The Man From U.N.C.L.E.: Guy Ritchie really doesn't get enough credit for how good of a director he is. Ritchie is able to take a spy film with a loose premise (a pair of special agents from the USA and Russia team up to stop an upstart criminal organization from launching a nuclear weapon) and no legitimate villain and make it a winner by injecting it with his trademark snappy dialogue, gorgeous cinematography and dashes of well-timed dark humor. Ritchie applying his defining traits as a filmmaker to a traditional spy film makes this feel fresher than a majority of the genre's recent entries (including the vastly overrated Mission: Impossible-Rogue Nation that's also currently theaters). While Ritchie's flare for comedy and striking visuals play a large part in the film's success, perhaps his greatest accomplishment here is managing to get respectable performances out of the normally wooden Henry Cavil and Armie Hammer. The duo have a nice rapport with one another and both demonstrate much more screen presence than they did in their previous turns as action leads. The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is a mindless, breezy piece of late summer entertainment that is well worth the watch for fans of the espionage genre.
3.5/5 Stars
The End of the Tour: During a time of year where big, loud blockbusters dominate cinemas, it's refreshing to see a smart, minimalist film like The End of the Tour hit the marketplace. The film is completely centered around a five-day interview between Rolling Stone reporter David Lipsky (Jesse Eisenberg) and writer David Foster Wallace (Jason Segel) at the end of Wallace's book tour for his widely celebrated 1996 novel Infinite Jest. Segel steals the movie with his incredible performance as Wallace. Segel effortlessly captures the wide range of emotions that haunted Wallace after the breakout popularity of Infinite Jest and proves to skeptical audiences that he can tackle drama with the same level of skill he displays in his comedic work. Eisenberg brings a similar level of magnetism and emotional depth to his portrayal of Lipsky. Lipsky deeply admires Wallace's work, but also resents him for having the successful literary career that alluded him during his time as a novelist. The duo's respective egos and reservations about opening up to one another make their conversations consistently unpredictable and create a drama that is remarkably compelling and deeply human. The conversations between Lipsky occasionally get too bogged down with philosophical rhetoric and the final scene-which takes place after Wallace's suicide in 2008-is completely forced and tonally inconsistent from the rest of the movie, but for the most part, The End of the Tour is an intelligent and engrossing film that allows the audience to better understand the psyche and true character of one the most reclusive and brilliant authors of the 20th century.
4/5 Stars
American Ultra: Aside from Kingsman: The Secretman Service, 2015 has had a serious lack of fun, ultraviolent B-action movies. American Ultra fills that void and then some. The film kind of stumbles out of the gate as it sets up the relationship between mellow stoners Mike (Jeese Eisenberg) and Phoebe (Kristen Stewart), but as soon as Mike discovers he's a CIA-trained sleeper agent, American Ultra becomes an unforgettable and absurdly entertaining ride. Screenwriter Max Landis (Chronicle) does a great job of putting together a narrative that blends indie romance, stoner comedy and balls-out, over-the-top action without ever feeling jarring and the ensemble cast headed by Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Connie Britton, Topher Grace and Walton Goggins are game for every twisted, ludicrous setpiece the script throws at them. American Ultra is one of the most insane mainstream American films I've ever seen and while it'll probably struggle to find an audience during its current theatrical run, it has the potential to become a cult classic a few years down the road.
4/5 Stars
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