(Photo by Warner Bros. / courtesy Everett Collection)
It’s now 20 years into the Willennium, and how has our reigning Fresh Prince fared since the 1990s? On the Oscars front, Will Smith notched two Best Actor nominations for 2001’s Ali, and then for The Pursuit of Happyness in 2006. He’s adapted two genre literary classics into blockbusters (I Am Legend and I, Robot), and he was there during the 2008’s summer of superheroes with Hancock, which released one month after Iron Man and one before The Dark Knight and Hellboy II.
Of course, that’s not to say Smith was slacking in the ’90s (though if he was, certainly no one would have noticed), which saw a diversified pop culture portfolio that includes a beloved TV show at the beginning of the decade, and a slew of hip-hop crossover hits at the end. Sandwiched in between were films like Independence Day, which at the time felt like the biggest movie event ever, and Men in Black, which got its first Smith-less sequel in 2019.
But on the subject of sequels that didn’t disappoint, and even surprised: Bad Boys For Life, which reunited Smith with Martin Lawrence for some Certified Fresh throwback buddy action. Next, you can see him in the inspirational family drama King Richard. Now, we’re ranking the best Will Smith movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
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So close, yet so far.
Oh, we don’t mean like close to perfection, as seen in our other guide, The 99% Club: An Ode to the Almost-Perfect Movie. Here, “close” means a movie that was in striking distance of being marked Fresh on the Tomatometer. A 60% score is what you need to be Fresh, and all the movies featured in this list are exactly one percentage point away: They are the members of The 59% Club.
What makes up the bones of a 59% movie? Take a look through this guide and you’ll find they’re mostly well-intentioned, mostly efficient, but lacking the spark (or several of them) to be fully endorsed by critics. They’re comedies with some great jokes, and maybe not enough laughs. They’re serious movies with lots to say, and maybe without the technical filmmaking to back it up. They’re remakes that manage to not totally suck, but which couldn’t quite convince audiences they needed to exist in the first place. They’re even movies that are ahead of their time, waiting for the rest of us to catch up.
One thing for certain is that, hey, a majority of critics actually did like the movie. So why not give some a chance?
Because Tomatometer scores are a living thing, subject to change as reviews come in throughout the years, we’ll be checking in from now on with new entries, and even removals. Watch ’em while they’re still Rotten! —Alex Vo
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This week, Christy lets us know whether or not taking your kids to see the latest faith-based drama is a good idea, then gives us the lowdown on an adrenaline-fueled remake of a classic actioner and a sober drama based on true events. Read on for details.
NEW IN THEATERS
Rating: PG, for thematic elements.
God is still not dead in this sequel to the 2014 faith-based hit. This time, a history teacher with the subtle name of Grace (Melissa Joan Hart) finds herself persecuted when she tries to teach about Jesus in a public high school. Parents complain, she refuses to apologize, and the whole conflict erupts in a court of law. Along the way, various supporting characters find their faith tested and — spoiler! — ultimately validated. This is a PG-rated Christian movie, so nothing even remotely inappropriate happens. But some of the discussions and courtroom arguments can get pretty intense, which might be too much for younger viewers to comprehend. The running time of two solid hours also might make this a squirmy sit for littler kids. Probably OK for viewers around age 8 or 9 and up.
NEW ON DVD
Rating: PG-13, for thematic material including some disturbing images, and language.
Will Smith stars in this drama based on the real-life events that led to the National Football League taking the threat of head trauma to its players more seriously. Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigeria-born, Pittsburgh-based pathologist who noticed severe damage in the brain tissue of several former NFL players who died young and often of suicide. There’s some language here, mainly from Omalu’s boss, the coroner (Albert Brooks). But there’s also the frequently disturbing sight of these men who’ve grown so disheveled and mentally debilitated, they’re a menace to themselves and others. It’s also probably a topic that’s too complicated for older kids. Additionally, Omalu and his pregnant wife (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) suffer the devastating loss of a child. This is probably fine for older, mature tweens and up.
This week on DVD and Blu-ray, we’ve got Quentin Tarantino’s brutal western, a sports drama starring Will Smith, some excellent televsion, and more. Read on for details.
