Reviews

The trailer for "Creed II" boasts about a showdown between Adonis Creed (Michael B. Jordan) and the son of Ivan Drago as an event that will "rewrite history." A more accurate description of "Creed II" is that it recycles history. In fact, it is a history that for the most part excludes Adonis Creed.

Ivan Drago (Dolph Lundgren) and Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone) have a history. Remember Rocky IV? If you do, then you also remember that Ivan Drago and Ludmilla Drago (Brigitte Nielsen) have a history. Ivan Drago and Viktor Drago (Florian Munteanu) have a history, and we learn that Ludmilla left both Ivan and Viktor after Ivan was disgraced in the aftermath of his defeat. Adonis Creed's involvement in all of this history is trivial in comparison to Viktor Drago's involvement, as Viktor was around to witness the humiliation of his father's shame. Adonis Creed has no recollection of these events, except for a cursory glance at the death of Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) on his tablet.

"Creed II" is somber, both sonically and visually. It is also anticlimactic, as quizzically, Adonis wins the heavyweight championship belt in an uneventful bout against Danny "Stuntman" Wheeler (Andre Ward) very early in the movie. So much for a rousing pandemonium packed payoff. In the end the fight between Adonis and Viktor feels more like the "gotcha" of a gimmick intended to spur ticket sales.

And oh yeah, I suppose it's time to start referring to Adonis Creed and Bianca Taylor (Tessa Thompson) by a celebrity couple name. Bianca lovingly refers to Adonis as "D." "Dianca" has a certain ring to it.

Heartwarming is the word I would use to describe "The Trip to Bountiful." The best moment in this film happens at its close, when Carrie Watts (Cicely Tyson) and her son Ludie Watts (Blair Underwood) have a heart-to-heart in the yard of their family homestead. The old house, which is just barely standing after having been abandoned years ago, is in rural Bountiful. Carrie travels there by train, much to the angst of Ludie and his wife Jessie Mae Watts (Vanessa Williams), and without their knowing. Carrie has a heart condition and in her older age she should not be traveling alone.

Once Ludie catches up with Carrie in Bountiful after giving both he and Jessie Mae the slip, they bask in the golden sun drenched nostalgia of their family's idyllic acreage. Carrie is girlish once again. She gazes up into the sky hoping to catch glimpses of red birds and scissortails. Ludie is worn. He broods over the fact that he never had children and couldn't provide the kind of life for his wife or mother that they deserve. But for Carrie, returning to her hometown of Bountiful is an experience that is priceless. Neither Ludie's self-loathing nor his wife's curtness is enough to spoil her trip.

Williams is dismissively good. Tyson is genuine and sweet. Underwood proves once again just how underrated he is.

"Jane Got a Gun" is not a bomb but it's not the western I was hoping to see. The draw of seeing a woman in the lead role in this type of film isn't enough to overcome a somewhat weak storyline. There are also some annoying, needless lines in the movie. Take for instance when Jane Hammond (Natalie Portman) and her hired gun Dan Frost (Joel Edgerton) take her outlaw husband Bill "Ham" Hammond (Noah Emmerich) down into the cellar when John Bishop's (Ewan McGregor) gang show up hell bent on killing the three of them. Dan puts a gun in Ham's hand and says, "Anybody ain't us opens that door, you gotta start shooting." This happens literally sixty seconds after Ham has already killed one of John Bishop's men while bedridden.

Still "Jane Got a Gun" is worth seeing for the scenery. The story takes place in New Mexico and the movie is loaded with impressive views of mountainous terrain, buttes, billowy clouds and awe inspiring sunsets. There is a scene that occurs just after the title card of the film is displayed which pays homage to the last shot of "The Searchers," and it really is a nice touch. Portman is most convincing in the visceral scene when she learns the fate of her daughter Mary, and is pretty kick ass with her Walker firearm.

"A Most Violent Year" stars Oscar Isaac as the owner of the Standard Heating Oil home heating business. His wife and Chief Financial Officer is played by Jessica Chastain. Abel Morales (Isaac) after acquiring the company from Anna Morales' (Chastain) father employs Andrew Walsh, played by Albert Brooks, as the company's Lawyer. When rogue thugs violently hijack one of his trucks driven by Julian (Elyes Gabel), Abel is awakened to the possibility that other competing oil companies may be in cahoots. Abel's suspicions are heightened when several more of his trucks are hijacked for the precious fuel and resold at other storage facilities. As if the hijackings weren't enough of a distraction to his nascent enterprise, New York City District Attorney Lawrence (David Oyelowo) hints to Abel that prosecution could be looming. According to the D.A., the Standard Heating Oil company has been breaking the law for years and he can prove it.

Abel begins to feel pressure from the Teamsters' President Bill O'Leary (Peter Gerety) to allow union drivers that work for Standard Heating Oil to carry guns. He offers to get them all permits and warns that without being armed, the Teamsters may not be able to supply Standard Heating Oil with drivers much longer. With thousands of gallons of fuel being stolen each week and drivers being sent to the hospital, Abel faces a moral crossroads. He cannot continue to allow his business to suffer financial losses. Arming drivers could put his business in legal jeopardy. Pending litigation may alienate the banks that bankroll his whole operation. What's an oil boss to do? Abel's choices will either catapult his business into the stratosphere of elite oil companies, or bring it crashing down into a fireball of a tumultuous ruin.

The most notable aspect of "A Most Violent Year," ironically, is the absence of excessive violence. Instead, conflict resolution through means other than violence establishes itself as the dominant theme of the film. The meticulous, savvy approach of Abel, clad in suit and tie and beige overcoat, is more precise than a laser and scope atop an automatic rifle. Abel possesses the exterior grit and guise of Al Pacino's Michael Corleone tempered by a resolve and restraint that is all of his own making. Abel gets his point across by the gesture of his hands, by the snarl of his top lip, and yes, though fortuitously, with gun in steadied and measured hand. At heart, Abel is content to be a businessman, not a gangster, and employ his most potent weapon at any given moment-killer charm.

J.C. Chandor's direction avails "A Most Violent Year" a human quality. The film feels real and never overly fantastic or unbelievable. Alex Ebert's score is manifold-as heavy or light as frozen snow crunched upon or first fallen. Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain play out a volatile marriage with as much, if not more, anxiety and potential intensity as a slow gas leak. Cinematographer Bradford Young captures some of the most sweeping backdrops you'll ever see in a film. The recreation of 1980's New York is fun to watch in a phantasmagoria of some real and some imagined graffiti. Really, there's nothing at all missing in "A Most Violent Year," except maybe, and most enjoyably, the use of unnecessary violence.