Search for Mercy

Fargo takes the usual "caper gone wrong" storyline and applies a new twist. Based on a supposed series of "true events" from 1987 (a tongue-in-cheek claim made by a screen caption), the film examines what can happen when the police and criminals a...

The Forest is a low-budget horror film that arrives in January with the usual low expectations associated with early year releases. Considering the movie’s undistinguished profile and limited marketing, it seems unlikely The Forest will gain mu...

The simplest and most honest expression of praise that I can offer Mike Newell's latest movie is that it represents two hours of solid movie magic. Four Weddings and a Funeral possesses the rare ability to make an audience laugh (and laugh hard) a...

Few screen romances are as touching, as tragic, and as life affirming as the one shared by Nick (Robert Carlyle) and Karen (Juliet Aubrey) in director Michael Winterbottom's Go Now. While the film is ultimately about the effects of multiple sc...

A Good Man in Africa, based on William Boyd's novel of the same name, is supposed to be a biting satire on the colonial attitudes of British subjects. The problem with the film is that it's frequently more tedious than funny. The story -- tha...

They say the third time's the charm.  Not with the Insidious series, it isn't.  Admittedly, installment #3 is an improvement over #2, but it fails to reach the highs of the chilling-but-uneven original. Instead of using the stinger ...

One hallmark of great cinema is that, even when the story is tragic, a viewer can leave the theater both reflective and satisfied. Jude, Michael Winterbottom's ambitious, big-screen adaptation of Thomas Hardy's heartbreaking classic, Jude the ...

Just Mercy is the kind of high-minded tale about social injustice that often opens around this time of the year. Despite the whiff of “Oscar bait” surrounding the production, it’s a well-made, affecting tale about do-gooders who do good ...

During the Great Depression in Saint Louis, Aaron Kurlander's (Jesse Bradford) family is falling apart. His little brother has been shipped off to live with an uncle, his sick mother (Lisa Eichhorn) has been admitted to a sanitarium, and his f...

One of the most consistent makers of excellent motion pictures during the 1980s and 1990s has been Ken Loach. With a resume highlighted by such unforgettable titles as Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, Raining Stones, and Ladybird, Ladybird, Loach is reco...