New Movies Out This Week-7/25

Over the years director Anton Corbjn has made several fascinating character studies including The American and Control, about Ian Curtis, the lead singer of the band Joy Division. Starting out as a photographer, Corbjn has transformed his film career into a success using a layout of different filmmaking techniques. For his third feature film he's completing the daunting of adapting a John Le Carre novel which is never easy considering the complex and complicated nature of his novels. Even with its flaws A Most Wanted Man stands out particularly because of its lead performance from the late great Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His performance anchors the movie and keeps a consistent flow going throughout. Just to witness Hoffman speaking in a Russian accent is well worth the ticket price alone. As usual with all of Corbjn's films the cinematography is finely detailed and well used and his handle on suspense is expertly crafted. The film does have many slow going moments where the film seems to never go anywhere but when Hoffman's on screen the movie is electrifying and it's a way to say goodbye to a true acting legend who was gone too soon.

A whole decade has passed since Zach Braff released his surprise hit Garden State and using the power of the donation site Kickstarter he was able to fund his highly anticipated follow-up. Complete with an overused indie soundtrack obviously placed into the film's structure, Wish I Was Here is sure to delight some however I found myself feeling digested by the film's unsubtle quirkiness throughout. The film is ambitious but ultimately feels undercooked by a weak screenplay and the overused cliches of hipster self discovery stories. Braff certainly tries to convey a particular feeling during the coarse of his film however the meaning and 'point' of the film is too obviously spelled out for audiences in long, slow motion montages set to hipster-approved indie rock music. I'm sure this movie will attract many young adult crowds for its feel good nature and cutesy indie cliches, but for me the film's self indulgence didn't work for me.

Hercules has had its fair share of movies over the years, with the last Hercules film having just came out in January which was so forgettable that audiences seemed to have forgotten about it just days after they saw it. Now Dwayne Johnson, or The Rock as he's often called, is in the Hercules role, hamming it up full throttle complete with ridiculous cheesiness galore. Some college kids may enjoy the over the top silliness of it all but I found the movie too brainless and dumb for my critical perspective to handle. Some movies can be over the top but still retain a sense of enjoyment and entertainment like this year's remake of Godzilla but Hercules feels like it isn't even trying, like it's just being made to get a quick buck at the box office. Johnson showed serious promise as an actor with his strong supporting performance last year in Michael Bay's Pain and Gain but his acting in Hercules feels sloppy and phoned in in a careless style. Even the film's big, stuffy production design feels overused and useless, with every scene feeling undercooked and meaningless. With its use of cringe-inducing dialogue and silly action sequences, Hercules is one movie that's not even fun as a guilty pleasure, it's just numbing, toxic junk food.