2 1/2 stars
Stop-Loss (R)
Who’s in it: Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Abbie Cornish
What it’s about: Patriotic young sergeant Brandon King (Phillippe) tries to avoid returning to Iraq one month after he’d thought he’d come home for good to his small town.
Worth watching? “Paramount Pictures has been criticized for trying to sell “Stop-Loss” as a movie about youths going wild rather than the box-office toxic Iraq war hangover movie that it is.
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“I say, give the marketers a break. They may be kind of deceitful, but they really are pushing the movie’s best aspects. The film is strong on aimless young men careening between camaraderie and self-destruction. It’s when the plot kicks in that “Stop-Loss” heads south. And I don’t just mean across the border to escape redeployment.”
– – –
THE REWIND
MATT’S PICKS FOR WHAT’S STILL PLAYING
– Matt Pais is a metromix movies producer
Snow Angels
3 1/2 stars
Not nearly as playful as it sounds.
Drillbit Taylor
2 stars
This comedy needs basic training.
Shutter
3 stars
The horror!
Funny Games
4 stars
Great film, bad date movie.
– – –
QUICK PICKS
Run, Fatboy, Run (PG-13 )
1 1/2 stars
Who’s in it: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton
What it’s about: Dennis (Pegg) tries to win back his ex by training for a marathon.
Worth watching? ” ‘Run, Fatboy, Run,’ is run-of-the-mill.”
– Jake Coyle, AP
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Flawless (PG-13)
2 stars
Who’s in it: Michael Caine, Demi Moore
What it’s about: A frustrated exec agrees to help a janitor pull an inside job and swipe more than a million pounds in diamonds.
Worth watching? ” ‘Flawless’ has all the sizzle of a bank teller on Monday morning.”
– Matt Pais