It takes a brave studio to open a film against a sure hit like the latest in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise. But every one of the four I’ve seen that also open this weekend are orders of magnitude better than Disney’s latest. That’s unlikely to affect the box office much, however — audiences regularly flock to films that critics have panned. Every “Pirates” film has made more than $300 million, even the second and third entries that got much worse reviews than the first. But take my advice, and avoid the long lines. Head to the arthouse and find something you’ll actually think about the next day.
“Meek’s Cutoff” is my top choice this weekend. It should satisfy fans of Westerns, but it’s anything but a formulaic genre film. Set in the hot sun of the Oregon desert in 1845, it follows a caravan of three wagons led by a gritty guide (Bruce Greenwood) who’s led the group astray, perhaps by accident or on purpose. As the supply of water dwindles, tensions become as taut as this lean film. Michelle Williams, Shirley Henderson and Paul Dano are just a few members of the standout cast.
“The Robber” also transcends its genre, the heist-and-subsequent-chase flick. We don’t hear much about the psychological motivations of the title character of this Austrian film, but he’s clearly driven by compulsion, to set new records in both marathons and heists. There’s no need to worry about the subtitles here: he is a man of few words, instead showing us his conflicted character through his actions.
The people of “Incendies” are conflicted, too. This French-Canadian film, which was nominated for a foreign-language Oscar, serves as a smart guide to the troubles that still face the Middle East. Fashion fanatics will want to catch “L’amour fou,” a striking documentary about Yves Saint Laurent. This French doc looks better than most coming out of Hollywood these days. But then, it has plenty of beauty with which to work.
Others films up for offering include “The First Grader,” a film based on the true story of a Kenyan in his 80s who enters school hoping to learn to read for the first time in his life, a life that included fighting in the bloody Mau Mau Revolt.
Finally, there’s “The Double Hour,” which won best Italian film, best actor, and best actress at the Venice International Film Festival. It’s a thriller that begins as a romance, as two lonely people in Turin click at a speed-dating event.
Kelly Jane Torrance is The Washington Examiner movie critic. Her reviews appear weekly. She can be reached at [email protected].
