Reel-View Ratings: The Bigger The Beard, The Better The Movie

CHARLIE’S COUNTRY

Serving as a reminder that indigenous peoples often have turned into outsiders within their own countries, Charlie’s Country tells a sobering story, yet never devolves into finger pointing. The proud Charlie (David Gulpilil) struggles to adjust to a world that sees him as the alien. When he and his friend Black Pete go hunting for “real meat,” they have their prize, weapons and pride confiscated by white police officers. Charlie retreats to the wilderness to return to the old ways, but finds that even this life is closed to him. He is a man caught in between two worlds, unable to fit in either — a reminder of a slow cultural strangulation in a Pacific state not so removed from our own.

Plays at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 9 and 11, and 1 p.m. Sept. 10 at Doris Duke Theatre

GRANDMA

Lily Tomlin steals the show as the titular grandmother, an irascible lesbian writer named Elle who is forced on an unexpected odyssey when her granddaughter Sage (Julia Garner) shows up and needs $600 for an abortion that afternoon. And so the two women head out to find a friend willing to pony up for a quick loan. Sharp thoughts on motherhood, feminism and family play out with every visit Elle and Sage make, though things crescendo into true poignancy only when Elle reunites with old flame Karl (Sam Elliott). The film has its missteps, but Tomlin buoys the proceedings with confidence, steering the proceedings away from mediocrity.

Opens Sept. 18 at Kahala Theatre

THE 100-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO CLIMBED OUT THE WINDOW AND DISAPPEARED

That mouthful of a title presents the premise of this meandering escape caper across continents and decades, as the feisty centenarian in question, Allan Karlsson, picks up a ragtag crew of companions to engineer his escape and listen to his recollections on his colorful, Forrest Gump-esque life of accidental historical significance (he meets Stalin, Truman and Reagan, among many other historical giants). The film was a record-breaking hit in Sweden, but the humor doesn’t quite translate here in America. Things happen too fast and randomly, with too little unifying all these disparate vignettes of comedy. Ultimately, it’s all just discombobulated. Plays at 12:45, 4:30 and 6:30 p.m. Sept 10, and 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Sept. 12 at the Movie Museum