Search for Light

With its curious fusion of tear-jerking drama and fish-out-of-water humor, Rental Family is indeed a strange brew—one of those films that sounds slightly ridiculous in synopsis but blossoms into something unexpectedly tender when experienced mom...

After watching Ruby Sparks, I asked myself a question: Did I enjoy it as much as I did because it brings such a breezy perspective to a tired genre or because it offers a unique point-of-view of creativity and the writing process? I'm not sure Ruby...

The Savages is being described in some corners as a "dark comedy," but such a designation does a great disservice to Tamara Jenkins' picture. This is not a comedy but a drama. To the extent that there is humor, it emerges from the uncomfortable s...

When it comes to movies that touch the heart, few have a more delicate yet undeniable impact than Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Secret Life of Bees. Adapted from the novel by Sue Monk Kidd, the production achieves something few literary interpretati...

While watching Tom George’s See How They Run, two references came to mind (in addition to the obvious Agatha Christie ones): the oeuvre of Wes Anderson and Rian Johnson’s Knives Out. Although See How They Run isn’t as head-scratchingly quirk...

Back toward the beginning of her career, a then- 29 year old Helen Hunt appeared in a movie called The Waterdance. The film dealt frankly with the way disability impacted the sexual relationship between her character and the one played by Eric Stol...

The oddly-titled Sexy Beast (oddly titled because neither of the main characters is sexy, although both are certainly beasts) focuses on a husband's determination to honor a promise he made to his wife. The movie, the debut effort from British dir...

Spoiler warning: In discussing the movie, I have revealed more about the plot than I normally do, including a brief, oblique reference to the ending. Although Shame is not narrative-driven, those who want a "pure" experience may wish to read no fur...

Although Guillermo del Toro was never given the opportunity to bring his vision of The Hobbit to the screen, movie-goers over the years have not been deprived of his brand of horror-tinged fantasy. With his latest, the story is a variation on ...

Sideways is from Alexander Payne (Election, About Schmidt), whose films simultaneously satirize and observe life in America. Unlike David Lynch, who uses saws and butcher knives to dissect the American dream, Payne prefers a scalpel. Lynch often ri...