After a detour into crime during season five, Archer, Lana, and the gang return to familiar themes, working with the CIA in season six. The box set includes all 13 episodes and a trio of extras.
This Certified Fresh US-UK joint sci-fi production is set in an alternate reality where lifelike artificial intelligence has been perfected; the series follows a normal family as they deal with life… and robots. The season box set includes making-of docs, character profiles, interviews, and more.
Samuel L. Jackson and Kurt Russell headline Quentin Tarantino’s Oscar-winning western (Ennio Morricone’s score took home Best Original Score) about the deadly secrets that emerge when eight apparent strangers get trapped in one cabin during a blizzard. Only two special features are listed: a short making-of doc and an overview of 70mm delivered by Jackson.
This week on streaming video, we’ve got the return of a Marvel superhero, a bunch of Oscar-nominated films, as well as some intriguing releases from the end of 2015. Read on for the full list.
Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) fights organized crime in New York City as a lawyer during the day, and as a super-powered, martial arts-fighting vigilante at night in Netflix’s first foray into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The complete second season will be available this Friday.
Available on 3/18 on: Netflix
Charlotte Rampling and Mathieu Amalric star in director Guy Maddin‘s unclassifiable assemblage/pastiche of cinematic esoterica.
Available now on: Netflix
Lee Pace, Scoot McNairy, Mackenzie Davis, and Kerry Bishé star in AMC’s drama about the wild and wooly early days of the personal computer revolution.
Available now on: Netflix
Kirby Dick‘s powerful Certified Fresh documentary is an unflinching look at sexual assault on college campuses.
Available now on: Netflix
This single-shot, real-time drama follows a woman whose wild night in Berlin starts at a nightclub and leads to participating in a bank robbery.
Available now on: Netflix
The 47th NAACP Image Award winners were announced last night on a ceremony broadcast live on TV One. The show took place at the Pasadena Conference Center. See the full list of film and television winners below, and check out the recording and literature categories on the official website.
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This weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now the number one film all time domestically, The Revenant expanded nationwide to explosive results while Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight crumbled in its second week of wide release.
In a mere 20 days, Star Wars: The Force Awakens managed to overtake Avatar and become the highest grossing film of all time domestically. In its 4th weekend (which would be 24 days), The Force Awakens racked up another $41.6M, according to estimates, raising its record to $812M. Internationally it made another $146M (including a record-breaking $52.6M two-day opening in China) bringing its cume to $921M for a worldwide total of $1.73B, overtaking Jurassic World for number three all-time. This leaves only Titanic ($2.1865B worldwide) and Avatar ($2.788B) left in its path. Will it be able to make another billion dollars? That might be difficult but never say never with this film. Perhaps if one person wins this week’s $1.3B Powerball jackpot in the U.S., they’ll spend all their money on Star Wars tickets?
In what turned out to be a close race, Leonardo DiCaprio’s best chance yet at Oscar glory The Revenant exploded in wide release taking in an estimated $38M from 3,375 theaters for a per screen average of $11,259, best in the top 10. If the estimates hold, it’ll be the fifth highest opening weekend in January, slipping right in between 2015’s Taken 3 ($39M) and 2014’s Lone Survivor ($37.8M). The last three years have seen five of the top six January openings. For DiCaprio, it’s his fourth biggest opening behind Shutter Island ($41M in 2010), The Great Gatsby ($50M in 2013) and Inception ($62.8M in 2010). Finally, we have a prestige pic that does well in its nationwide expansion, which should bode well for its Oscar chances.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg’s Daddy’s Home continued it’s impressive run with an estimated $15M in its third weekend, a drop of 48% from last weekend’s holiday infused grosses. Its total now stands at $116M for Paramount, a studio always in desperate need of a hit.
Debuting in fourth was the horror film The Forest which made $13.1M, according to estimates, from 2,451 theaters for a per screen average of $5,340. January has always been kind to horror films and anytime you can make back your budget in a single weekend, you’re on the right path. Between this and The Revenant, audiences spent a lot of money on films that take place in between the trees.
