons

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      An art gallery owner (Michael Keaton) gets a shock when his second wife (Laura Benanti) goes to rehab and he has to take care of their twins.“Goodrich,” by Hallie Meyers-Shyer, is a crowd-pleasing family comedy so frankly observed that you can imagine the first draft being scribbled on the back of a therapy bill.An art gallery owner named Andy Goodrich (Michael Keaton) gets shocked out of his self-absorption when his second wife, Naomi (Laura Benanti), phones to announce that she’s checked herself into 90 days of Malibu rehab. Andy hadn’t noticed she was strung out on prescription pills, much to the disdain of everyone else who had, including the couple’s 9-year-old twins, Billie and Mose (Vivien Lyra Blair and Jacob Kopera), and his 30-something daughter, Grace (Mila Kunis), from his first marriage, who rightly refuses to pick up his slack.Today’s modern father is expected to be more engaged than when Keaton first faced elementary school drop-off in the 1983 movie “Mr. Mom.” Yet, Meyers-Shyer makes clear that women are still shouldering the burden — and blame. Upon realizing he has no clue where his family stores the spices, Andy sputters in frustration, “Why would somebody keep the salt there?”That joke, plus dozens of others, hits its target like a pie to the face. Keaton’s an old pro at getting audiences to love a well-intentioned jerk, and the script gets good chuckles out of his inconsiderate attempts at generosity — offering to take Grace, who is pregnant, out for sushi, or treating the tykes to a movie night where he insists on watching “Casablanca.”Meyers-Shyer is a realist, so don’t expect Andy to turn his life around after delivering a big, wet-eyed speech. But Kunis’s Grace gets a great one about loving him despite his shortcomings that’s so honest and raw she made me giggle, tear up and giggle again.GoodrichRated R for language. Running time: 1 hour 51 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’ Review: A Fraught Reunion

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      For his first film, the artist Titus Kaphar delivers an unsentimental and autobiographical gem.For the cover of Time magazine’s issue about the 2020 death of George Floyd, Titus Kaphar painted a pained Black mother hugging an infant to her chest. Where the child should have been, there was a white space. The artist titled a similar painting — a Black mother carries the vacant silhouette of a toddler on her hips — “Contour of Loss.” Those blanks mark a terrible absence, making emptiness feel present. In “Exhibiting Forgiveness,” Kaphar’s autobiographical film debut, the artist again focuses on rending absence — and seeks to fill it fully.André Holland gives a deeply attuned performance as Tarrell, an ascendant artist whose childhood traumas torment him, and make his most cherished relationships difficult. Bedeviled by nightmares, he awakes in a panic to his concerned wife, Aisha (Andra Day), lying beside him in their midcentury home, in their tree-lined neighborhood, with their vintage black-and-chrome Mercedes parked outside.This isn’t a catalog of materialism so much as evidence of a household constructed to withstand emotional chaos. Tarrell may be haunted, but the house is a haven, infused with familial affection — especially Tarrell’s love for his young son. Still, those panic attacks demand redress.During a visit to help move his mother, Joyce (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor), Tarrell comes face-to-face with the cause of those roiling dreams: his father, La’Ron (John Earl Jelks).Kaphar smartly introduces this troubled character. Before he re-enters Tarrell’s life, we see him hustling work outside a liquor store. He appears derelict and haggard, but when a violent robbery occurs inside, La’Ron, despite his shaky physical state, comes to the rescue. We might be inclined to have sympathy for him.But when La’Ron arrives battered to his brother’s home, we get our first inkling of the hurt he’s caused so many people. Regardless, Joyce engineers a fractious father-son reunion. She has her reasons. But Tarrell’s not having it. And no — it doesn’t matter that La’Ron has now found God.Kaphar begins “Exhibiting Forgiveness” with a quote by James Baldwin about the biological bond between fathers and sons, but Tarrell’s half brother, Quentin (Matthew Elam), also provides a telling key to the family’s varied truths of absolution and absolving: “This ain’t about him — it’s about Mama.”Forgiveness may not be about making nice. Filling in a painful gap may not lead to tidy reconciliation. Still, something true will appear. Kaphar may be new to feature filmmaking, but that’s some grown wisdom.Exhibiting ForgivenessRated R for language and brief drug material. Running time: 1 hour 57 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Allswell in New York’ Review: Siblings and Their Struggles

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      This overstuffed movie fails to wrap up its myriad professional and domestic dramas, despite a few moments of promise.A series of unfortunate domestic events befalls three adult siblings in Ben Snyder’s “Allswell in New York,” which plays like a family sitcom that forgot the comedy.Daisy (Elizabeth Rodriguez, who co-wrote the screenplay) owns a restaurant named Allswell and longs to be a mother. Her sister, Ida (Liza Colón-Zayas of “The Bear”), is a clinical counselor searching for their elder brother, who disappeared years earlier. And their sister-in-law, Serene (Daphne Rubin-Vega), is busy trying to rein in her defiant daughter, Connie (Shyrley Rodriguez), who’s blazing a trail through her terrible 20s.When we drop into this picture of present-day New York City, Daisy and Ida are facing work strains and Serene is unable to locate Connie; on top of all that, Daisy has invited a young pregnant woman from Craigslist into her home. The expectant mother (Mackenzie Lansing) intends to have Daisy adopt her child, but hesitates to put the agreement in writing.If few of the melodramatic plot lines wrap up by the end, at least the members of the ensemble cast commit to their roles with naturalistic gusto. Moments of promise outshine the gloomy chaos, as when a nurse named Clint (J. Cameron Barnett, stealing many scenes) pantomimes words of solace for Ray (Michael Rispoli), Ida’s emotionally dense boyfriend, to recite to her while she weeps. The brief exchange achieves an admirable balance of pathos and play to which the rest of the movie can only aspire.Allswell in New YorkRated R for family feuds. Running time: 1 hour 35 minutes. In theaters. More

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      ‘Brothers’ Review: Two-Bit Criminals

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      Moke (Josh Brolin) is a reformed thief who gets roped into one last job with his twin brother, Jady (Peter Dinklage).For a road-trip buddy comedy, a greater crime than being unfunny is perhaps, amid all of the shenanigans, being dull. That is partly the feeling one is left with in the R-rated movie “Brothers,” which, even with an A-list cast, seems to move on autopilot through all of its pit stops.There’s the slapstick violence; there’s a sexually excited orangutan named Samuel; there’s Glenn Close as a two-bit criminal scaring a naked Josh Brolin off a motel balcony. But one is ultimately left with the prevailing feeling that this comedy, directed by Max Barbakow, is not particularly bad, but rather just fine.In a one-last-job setup, Moke (Brolin), a reformed thief trying to go straight, teams up with his twin brother, Jady (Peter Dinklage), to track down a stash of valuable jewels. Family issues between the brothers get in the way, and then get complicated when their long-lost mother (Close) comes into the picture.Their road-movie antics all play out with little comic imagination, making for a disappointing answer to the invigorating originality of Barbakow’s last comedy, “Palm Springs.” Brolin and Dinklage might seem like a magnetic pair of bickering twins — and they are what is keeping this ship from sinking — but mostly it’s dismaying to see such strong dramatic actors stifled in such a sedate comedy.The same can be said of the entire cast, which includes Marisa Tomei as a kooky lover and Brendan Fraser as the villain on their heels. The silver lining is seeing Fraser in a comedic role, showing flashes of that easy charisma from his blockbuster days.BrothersRated R for language, sexual content and drug use. Running time: 1 hour 28 minutes. Watch on Amazon Prime Video. More