While The Art of Racing in the Rain lays the dramatic contrivances, manipulative narrative twists, and half-assed philosophizing on just as some other recent movies about wise, old dogs have, there’s no questioning that director Simon Curtis and screenwriter Mark Bomback have come up with a somewhat identical sounding story offered up in a vastly preferable, less patronizing manner.
Kevin Costner
Texan filmmaker John Lee Hancock is no stranger to tackling often uncelebrated and sometimes controversial historical figures, but the subjects of his latest reality based project, The Highwaymen (premiering on Netflix on Friday, March 29 and currently seeing a limited run at TIFF Bell Lightbox in Toronto), have been stuck in the omnipresent shadows of the criminals they helped capture in 1934.
The historical drama Hidden Figures takes great liberties with its admittedly uplifting subject matter, but it’s still an admirable film that isn’t any better or worse for it.
New arrivals on store shelves this week: Ben Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones star in The Company Men, a drama about life after a cushy corporate job; Rutger Hauer is Hobo With A Shotgun; plus a look at the dramatic foreign film, Of Gods and Men.
New this week at a theatre near you: Jim Sturgess, Colin Farrell and Ed Harris star in the survival drama, The Way Back; The Company Men has Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, and Kevin Costner as three men who face life after downsizing; and in No Strings Attached, two friends try to add some spice to their friendship, without any of the commitments.
Out this week on Blu-ray, Kevin Costner stars in one of his last good films, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. Plus, on DVD, Diane Lane and Mickey Rourke star in the adaptation of Elmore Leonard’s Killshot; Renée Zellweger is off to the boonies for the romantic comedy New in Town; and aliens attack the Vikings in the B-movie extravaganza, Outlander.