Also continuing a strong run was the tag team of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler with Sisters taking in an estimated $7.2M this weekend, bringing its cume after four weekends to $75M. Collapsing in sixth place was the eighth film from Quentin Tarantino, The Hateful Eight which fell 60% from last weekend despite adding over 450 theaters. It took in an estimated $6.35M this weekend bringing its total up to $41.5M. So let’s kindly forget my thoughts from last week where I said it had a shot at hitting $100M, shall we?
Holding on in seventh place with the smallest drop in the top 10 (30%) was The Big Short which made an estimated $6.3M bringing its total up to $42.8M for Paramount. A couple of Fox films took the next two spots with Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip bringing in an estimated $5.5M lifting its total to $75M and awards-hopeful Joy taking in an estimated $4.5M bringing its cume up to $46M. And rounding out the top 10 was Concussion which became much more relevant after the vicious hit taken by Antonio Brown of the Pittsburgh Steelers last night left him with a concussion. The Will Smith starrer took in $3M, according to estimates, bringing its total up to $31M.
Outside of the top 10 Anomalisa added 13 theaters but saw its per screen average drop from $35,000 to $13,000 with its total now at $490K.
The top ten films grossed $140.6M which was up 34% from last year when Taken 3 debuted at number one with $39M; and up 25% from 2014 when Lone Survivor jumped into the top spot in its first weekend of wide release with $37.8M.
This weekend, Star Wars: The Force Awakens came within a hair of becoming the top grossing film of all-time, leading the pack easily for a third straight weekend while the latest film from Quentin Tarantino expanded nationwide and made some noise of its own.
Coming within only $20M of the all-time domestic box office record in only 17(!) days, Star Wars: The Force Awakens remained at number one for a third consecutive weekend taking in an estimated $88.3M bringing its out-of-this-galaxy total to $740M, again in only 17 days. Current champ Avatar should be moving into the center lane to let The Force Awakens pass it on the left as early as tomorrow, no later than Tuesday. Since Avatar‘s ascent to the throne in 2010 (including a Special Edition re-release) there have been a couple of films where people thought, will this be the one to topple James Cameron’s stranglehold on the charts? But neither Batman nor The Avengers could put up a fight, though they valiantly tried. Jurassic World shocked the world with its $652M take from this summer, which eclipsed the initial release of Titanic ($600M) but even Chris Pratt fell just a little short. I think, however, that when the rumblings started that there would be a new Star Wars film on the horizon, people starting thinking that this could be it. And then the first trailer came out and fanboys everywhere wet their pants in anticipation. And when the opening night/day/weekend records came crashing down, it was a forgone conclusion that Avatar would fall too, but in less than three weeks? After its third weekend, Avatar wasn’t even halfway to its final total ($352M of $750M). Titanic was barely a quarter of the way to its final total ($157M of $600M). Yes, those two films were anomalies, having extremely slim declines week-to-week and sometimes even increasing after being in theaters for weeks on end (let’s not forget, Titanic was number one for about 4 months straight) so it’s unlikely The Force Awakens is only halfway to its ultimate final gross, but hitting a billion dollars is nowhere near out of the equation at this point. Internationally, The Force Awakens made another $96M this weekend bringing its foreign total up to $770M and its worldwide cume up to $1.51B with China still to come. For reference sake, the highest grossing U.S. film released in China is Furious 7 which made around $370M earlier this year.
What’s even more fascinating is if you look at the all-time chart adjusted for inflation, where Gone With the Wind has ruled the roost for decades with a current adjusted $1.7B gross. The Force Awakens could end up on the top 10 of that list if it ends up making over $938M, which is what Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs made over its many releases since 1937. Any way you want to look at it, we’re living through a momentous box office/pop culture moment. And I think, it’s a moment unlike any other we’ll see in at least my lifetime. Anticipation for The Force Awakens was unlike any other I’ve seen and even looking ahead at the release schedule for the next 10-15 years I’m hard pressed to come up with another movie (including the new Star Wars films) that will reach this level of box office domination. I can only hope right now James Cameron is putting the final touches on the artwork of the Na’vi waving at the Millennium Falcon as it flies by his records. With the domestic record set to fall within the next 48 hours, the next one we’re looking at is worldwide box office where The Force Awakens is currently number six all time with Furious 7 ($1.515B), The Avengers ($1.519B) and Jurassic World ($1.669B) set to fall as well. Which would leave only Titanic (2.186B) and Avatar ($2.788B) left to go, though those final two could take a little time.
