Every now and then, a film slips through the cracks–sometimes I don’t see it, sometimes I don’t want to see it (until later), or sometimes I see it but am just not inspired to write a review until months after a film is relevant–but I catch up with it eventually…If these three have anything in common, it’s that they feel almost old-fashioned in today’s movie market, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
Barbershop 3: The Next Cut…A generic but appealing threequel that kind-of, sort-of has some stuff to say about gang violence and the temptations of joining up with cliques, but isn’t much more thought-provoking than an old Cosby show episode. It never quite gets you inside the conformist appeal of gang violence—and a funny riff early-on about how women are more attracted to powerful, cash-heavy thugs than the nerdy barber is unintentionally more on the right track—but you’re not really watching a “Barbershop” movie for its social critiques (not really) or fresh plotting or even performances (Ice Cube has played roughly the same note of pissed-off defensiveness since “Boys in the Hood” came out a quarter-century ago). People really just want to spend time with characters they like, and this sequel delivers that a lot more than most 2016 sequels have. And any movie with Cedric the Entertainer’s lovable dinosaur barber only a few feet away from the radiant Nicki Minaj offers something for everyone. Grade: B
The Finest Hour…Old-fashioned almost to a fault, it’s hard to say “The Finest Hour” is a good movie and it makes some curious choices—like having the Australian Eric Bana play a Southerner living in Massachuttes so that his accent sometimes changes mid-sentence from Aussie to Foghorn Leghorn to Good Will Hunting to some weird mishmash of the three. Still, any movie with Casey Affleck, Ben Foster, and Chris Pine (the latter two teaming up nicely in “Hell or High Water”) in soulful mode among some giant ass waves can’t be all bad. You’ll probably forget you watched this a few hours after it’s over, but it’s not a bad way to spend two hours. Grade: B-
Hail Caesar…Arguably, the second-most purely enjoyable movie the Coen Brothers have ever made. You keep watching this ironic love letter to 1950’s Hollywood (really a series of terrific stand-alone set pieces aping classic musicals, lousy Westerns, mediocre melodramas, aquatic ballets, and Roman epics) waiting for the Coens to “punish” their characters—as has become their trademark—but when the bad times never really roll it feels like a relief. Maybe they’re mellowing in late middle-age, but this may be the first time since “Raising Arizona” that it felt as though they actually like their characters. Grade: B+