All the posts by Stephen Farber
Although the subject of Arab-Israeli tensions has figured in many recent films, The Attack manages to find a unique and compelling slant on a well worn theme. The latest film from Lebanese-born director Ziad Doueiri (Lila Says, West of Beirut) brings a pointed human focus to a subject drenched in anguish. This picture may face some resistance from audiences because of the painful subject matter, but it rewards attention.
The film begins on a deceptively quiet …
A new movie from Steve Knight, the writer of Dirty Pretty Things, and John Crowley, the director of Boy A, sounds tantalizing on paper. Those were two of the best British movies of the last decade, so the collaboration of these two filmmakers on Closed Circuit raises high hopes. The late August release date and the lack of advance buzz tend to undermine those expectations, and unfortunately, nothing about the finished film lives up to …
There are a lot of good comic possibilities lurking in Shawn Levy’s new movie,The Internship, but most of them never quite break the surface of this mild, occasionally likable romp that plays more like a love letter to Google. The company’s headquarters is the main setting for this vehicle for Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, who starred in the box office smash Wedding Crashers several years ago. Their new movie won’t match the grosses of …
The studio required all critics attending the press screening of Parker to sign an agreement promising that we would not write about the film before opening day. Usually this signals high anxiety on the part of the studio, which in this case might not be entirely warranted. The picture is far from great, but it’s a serviceable B-movie with some A-list talent on a slumming expedition. Fans of the genre, of star Jason Statham, and …
A few years ago, screenwriter Robbie Fox was a Little League coach who noticed he was getting a lot of unsolicited attention from the mothers of his young players. That was the genesis of Playing for Keeps, with the sport changed to soccer and Gerard Butler cast as a former pro player coaching his son’s team and fending off amorous assaults from a bevy of soccer moms. This is a good premise for a comedy, …