The new dream team of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg held up nicely in second place for a second straight weekend with their comedy Daddy’s Home slipping 25% to $29M, bringing its total up to $93.7M. I have to imagine Daddy’s Home Again is already in the works – let’s hope it doesn’t end up like Ted 2 or any number of comedy sequels that should have never been made. Why can we never just appreciate what we have?
It’s pretty amazing to me how every Quentin Tarantino films feels like an event when it comes out. Ever since he burst onto the scene with Reservoir Dogs in 1992 ($2.8M final gross) and then took the world by storm with his Oscar-winning Pulp Fiction ($108M in 1994), every 2-3 years Tarantino releases another film that is completely different from his last one, yet feels like a natural progression, like somehow all his films are within the same universe, just in different parts of it. This weekend his latest film, The Hateful Eight shot up an estimated $16.2M in its first full weekend nationwide (after a 100 theater opening last week), bringing its total up to $29.5M. It has a chance of becoming his third straight $100M film after 2012’s Django Unchained ($162M in 2012/2013 – his highest grossing film to date) and 2009’s Inglourious Basterds which made $120M. Both of those films grossed north of $30M in their opening weekends so The Hateful Eight may need some help to get to $100M, and a B CinemaScore isn’t promising, but the film looks like it might be a player during this awards season so it could get there.
There were no other new or expanding films this first weekend of 2016, so the rest of the top 10 looks a lot like last week. Fourth place belonged to Sisters which slipped a slim 11% in its third weekend to an estimated $12.6M bringing its total up to $61.7M. It’s no Daddy’s Home but I’d much rather see Tina Fey and Amy Poehler get back together for another film. Also holding up well over New Year’s weekend was Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip which fell only 10% to $11.8M, according to estimates, bringing its total up to $67M after three weeks. There can be no doubt there will be another Alvin film coming out soon… The Chipmunk Awakens perhaps?
There was less joy for Joy which fell 39% in its second weekend, falling to number six with an estimated $10.4M, bringing its total to $38.7M. A stronger hold in its second weekend would have been nice for this awards hopeful, but that seems to be the trend for prestige pics so far this year. On the other hand, you have The Big Short which fell only 14.5% in its fourth weekend to an estimated $9M bringing the ensemble film up to $33M. Eighth place belonged to Will Smith’s Concussion which held up reasonably well in its second weekend, taking in an estimated $8M, a drop of 24% from last weekend, bringing its total up to $25M. In ninth place was the unnecessary remake Point Break which dropped 30% from its opening weekend to an estimated $6.8M, bringing its cume to $22M. And rounding out the top 10 in its seventh weekend is the final chapter in the Hunger Games saga, The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 which took in an additional $4.6M, according to estimates, bringing it’s total to $274M.
Outside of the top 10 saw The Revenant dip only 5% from last weekend while remaining in only 4 theaters, taking in an additional $450,000 this weekend, bringing its cume up to $1.3M so far. It expands nationwide next weekend. And opening in limited release was the stop-motion animated Anomalisa which took in a decent $140,000, according to estimates, from only 4 theaters for a per screen average of $35,000.
The top ten films grossed $196.8M which was up 56% from last year when The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies remained at number one for a third straight weekend with $21.7; and up 66% from 2013 when Frozen reclaimed the top spot in its seventh weekend $19.6M.
This weekend, in what should come as no surprise to anyone, The Force was ridiculously strong at the box office again this weekend while a number of other films opened from extremely well to really poor over the Christmas weekend.
