Barry’s Movie Reviews
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Argo ***1/2
Director Ben Affleck (Gone Baby Gone, The Town) continues to stretch with this riveting, fact-based story about an attempt to rescue six Americans during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979. “Argo” chronicles the life-or-death covert operation to rescue six Americans, which unfolded behind the scenes of the Iran hostage crisis-the truth of which was unknown by the public for decades. On November 4, 1979, as the Iranian revolution reaches its boiling point, militants storm the U.S. embassy in Tehran, taking 52 Americans hostage. But, in the midst of the chaos, six Americans manage to slip away and find refuge in the home of the Canadian ambassador. Knowing it is only a matter of time before the six are found out and likely killed, a CIA “exfiltration” specialist named Tony Mendez comes up with a risky plan to get them safely out of the country. Starring Kyle Chandler, Bryan Cranston, John Goodman, Clea DuVall and Ben Affleck, who also directed the film. (R) 120 minutes. One of the best this year. Three and a half stars
Atlas Shrugged: Part II ***
With the global economy on the brink of collapse, Dagny Taggart discovers what might be the answer to a mounting energy crisis and races against the clock to prevent the motor of the World from being stopped for good. See it before the election. (PG-13) 112 minutes. Three stars
Seven Psychopaths **1/2
Martin McDonagh, writer-director of In Bruges, returns with this violent comedy about a screenwriter (Colin Farrell) whose wacky friends (Christopher Walken and Sam Rockwell) kidnap a gangster’s dog. There will be blood. Buckets, even. A screenwriter is drawn into a dog kidnapping scheme by his oddball friends. Starring Woody Harrelson, Colin Farrell, Christopher Walken, Abbie Cornish and Sam Rockwell (R) 109 minutes. Bloody, gruesome, gory campy. Two and a half stars
Here Comes The Boom **1/2
A biology teacher (Kevin James) becomes a mixed martial arts fighter to raise funds and save the school’s music program and discovers he’s pretty good at beating other guys up. Former collegiate wrestler Scott Voss is a 42-year-old apathetic biology teacher in a failing high school. When cutbacks threaten to cancel the music program and lay off its teacher, Scott begins to raise money by moonlighting as a mixed martial arts fighter. Everyone thinks Scott is crazy, most of all, the school nurse, Bella but in his quest, Scott gains something he never expected as he becomes a sensation that rallies the entire school. (PG) 104 minutes. Two and a half stars
It Is No Dream: The Life of Theodor Herzl **
The life and times of Theodor Herzl, father of the modern state of Israel. How Herzl, a well known journalist and playwright, an assimilated, Budapest born Jew, horrified by the Dreyfus trial in Paris and the antiSemitism he saw spreading across Europe, took upon himself the task of attempting to create a Jewish homeland in Palestine against all odds. Over the span of 8 years, Herzl organized and led a worldwide political movement that within 50 years led to the establishment of the state of Israel. The film follows Herzl as he meets with Kings, Prime Ministers, Ambassadors, a Sultan, a Pope and government ministers from Constantinople to St. Petersburg, from Paris to Berlin, from Vienna to Vilna in his quest to build a Jewish nation. (NR) 97 minutes. Two stars
Note: Barry Epstein is president of Barry R. Epstein Associates, a public relations/marketing firm. Epstein enjoys watching and writing reviews of the latest movies. Epstein’s views are strictly his own.
