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.

Darling Companion

I know, I know: What was I thinking? Well, 21 years ago, Larry Kasdan directed and with wife Meg co-wrote one of my favorite movies of the 90s, the L.A. ensemble piece "Grand Canyon." Two decades later, they've collaborated on "Darling Companion," a movie of jaw-dropping insubstantiality that, to my pleasant surprise, played last night to an audience of one. (I got to recite the pre-show spiel about talking, texting and parking validation.)

Safe House

There are a few terrific chase sequences in the spy-world thriller "Safe House," especially the first one, a giddy and vertiginous (and totally preposterous) thrill ride through the streets of Johannesburg. There are also a lot of fights: gunfights, knife fights, fistfights. Eh. But what puffs the movie up to two hours are a bunch of long, slow, talky scenes that go nowhere exciting. Ryan Reynolds looks sexy as shit, but lacks the movie-star quality - the heft - of, say, a Matt Damon. Denzel Washington is quietly likable here, but the movie's not as much fun as his recent "Unstoppable." Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard and Vera Farmiga lend solid support as Reynolds' CIA bosses, but the picture plays out predictably and at great length.