Setting records left and right, Star Wars: The Force Awakens remained at number one at the box office for a second straight weekend, bringing in a towering $153M according to estimates, a fall of only 38% from last weekend, bringing its total to an out-of-this-world $544.6M after only ten days. Throw in another $546M from overseas and its worldwide total is an astounding $1.1B. Along the way it has set records for fastest film to every milestone imaginable and the only question now is, how fast will it take down Avatar and become the highest grossing film of all-time? Avatar sits at $760M and it’s conceivable that The Force Awakens may make another $100 next weekend (which would be a 35% drop from this weekend). Add in holiday-week grosses that match last week (which was just under $150M) and by the end of next weekend it could very well be the new box office champ. And it’ll only be at the end of its third weekend! Is it really that crazy to think it could hit a billion dollars just domestically? At this point I’d say nothing is off the table when it comes to Star Wars.
There were other films in the marketplace this weekend. Second place belonged to the team of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg in Daddy’s Home. The unlikely comedy duo took in an estimated $38.8M this weekend from 3,271 theaters for a per screen average of $11,862. Critics may have savaged the film but audiences seem to like these two coming together in a standard comedy.
Third place belonged to David O. Russell’s Joy starring his now usual stable of actors including Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro and Bradley Cooper. Critics were mixed on this awards-bait film but audiences were somewhat kinder as the film made $17.5M, according to estimates, this weekend from 2,896 theaters for a per screen average of $6,043 – good but not great. It seems a lot of prestige pictures this year aren’t making the dent we’ve seen in past years. Is it possible the Star Wars wattage could also take it to Oscar glory?
A couple of holdovers rounded out the top five with Universal’s Sisters dropping almost nothing from last weekend to an estimated $13.8M this weekend, bringing its cume to $37.1M. Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Road Chip also had a decent decline falling only 11% in its second weekend to an estimated $12.7M, bringing its total up to $39.4M.
Will Smith’s latest attempt at getting an Oscar opened this weekend in sixth place as the football drama Concussion took in an estimated $11M from 2,841 theaters for a per screen average of a poor $3,872. One has to imagine the NFL is pretty happy with this result. The film had the best critical reviews for films opening wide this weekend, and audiences gave it an A CinemaScore so it’s possible it’ll hold on over the next few weeks and a possible Best Actor nomination may turn a few heads.
The Big Short expanded nationwide this weekend and landed in seventh place with an estimated $10.5M from 1,585 theaters for a per screen average of $6,637 which again is good, but not great. It’s almost as if no one wants to take the early lead in Oscar voting this year.
Yet another film opened wide this weekend and it was Point Break which took in an estimated $10.2M from 2,910 theaters for a per screen average of $3,512. Critics completely tore this movie apart as it currently sits at a whopping 4% positive on Rotten Tomatoes with audiences giving it only a B CinemaScore which means the road ahead is most likely a dead end.
A couple of long-term holdovers rounded out the top 10 with The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 taking in an estimated $5.3M in its sixth weekend bringing its cume up to $264M and Creed fighting its way to an estimated $4.6M in its fifth weekend bringing its total to $96M.
There were some other award-potential films lurking outside of the top 10, the most notable being Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight which brought in an estimated $4.5M from only 100 theaters for a per screen average of a scorching $45,366 and Leonardo DiCaprio’s The Revenant which made $451,000 from only 4 theaters for an average of an astounding $117,750. Could these two films gain some traction heading into awards season?
The top ten films grossed $278M which was up 56% from last year when The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies remained at number one with $40.9M; and up 66% from 2013 when The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug also remained in the top spot with $29M.
Compared to projections, Daddy’s Home and Joy opened ahead of Gitesh’s respective $24M and $17M forecasts while both Concussion and Point Break debuted on target with his predictions of $11M and $9M respectively.
Check out Jennifer Lawrence, Will Smith, Natalie Dormer and more on the red carpet celebrating the releases of Concussion, Joy, and Daddy’s Home.
Leading up to December 25th, Christy gives us the lowdown on three very different new releases in theaters, as well as a couple of potentially family-friendly rentals. Read on for details.
NEW IN THEATERS
Rating: PG-13, for thematic elements, crude and suggestive content, and for language.
