Southpaw

Another fully committed performance by the gifted Jake Gyllenhaal sets the boxing family drama “Southpaw” above most pretenders to the throne.

Out of the Furnace

It doesn't surprise me to learn that CinemaScore audiences assigned "Out of the Furnace" an average grade of C+ this weekend. It's bleak and unremitting, as far from a crowd pleaser as mainstream movies get. But the first half is very good, and even the second half - which becomes a fairly standard revenge story - contains some of the riveting scenes that merit a recommendation for true film fans.

Lee Daniels' The Butler

"Lee Daniels' The Butler" is a 90-minute commercial for OWN, followed by a 30-minute commercial for the president. It's been called a black "Forrest Gump," and while it's much better than that flatulent film, it suffers from the same events-driven approach to history you'd find in a grade-school textbook, mixed with a staid and self-satisfied pomposity that too often keeps it from coming to life. The driving emotion behind the movie appears to have been Daniels' fear that someone might accuse him of leaving anything (or any Obama donor in Hollywood) out.

The Last Stand

Boy, I enjoyed "The Last Stand" much less than I expected to. In the past, the Governator has been able to ease through low-aiming pictures such as "The Last Action Hero" and "The 6th Day" with winky appeal. I was surprised how earnest "The Last Stand" is about its plot, and judged on that level it fails to generate or sustain much forward momentum. At times during its 106-minute length, I was bored.