Movies: May 3, 2013

42
PG-13, 2 HRS., 8 MINS.

A stirringly square, old-fashioned drama about how Jackie Robinson broke the color line in professional baseball. Chadwick Boseman plays Robinson with a guarded stare and a deep inner fire. B+ — Owen Gleiberman

At Any Price
R, 1 HR., 45 MINS.

Yes, this drama is about a corn farmer (Dennis Quaid) who illegally resells genetically modified seeds. Still awake? Then you might like to know that the smart stuff is tempered with car crashes (Zac Efron plays Quaid’s stock-car-driving son in a bad James Dean impression), a steamy sex scene with Heather Graham (who’s doomed to play Rollergirl forever), and a shocker plot twist. Poor Quaid, who’s excellent here, cannot save this ridiculously soapy movie. Clearly he’s not the only one harvesting corn. C — Melissa Maerz

The Croods
PG, 1 HR., 36 MINS.

A cavegirl and her family join up with a more evolved cavedude. C+ —Keith Staskiewicz

Evil Dead
R, 1 HR., 30 MINS.

The bloodiest, goriest, slapstickiest horror flick since, well, 1981’s The Evil Dead. B+ —Chris Nashawaty

Filly Brown
R, 1 HR., 41 MINS.

A feisty young rapper (Gina Rodriguez) wants to fulfill two dreams — freeing her jailed mother (the late Jenni Rivera) and becoming famous — in one stroke. But! She has to go through some shady characters to get there. Sound familiar? The rags-to-more-rags tale is predictable, but gripping performances give it a fighting chance. C+ —Ray Rahman

G.I. Joe: Retaliation
PG-13, 1 HR., 50 MINS.

When most of the G.I. Joes get killed, it’s up to Dwayne Johnson to save the day. B- —Owen Gleiberman

In the House
R, 1 HR., 45 MINS.

François Ozon’s latest French-language thriller traces the relationship between a manipulative high school student (Ernst Umhauer) and his weary writing professor (Fabrice Luchini). B —Chris Nashawaty

Jurassic Park 3D
PG-13, 2 HRS., 7 MINS.

The makeover doesn’t add much to the movie’s most dazzling scenes, but it’s still Jurassic freakin’ Park. It’s fantastic. A- —Chris Nashawaty

The Lords of Salem
R, 1 HR., 41 MINS.

Rob Zombie’s new fright flick centers on a radio DJ (Sheri Moon Zombie) who receives a mysterious album in the mail that unleashes hell…literally. Loaded with the kinds of satanic images you’d see on a Dio record, the film is more likely to give you a headache than nightmares. C- —Chris Nashawaty

Midnight’s Children
NOT RATED, 2 HRS., 20 MINS.

Salman Rushdie wrote the screenplay for this adaptation of his 1981 novel, so it’s a safe bet that he thinks it all makes sense. But audiences may come down with indigestion attempting to swallow the overstuffed smorgasbord, which combines the entire 20th-century history of India and Pakistan, a switched-at-birth tale that turns into a cornier (and far less plausible) Prince and the Pauper, and a WTF sprinkle of magical realism. D —Owen Gleiberman

Oblivion
PG-13, 2 HRS., 5 MINS.

Tom Cruise essentially plays the last man on earth in this post-apocalyptic mash-up of older, better sci-fi brainteasers. The film has a brave-new-world beauty, but the plot can be summed up in two words: déjá vu. C+ —Chris Nashawaty

The Reluctant Fundamentalist
R, 2 HRS., 8 MINS.

The hero of Mira Nair’s remarkable drama is a young Pakistani who becomes a Wall Street shark and then gets radicalized against the U.S. in the months after 9/11. The movie’s disarming fascination is that it makes each of these transformations entirely convincing. Playing this man of appetite woken up by anger, Riz Ahmed gives a smoldering performance that announces the arrival of a major actor. Kate Hudson, as his artist lover, does dishevelment as well as she once did adorability, and Kiefer Sutherland offers a tasty portrait of high-finance power. The film meanders at times, but mostly it’s bracing. (Available on VOD 4/30) A- —Owen Gleiberman

Scary Movie 5
PG-13, 1 HR., 25 MINS.

The latest and worst entry in the Scary Movie franchise is composed almost entirely of jokes that were much funnier when you read them on Twitter years ago. D —Darren Franich