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, who co-starred in the mismatched buddy-cop comedy The Other Guys, reteam here five years later. But this time, they’re enemies as they compete for the affections of the woman they love and her children. Ferrell is the mild-mannered and stable stepdad; Wahlberg is the motorcycle-riding wild man who returns to the picture to win back his ex-wife (Linda Cardellini) and their two kids. The movie tries to straddle the line between raunchy humor for the adults in the audience with silly slapstick and sentimentality for the kids. But in the end, it is indeed rated PG-13. It features bits about infertility, sex and penis size, quite a bit of language and a ton of crass physical humor, mostly involving Ferrell’s character injuring himself while trying to be cool like Wahlberg’s. (Although there’s also a cheerleader at a basketball game who gets bonked on the head and knocked flat.) Probably OK for tweens and up.
Rating: PG-13, for thematic material including some disturbing images, and language.
Will Smith stars in this drama based on the real-life events that led to the National Football League taking the threat of head trauma to its players more seriously. Smith plays Dr. Bennet Omalu, the Nigeria-born, Pittsburgh-based pathologist who noticed severe damage in the brain tissue of several former NFL players who died young and often of suicide. There’s some language here, mainly from Omalu’s boss, the coroner (Albert Brooks). But there’s also the frequently disturbing sight of these men who’ve grown so disheveled and mentally debilitated, they’re a menace to themselves and others. It’s also probably a topic that’s too complicated for older kids. Additionally, Omalu and his pregnant wife (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) suffer the devastating loss of a child. This is probably fine for older, mature tweens and up.
Rating: PG-13, for brief strong language.
Director and co-writer David O. Russell re–teams with the stars of his Silver Linings Playbook – Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro – to tell the true story of the woman who invented the Miracle Mop. Lawrence stars as Joy Mangano, the struggling single mom who built an entrepreneurial empire by selling her products on television’s QVC. There’s some language here as Joy finds she must stand up for herself both in the face of businessmen trying to steal from her and her own faithless family members. The subject matter and situations here will probably be too complicated for most kids, but they’re harmless. And Lawrence, in a showy role as a smart, determined woman who consistently fights to protect her ideas and her brand, presents a character who’s a fine role model for young viewers – especially young women. This is probably suitable for kids around age 10 and older.
NEW ON DVD
Rating: PG, for fantasy action violence, language and some thematic material.
It’s rare that a film’s title actually invites the kind of reviews it’s going to receive, but such is the sad case of Pan. Director Joe Wright has given us an elaborate Peter Pan origin story, but despite the fanciful imagery, the movie as a whole is actually a slog. Levi Miller stars as young Peter, whose mother (Amanda Seyfried) leaves him at the doorstep of a London orphanage at the film’s start. Years later, during World War II, he’s stuck in this squalid place with dozens of other boys – until the night Blackbeard (Hugh Jackman) swoops by on his flying pirate ship to scoop them all up to do his bidding. The story has something to do with the kids being forced to work as miners, digging for pixie dust to keep Blackbeard eternally young. But Peter just happens to be The Chosen One spoken of in a prophecy, so he’s got bigger things in store. He also has to meet up with the man who will become Captain Hook (Garrett Hedlund, doing a Harrison Ford impression circa 1980) and Tiger Lily (Rooney Mara), whose tribe he must free. It’s very complicated and not much fun. Some of the early orphanage imagery is bleak, but once we’re in Neverland, Blackbeard and his cronies aren’t terribly enjoyable to look at, either. Far better films are deserving of your home-viewing time over the holidays.
Rating: PG-13, for brief strong language, some sexual content and historical smoking.
Tobey Maguire stars as the famously brilliant (and notoriously paranoid) chess champion Bobby Fischer. Director Edward Zwick’s film focuses on his matches against his rival, Russian champion Boris Spassky (Liev Schreiber), which reflected U.S.-Soviet tension at the height of the Cold War. There’s quite a bit of language here; Fischer frequently went on rants, which included anti-Semitic sentiment. There’s also the suggestion that he lost his virginity to a flirty young woman he met at a motel, but all you see is the two of them lying in bed together afterward. And everyone smokes all the time. It was the ‘70s, after all. This might be a little boring for younger viewers at nearly two hours; plus, two people engaging in such an internal, cerebral battle isn’t necessarily the most thrilling activity to watch. But if you have kids in your house who are interested in chess, they might enjoy this and will probably even learn something.
