Rating: PG, for some crude comments, language and action violence.
Ben Stiller’s take on the classic James Thurber story feels like the actor-director is working through a mid-life crisis with a big budget and blockbuster special effects. Stiller stars as the meek title character, whose vivid fantasy world becomes reality when he’s forced to embark on a globetrotting adventure. There are a couple scenes of peril: a pursuit through the packed streets of Manhattan, an erupting volcano. And Walter’s boss, played by an arrogant Adam Scott, is a total jerk. But for the most part this inanely uplifting story about overcoming your fears and chasing your dreams is pretty darn harmless.
Rating: PG, for brief language and mild thematic material.
This second documentary chronicling the behind-the-scenes life of pop phenom Justin Bieber wasn’t shown to critics before its Christmas Day opening. But it comes from Jon M. Chu, the same director who brought us 2011’s Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. That first film was a big, glossy celebration of a musical superstar on the rise, a young man with talent and poise beyond his years. Since then, Bieber has proven himself human, and fallible, as he’s made the sort of high-profile mistakes so many young celebrities do. Clips from the new film suggest that he’s achieved an awareness of the perils of fame while still exuding enough impish enthusiasm to keep his loyal fans squealing with glee. Oh yes, and it’s got tons of concert footage to appease those fervent Beliebers.
