Movie Reviews

NEW YORK—Polish films on Catholic themes run the gamut of taste. On one side is 2013’s exquisite “Ida” in which the novice nun of the title (Agata Trzebuchowska) learns that, although raised Catholic, she’s really […]

NEW YORK—Though it reaches a heartwarming conclusion, the trajectory of the animated adventure “Onward” (Disney) is not all upward. Instead, the film is loaded down with an overly detailed mythos, values focused primarily on self-empowerment […]

NEW YORK—In keeping with the song and book from which it takes its title, nondenominational affirmations of faith permeate the fact-based romantic drama “I Still Believe” (Lionsgate), making the film congenial fare for Christians of […]

NEW YORK—”Emma” (Focus) is a delightful screen version of Jane Austen’s classic novel, lovely to look at and abounding in gentle humor. Only the momentary introduction of a bit of visual earthiness, presumably meant to […]

NEW YORK—As with many satires, the makers of “Jojo Rabbit” (Fox Searchlight) don’t care much whether an audience likes their film — or understands all of it. In this case, the latter option is not […]

NEW YORK—Exactly a century ago, British author Hugh Lofting published “The Story of Doctor Dolittle,” the first in a long series of books for children that have won lasting popularity for their protagonist, a physician-turned-veterinarian […]

NEW YORK—Writer-director Greta Gerwig, who proved her bona fides as a screen moralist in 2017 with “Lady Bird,” has repeated the feat with her elegant, vibrantly emotional adaptation of the 19th-century classic “Little Women” (Sony). […]

NEW YORK—In “The Two Popes” (Netflix), their glossy but highly speculative account of supposedly real events, screenwriter Anthony McCarten and director Fernando Meirelles ill-advisedly try to extol Pope Francis (Jonathan Pryce) by trashing retired Pope […]