ReelViews for R movies

In a word, The Big Lebowski is a mess. But what a glorious, wonderfully-entertaining mess it is. This film, the Coen Brothers' follow-up to the critically-lauded Fargo, isn't likely to generate the same degree of universal praise. In fact, those...

From time immemorial, the experience of eating a good meal has been regarded as one of life's most hedonistic pleasures. In a recent survey, more than 50% of Americans indicated they would rather eat a memorable dinner than experience a night of u...

Against all odds, The Big Short works. In fact, “works” is an understatement for what director Adam McKay has achieved with his improbable adaptation of Michael Lewis’ nonfiction book about the 2008 global financial crisis. Writing ...

The Big Sick is a Judd Apatow special. Although Apatow is accorded only a producer credit on the Michael Showalter-directed film, the movie contains the hallmarks of Apatow’s romantic comedies: a ribald, edgy sense of humor; more “real” ...

Despite being adapted from a generally well-liked French film, The Big Wedding feels like nothing more ambitious than a big screen sit-com. It's tired and dated with too few laughs to justify the stultifying attempts at drama and the impossible-to-...

Is it A Bigger Splash or A Bigger Bore?  Despite a strong cast, gorgeous cinematography, and a suffocating sense of sexual tension, this movie takes far too long to get off the ground. When it finally does - more than an hour into the 120+ minut...

The Bikeriders is notable not because of anything in the story but because of the approach to acting embraced by lead actors Tom Hardy and Austin Butler, who have consciously attempted to recreate the essences of Marlon Brando and James Dean in th...

Taking its clue from recent British imports like Brassed Off! and The Full Monty, Billy Elliot combines whimsy, comedy, and socially-conscious drama into a crowd-pleasing whole. Although neither revolutionary in its approach or subject matter nor ...

Mike Nichols, the director of such well-received films as The Graduate and Working Girl, has taken the outrageous 1978 French farce, La Cage aux Folles, and, by tweaking, updating, and Americanizing it, come up with a huge winner. The Birdcage, as...

Birdman (subtitled Or the Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) is an ensemble film about theater life that occasionally takes time away from its dramatic/comedic narrative to skewer the pop culture sensibilities that have given rise to the so-called "mo...