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Gary Oldman is awesome in “Darkest Hour”

Rises to the occasion
Gary Oldman, Lily James and Kristin Scott Thomas
Directed by Joe Wright

In “Darkest hour,” what Gary Oldman’s Churchill has to contend with in a time of war reminded me of what a newspaper editor does: tense negotiations, the reworking of sentences, an overarching need to get the message out, loudly and clearly. The real context of the story, the history, is, evidently, a very different one from this. In the early forties European countries were falling like dominoes ... more >

ANNA KARENINA

It's not quite a movie, but it's not quite a play either
Keira Knightley and Jude Law
Directed by Joe Wright

Keira Knightley and filmmaker Joe Wright ("Atonement") team up again to cover a celebrated work of European literature, this time focusing on forbidden love among the Russian aristocracy described by Tolstoy. The latter has directed a gorgeous-looking, if overindulgent, film, although nary a soul is to be found in it. Knightley, as the title character, wallows in her loveless marriage to ... more >

The soloist

When two great actors meet
Jamie Foxx, Robert Downey Jr. and Catherine Keener
Directed by Joe Wright

“The Soloist” is the true-life story of LA Times reporter Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) who discovers and helps a schizophrenic and former Julliard cellist (Jamie Foxx) living on the streets of the City of Angels. The film, directed by Joe Wright (“Atonement”), features a lead character tormented by multiple voices in his head. Likewise, we can hear the multiple voices going on in the film’s ... more >

Atonement

When lies torment and destroy us.
Saoirse Ronan, Brenda Blethyn and Kiera Knightley
Directed by Joe Wright

Film critics are a notoriously grumpy lot, maybe because, unlike the general public, they sometimes have to see films they wouldn’t choose to. Thus, jaded and difficult to please, a number of them have called Atonement a Merchant-Ivory type production—albeit with more soul—made with an eye on Academy awards. Where some have praised it, others have found it as flawed as all screen adaptations of ... more >