This week at the movies: Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels acting stupid, and Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Nate Parker falling in love.
Dumber and Dumber To
Twenty years after they first arrived on the scene, Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels reprise their roles as Lloyd and Harry, the dumbest practical jokers that ever lived. The Farrelly Brothers are once again at the helm, with appearances by Kathleen Turner, Laurie Holden and Rob Riggle. There’s a vague plot involving finding a mysterious long lost daughter, but the movie exists for Carrey and Daniels to perform as many ludicrous pratfalls as possible.
Perfect For: Fans of the original, and Jim Carrey behaving like a lunatic. Not for the younger kids!
What the Critics Say: Mmmm. The first one was beloved and received actual positive reviews. This outing doesn’t appear to be very well received—there are very few reviews posted at this late stage. That’s a bad sign. Roger Moore, with McClatchy-Tribune News Services, writes: “Here, they’re sometimes funny, and sometimes just sad. They’re better than this, no matter how good they are at hiding the fact that they know it.”
Our Take: Only if you insist on reliving the past; but in that case, just rent the original on Netflix.
Beyond The Lights
Fame isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. That’s the message behind Beyond the Lights, which stars Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a Rihanna-like pop star, and Nate Parker as her savior (literally). Mbatha-Raw is Noni, a singer relentlessly groomed by her mother (Minnie Driver) to be a perfect star, pushing her from childhood to adulthood to do whatever it takes to be famous. When Noni has enough, she tries to throw herself off a balcony and is saved by a cop (Parker). They are star-crossed lovers (he’s an aspiring politician, and she’s too tawdry for the political spouse role), and there is Minnie-as-mama-drama to overcome.
Perfect For: You like a little pop music in your Shakespearean drama; you’re a fan of romantic dramas; you liked the director, Gina Prince-Bythewood’s other movie, Love and Basketball.
What the Critics Say: Thumbs up all around. Writes Variety: “Gauzy fairy-tale elements aside, the pic tackles a number of tough issues with rather admirable directness: the default hyper-sexualization of female musicians, the entertainment industry’s disinterest in the mental health of its prime assets as long as the show goes on, and the way a genuine gesture of humanity can be subtly sullied the moment it becomes a media opportunity.” And says Entertainment Weekly: “Both Mbatha-Raw and Parker are appealing, expressive actors, and writer-director Gina Prince-Bythewood (Love & Basketball) lets them breathe, filling in the boilerplate bones of the story with smartly nuanced commentary on race and fame and the relentless negotiations that a young woman—even one without a record deal—has to make in a world that expects her to be everything but herself.”
Our Take: It’s a go.
Watch the Trailer:
