The Two Faces of January

Screenwriter Hossein Amini, whose “Drive” made my top-ten list in 2011, debuts as a director with the Patricia Highsmith adaptation “The Two Faces of January.”

On the Road

The two best things about Walter Salles’ “On The Road” are Garrett Hedlund’s portrayal of the life-eating, pansexual Dean Moriarty, the dominant character of Jack Kerouac’s novel (Sam Riley’s Sal Paradise is truly just along for the ride), and of course Kerouac’s invigorating words themselves: “The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like Roman candles across the night.” There’s always something beautiful and bittersweet about the effects of the passage of time on the relationships between young men (the women – Kristen Stewart, Kirsten Dunst, Amy Adams – are purely secondary), and by the end this itinerant picture packs a surprising wallop – surprising because, along the way, watching other people eat life does become a bit boring.

Bachelorette

The specter of an infinitely superior predecessor also haunts the new comedy "Bachelorette," a wan "Bridesmaids" wannabe. I recently re-watched "Bridesmaids" (and the other comedy on my 2011 top-ten list, "Carnage"). Just as funny the second time, and Melissa McCarthy's role remains one of the freshest and most original comic characters in memory. There's nothing of that caliber in "Bachelorette," though it does contain a few chuckles and a couple of scattered laughs. Rebel Wilson, Kristen Wiig's skin-crawling roommate in "Bridesmaids," plays the bride here, but Kirsten Dunst gets the lead as her ultra-competent, type-A maid of honor.

The #1 Movie of 2011

No contest: Lars von Trier's encompassing and enrapturing "Melancholia," a film of both deep human feeling and iconic, unforgettable imagery.