Abbey Bender

The combined charms of Britishness and nostalgia often prove a potent blend for American moviegoers, but Their Finest could have delivered something more.

Even though it paints too rosy a picture, Love, Cecil fills out history with sparkling imagery.

Sex Doll, flat though it may sometimes be, is shrewdly aware of the countless clichés surrounding sex work.

The film could be shorter and perhaps more logical, and as the soap opera drama builds, the timeline becomes muddled. Still, there’s something pleasantly old-fashioned about its commitment to grandiose emotion.

Chronic forces viewers to look closely at things they might rather ignore, and intentionally holds its emotions at a distance.

It would benefit from more focus on the music, but the work stands as an effective (if overly long) portrait of addiction.

Joshy could easily be a film about loss, but it instead ends up as a prickly exploration of forced fun.

Emory Cohen's performance elevates juvenile-detention-center drama Stealing Cars above the level of disturbing cautionary tale.

Manolo might be a hard sell to moviegoers who aren’t already interested, but for fashion enthusiasts, it’s an enjoyable confection.

Viewers will sense that the history of these compelling figures entails more frustration and complexity than can be examined in a short running time.

Early on, sex addiction is called “a gaping hole in the soul” but Unlovable barely has us feel it.

Five Nights in Maine may leave audiences wanting more grounding in the husband-wife/mother-daughter drama that is a constant, foggy presence, but the raw confusion and sadness associated with great loss shines through.

While The American Side may not quite achieve the classic thriller tone to which it aspires, it does create an enjoyably hard-boiled world.

Slack Bay is nothing if not anti-authoritarian, and while its anarchic energy is appealing in small doses, it becomes tiresome when it turns toward cruelty.

Miss Sloane, with all its Capitol Hill gloss, sometimes feels too much like a primetime political television drama.

It's all very tasteful, if not terribly exciting.

The film deserves some credit for not becoming a weepie or, conversely, making Sherry the butt of a joke, but while Dhavernas’s performance and director Adam Keleman’s penchant for soft colors in a harsh world add intrigue, it leaves a frustrating aftertaste.

While it’s refreshing to see a portrait of a woman’s unraveling that doesn’t romanticize mental illness, and that’s actually directed by a woman, it’s easy to wish Bitch probed a bit deeper into the protagonist’s pre-dog life.

By the end, the point-blank murders might make you queasy, but Kravitz still manages to project composure, even when her face is covered in blood. All through, she’s battered but defiant.

Jane Wants a Boyfriend offers a sweet but slight look at the oft-misunderstood subject of navigating relationships with a person on the autism spectrum.

This debut feature by Elaine Constantine has no shortage of style, but ultimately relies a lot on cliché.

The directors of Band of Robbers, brothers Aaron and Adam Nee, have set out to modernize the stories of Mark Twain but end up with a cutesy caper that isn't as memorable as you might hope.

While there’s poignancy to be found in Souvenir’s depiction of aging and work, the sexual politics leave something to be desired.

The fact that you can sense Westwood’s disillusionment with the documentary project while watching it creates some interesting tension, but director Lorna Tucker doesn’t fully exploit it or turn it into meta commentary.

Unsurprisingly, the film doesn't live up to its Beach Boys–quoting title. Things turn out all right, but there's little real emotional force.

Unfortunately, The Dressmaker does not deliver on this early promise.

Jason Lew's lost-soul drama The Free World offers a modest exploration of innocence and guilt, with occasional interludes of both violence and romance

Rossi provides an attractive overview of the exhibition for those who did not attend it, but we are left feeling something like Wong, seeing a lot of pretty things surrounded by vapidity.