Merry Christmas! This week at the movies, we’ve got feuding father figures (Daddy’s Home, starring Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg), an unlikely inventor (Joy, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Robert De Niro), an embattled doctor (Concussion, starring Will Smith and Alec Baldwin), financial insurgents (The Big Short, starring Steve Carell and Christian Bale), and an extreme FBI agent (Point Break, starring Luke Bracey and Edgar Ramirez). What do the critics have to say?
Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg made for a hilarious odd-couple pairing in The Other Guys, and the notion of these two in adversarial roles offers a certain comic appeal. Unfortunately, critics say Daddy’s Home is a so-so family comedy with limited characters and an overreliance on slapstick gags. Ferrell stars as a straight-laced radio executive whose struggle to connect with his wife’s children is thrown painfully out of whack when the kids’ cooler bio-dad (Wahlberg) makes a surprise reappearance, sparking a battle for paternal supremacy in which each man makes progressively more elaborate attempts to win the kids’ affection. The pundits say the talented leads earn a few decent laughs, but Daddy’s Home rarely strays from the predictable beats its premise guarantees.
In theory, Joy should find director David O. Russell squarely in his wheelhouse. In bringing the life of Miracle Mop inventor Joy Mangano to the big screen, he utilizes a pair of his most effective weapons — a fact-based, stranger-than-fiction story, and Jennifer Lawrence as a leading lady — so it would seem safe to assume this picture would hit nothing but cinematic paydirt. Alas, reviews point to more muddled results this time out, thanks to a scattershot focus and wildly meandering tone that often overwhelm typically strong work from Lawrence (not to mention a supporting cast that also includes Russell returnees Bradley Cooper and Robert De Niro). While most critics stop short of labeling Joy a failure, filmgoers hoping for another Silver Linings Playbook or American Hustle may wish to temper their expectations.
Like many a fact-based film that’s a little too timely for its own good, Concussion was dogged by real-life drama long before the cameras rolled: Sony Pictures was supposedly pressured into making script changes by NFL execs concerned that writer-director Peter Landesman’s drama might portray the league in an unfavorable light. That was a fairly safe bet, given that the movie looks at the true story of the doctor (played by Will Smith) who discovered the degenerative brain disease suffered by a number of former football players — and to its credit, critics say Concussion is indeed unflinching in its willingness to lay blame at the feet of a greed-driven culture of dangerous bravado and medical negligence. Unfortunately, many reviews also argue that the film’s focus is too diffuse — and its message is often delivered too clumsily — to really register the type of impact the subject matter deserves.
If Adam McKay really wanted to film an adaptation of a bestselling book, he certainly could have picked an easier row to hoe than Michael Lewis’ The Big Short, which takes a critical look at the gross financial chicanery that sparked the economic meltdown of 2008. But as we learned with previous Lewis-inspired efforts Friday Night Lights and Moneyball, just because a nonfiction book might not seem like the most naturally cinematic source material, that doesn’t mean it can’t be turned into a hugely entertaining movie — and that’s exactly what critics say McKay’s given us here, turning real-life crooks spinning derivatives into a Wall Street dramedy with a populist rage to match its satirical bite.
Making a Murderer is a spellbinding slow burn that effectively utilizes the documentary format to tell a twisty mystery.
Also Opening This Week In Limited Release
The 47th NAACP Image Award nominees were announced today on a press conference in Beverly Hills, CA. The Image Awards celebrate the accomplishments of people of color in the fields of television, music, literature and film. Read through for the TV and movie nominees, and check out their official site for the music and literature honorees.
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It’s the final countdown! We ranked every major release (films that reach 600+ theaters, or with 80+ critic reviews) from November and December by Tomatometer and have the final result, from Point Break to early favorites (Spotlight, Brooklyn) and everything in-between. (Love the Coopers? Does anyone remember the Coopers?)
