Movie Reviews : NPR

Jim Jarmusch, Pushing Style To Its 'Limits'

April 30, 2009 • The director's latest is the ultimate Jim Jarmusch joint: a story that isn't really a story, with characters who aren't really characters, a movie hyper-aware of its own status as a movie. Nathan Lee says it's dazzling. (Recommended)

A Mother's Struggle To Find 'Home' — And Self

April 30, 2009 • Mary Haverstick's drama about a mother struggling to reinvent herself stars Marcia Gay Harden and her actual daughter — both appealing. But the film's virtues don't extend beyond the anecdotal.

Powerful Mystery Man Of Italian Politics

April 24, 2009 • Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti dominated Italian politics for much of the second half of the 20th century, despite alleged ties to the mafia. Il Divo explores the mysterious influence of an urbane leader. Recommended

Mike Tyson, The Damaged Everyman

April 24, 2009 • James Toback has created a new documentary about Mike Tyson, the ex-boxing world champ. Movie critic David Edelstein says that Toback's mix of old and new footage "flows seamlessly" and that the stream-of-consciousness movie is "revelatory."

Mike Tyson, The Damaged Everyman

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From Juilliard To Skid Row In 'The Soloist'

April 24, 2009 • When Robert Downey Jr., as journalist Steve Lopez, discovers Jamie Foxx, playing a homeless man who happens to be a talented musician, he enters into a complicated relationship that changes the lives of both men.

From Juilliard To Skid Row In 'The Soloist'

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Snapshot Of An Empty Era In 'The Informers'

April 23, 2009 • Washed-up rock stars and sparkling starlets populate the decadent, intertwined tales of The Informers — a new film based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis.

More Snakes Than Blooms In 'The Garden'

April 23, 2009 • What's not to like about a documentary that takes up the cause of impoverished Latinos trying to keep their community garden from being snatched by greedy fat cats and maneuvering pols? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

'Earth,' A Documentary As Big As All Outdoors

April 22, 2009 • The documentary Earth may look familiar to Discovery Channel viewers. The film features spectacular footage from the TV series Planet Earth. Yet for a subject as immense as our planet, the big screen has some advantages.

'Earth,' A Documentary As Big As All Outdoors

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In S. Korea, Adult Mysteries Through Children's Eyes

April 21, 2009 • Abandoned by their mother, two little girls are shunted from relative to relative in Treeless Mountain, which is set in South Korea. While this minimalist tale could have been heartbreaking, what's most affecting is not the kids' plight but their pluck.

Beltway Bandits, And A Newspaper Hero In Pursuit

April 17, 2009 • A seasoned D.C. reporter teams up with a novice blogger to solve the murder of a beautiful young woman — who happens to be a congressman's assistant. A demanding editor and billion-dollar stakes ratchet up the action.

Casting 'A Chorus Line,' Step By Heartwarming Step

Every Move You Make: Charlotte D'Amboise played Cassie, the onetime featured dancer hoping to score a chorus role, in the 2006 revival of A Chorus Line. Paul Kolnik/Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

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Paul Kolnik/Sony Pictures Classics

Movies

Casting 'A Chorus Line,' Step By Heartwarming Step

April 17, 2009 • A jazzy new documentary recalls Michael Bennett's tribute to Broadway's unsung gypsies; Bob Mondello says it's a moving, if sometimes jumbled, collection of riches from past and present. (Recommended)

Casting 'A Chorus Line,' Step By Heartwarming Step

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'Is Anybody There?': A Body Or Three Too Many

April 17, 2009 • Michael Caine stars as a retired magician who moves into a seaside old-age home. There's some charm in his unlikely friendship with the resident ragamuffin, but Peter Harness' film is both overplotted and overpopulated.

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Vast Conspiracies, Just Waiting To Be Exposed

Fresh Air

April 17, 2009 • Critic David Edelstein says the new newspapers-and-politicos thriller is stuck in the 1970s — but don't expect All the President's Men. This is one Beltway time bomb that never explodes.

Vast Conspiracies, Just Waiting To Be Exposed

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'Lemon Tree': Bitter And Sweet On Israel's Border

When Life Takes Your Lemons: Hiam Abbass plays Salma Zidane, a Palestinian widow whose lemon grove faces destruction for the sake of an Israeli minister's security. Eitan Riklis/IFC Films hide caption

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'Lemon Tree': Bitter And Sweet On Israel's Border

April 16, 2009 • Tensions mount when an Israeli defense minister moves into a house bordering a Palestinian widow's lemon grove — and his security team insists the trees must come down for the sake of his safety.

Movies

'American Violet': A Drug War's Collateral Damage

April 16, 2009 • Inspired by an NPR story, writer-producer Bill Haney dramatizes the battle of an East Texas woman to reclaim her reputation after a bogus drug arrest. Nicole Beharie and Alfre Woodard star.