Reel-View Ratings: The Bigger The Beard, The Better The Movie
I SAW THE LIGHT
Tom Hiddleston as all-American country music icon Hank Williams is, somehow, not the worst part of this abysmally dull film. In fact, he and fellow Marvel alum Elizabeth Olsen actually do a decent job. The real problem is that the movie — which focuses on Williams’ last eight years before his early death at age 29 — that surrounds these earnest, eager actors is a slog. This biopic has an aversion to action (as in, anything actually happening onscreen and not just in referenced dialogue) and dithers between remembering Williams as a musical genius or unfaithful alcoholic. The result is a boring portrait of a nondescript entertainer. But hey, at least Hiddleston can kinda sorta sing those country tunes, right?
Opens April 1 at Kahala Theatre
KID KULAFU
Here’s the problem with this Manny Pacquiao biopic — Manny Pacquiao. It’s difficult to erase the specter of today’s Pacquiao and all his controversy from the bright-eyed lad bouncing around in this film. Oh, it’s a serviceable, cheerful film about a boy who really does face extraordinary circumstances that push against his desire to be a boxer (though the film wisely stops short of tracking his rise to superstardom, leaving him squarely in the realm of the amateur). Nevertheless, remove the whiff of Pacquiao propaganda from the context and it’s not entirely clear why this particular child is so exceptional. What it ultimately comes down to is whether you already like the Pac-man.
Plays at 7:30 p.m. April 5 and 7, and 1 and 7:30 p.m. April 15 at Doris Duke Theatre
KRISHA
Thanksgiving dinner has been host to scores of cinematic family meltdowns, and Krisha offers a new, worthy addition to that pantheon from first-time director Trey Edward Shults. Krisha returns home after a long estrangement, eager to prove that she’s a changed woman after battling addiction — but, of course, change is not an easy thing to hold on to. Shults employs novel camerawork that shows rather than tells Krisha’s slowly unraveling mental state, a deft touch that builds organic unease and disappointment in the audience, as if we were peering over Krisha’s shoulder as things go wrong. It also helps that he cast his family members (including his mother, aunt and himself) and set the film in his own home, so proceedings have a touch of intimacy that can’t be faked.
Opens April 1 at Kahala Theatre
