Accessibility links
Movie Reviews Reviews of new movies, classic and art films, foreign films, and popular movies. Featuring Bob Mondello, Kenneth Turan, David Edelstein, and Mark Jenkins.

Movie Reviews

'Rogue Nation' Fulfills The Mission Of A Reliable Blockbuster Series

A spry 52 when the film was shot, Tom Cruise — still his own stuntman — careens a motorcycle, sans helmet, around a winding Moroccan highway at suicide-miles-per-hour. Bo Bridges/Paramount Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Bo Bridges/Paramount Pictures

'Rogue Nation' Fulfills The Mission Of A Reliable Blockbuster Series

Tom Cruise returns as secret agent Ethan Hunt in the latest Mission: Impossible -- a super-fun sequel executed with rigor, clarity, and creative use of Puccini's Turandot.

In 1968, The 'Best Of Enemies' Faced Off In A Brutal, Televised Feud

In 1968, ABC paired two pundits from opposite ends of the political spectrum — William F. Buckley Jr. (left) and Gore Vidal — for a cut-throat intellectual faceoff. The documentary Best of Enemies explores this media milestone. ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images/Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
ABC Photo Archives/Getty Images/Courtesy of Magnolia Pictures

In 1968, The 'Best Of Enemies' Faced Off In A Brutal, Televised Feud

ABC paired two pundits from opposite ends of the political spectrum — William F. Buckley Jr. and Gore Vidal — in a series of debates. A new documentary explores the legacy of this war of words.

Movie Review: 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation'

The Mission Impossible franchise has been good to Tom Cruise — raking in more than $2 billion in world-wide box office receipts. Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation is the fifth film in the series.

Movie Review: 'Mission: Impossible - Rogue Nation'

Listen · 2:20
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/427990349/427990353" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

'The End of the Tour' Offers A Hint Of David Foster Wallace's Inner Struggle

Fresh Air

A new film revisits a five-day interview that took place between writer David Foster Wallace and a reporter for Rolling Stone in 1996. Critic David Edelstein calls it a "very good movie."

'The End of the Tour' Offers A Hint Of David Foster Wallace's Inner Struggle

Listen · 5:23
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/427711127/427853019" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

A Holocaust Survivor Searches For Her Past In Christian Petzold's 'Phoenix'

A concentration camp survivor seeks a reunion with the husband who may have betrayed her in a new film set in post-war Berlin. Critic David Edelstein calls Phoenix a "morbidly romantic drama."

A Holocaust Survivor Searches For Her Past In Christian Petzold's 'Phoenix'

Listen · 4:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/425887675/425917280" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Trainwreck' And 'Ant-Man'

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in Trainwreck. Universal Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Universal Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Trainwreck' And 'Ant-Man'

This week brings two summer movies into our field of vision: an unconventional romantic comedy and a shrunken (in the good way) superhero adventure.

Pop Culture Happy Hour: 'Trainwreck' And 'Ant-Man'

Listen · 46:08
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/425412393/425649896" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

'Southpaw' Throws Some Familiar Punches

The Los Angeles Times and Morning Edition film critic, Kenneth Turan, reviews "Southpaw," a new movie about a boxing champion starring Jake Gyllenhaal and directed by Antoine Fuqua.

'Southpaw' Throws Some Familiar Punches

Listen · 2:32
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/425834218/425834219" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Sleuthing With Offbeat Variations In 'Irrational Man' And 'Mr. Holmes'

Irrational Man is a Hitchcock-style mystery wrapped in a Woody Allen romance. Sabrina Lantos /Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics hide caption

toggle caption
Sabrina Lantos /Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics

Sleuthing With Offbeat Variations In 'Irrational Man' And 'Mr. Holmes'

NPR film critic Bob Mondello reviews two crime movies — Irrational Man and Mr. Holmes — that have different philosophies on logic.

Sleuthing With Offbeat Variations In 'Irrational Man' And 'Mr. Holmes'

Listen · 4:48
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/423208171/424722543" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
'I Really Like You': Amy Schumer Makes A Fine 'Trainwreck'

Amy Schumer and Bill Hader in Trainwreck. Mary Cybulski/Universal Pictures hide caption

toggle caption
Mary Cybulski/Universal Pictures

Pop Culture Happy Hour

'I Really Like You': Amy Schumer Makes A Fine 'Trainwreck'

The comedy Trainwreck, written by Amy Schumer and directed by Judd Apatow, takes a few risks with the romantic comedy formula on which it ultimately relies. Plus: LeBron James!

'I Really Like You': Amy Schumer Makes A Fine 'Trainwreck'

Listen · 3:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/423828933/423899499" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript