Reviews
85
in total
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Birds of Paradise
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-09-23
As Birds of Paradise reveals its (admittedly predictable) secrets one by one, it does so with style and a merited sense of confidence so assertively that even the biggest skeptics of the genre might pause before dismissing it as just another slight YA entry.Read entire review on Variety -
The Rescue
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-09-06
A stunning documentary of bone-deep moral resonance and cinematic mastery that deserves to be experienced on the big screen.Read entire review on Variety -
Lorelei
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-07-29
Writer-director Sabrina Doyle’s fable-like tale of working-class Americans on the fringe navigates its elusive waters with compassion and care, even when it veers into some predictable shallows from time to time.Read entire review on Variety -
The Loneliest Whale: The Search for 52
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-07-08
The result is a well-meaning but somewhat granola, partly engaging yet disorganized documentary, one that searches for an imprecise story and struggles to keep its chief ambitions afloat.Read entire review on Variety -
First Date
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-07-01
More concerned with paying homage to ’90s-era Quentin Tarantino than telling a contemporary coming-of-age tale with believable stakes, co-helmers Manuel Crosby and Darren Knapp’s debut feature First Date saddles a young couple not with a romantic night out, but with a haphazard all-nighter crime-comedy that’s mostly unfunny and free of convincing suspense.Read entire review on Variety -
Werewolves Within
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-06-18
Maintaining a lean sense of suspense throughout, the scribe fashions all her characters with memorable attributes and plenty of social observations, yielding a compelling range of suspects none of which you can write off entirely.Read entire review on Variety -
Grace and Grit
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-06-04
The film unfortunately anchors itself in an exploitative mode, insincerely using terminal illness as inspirational fodder.Read entire review on Variety -
Roe v. Wade
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-04-01
Ideologically scheming and visually inelegant, this is truly tacky stuff.Read entire review on Variety -
Women Is Losers
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-03-20
It’s a rewarding experience to watch Izzo thread a tricky line with ease here, emitting both a child-like innocence and gradual steeliness that slowly yet convincingly sharpens and matures. If only the film could deserve her level of commitment.Read entire review on Variety -
Moxie
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-03-01
It’s a welcome entry into a familiar genre that will resonate with young audiences burdened by the unwritten rules of their respective educational institutions. And that’s thanks in large part to an immensely likable ensemble cast guided by Poehler’s sure-handed energy behind the camera, as well as the film’s ambitious aims to be intersectional in its social and political themes.Read entire review on Variety -
Ruth: Justice Ginsburg in Her Own Words
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-02-11
It’s curiously difficult to stay engaged with Mock’s film that merely puts forth a paint-by-numbers assembly of the wealth of material it has at its disposal.Read entire review on Variety -
Together Together
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-02-03
Beckwith puts forth something rare and full of feeling. This is a genuine love story between two straight individuals of the opposite sex that doesn’t involve sex (let’s call it friendship for kicks), an insightful redefinition of masculinity as well as a gentle, intimate celebration of a unique, 21st-century family in the making.Read entire review on Variety -
How It Ends
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2021-01-31
Sweet and personal, How It Ends is hardly an entertaining movie, or one that will go down as one of the defining films of these unpredictably strange times. But you can’t really blame the artists for trying to make some therapeutic sense of it all, with a little help from one another.Read entire review on Variety -
Yalda, a Night for Forgivness
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-12-10
Bakhshi’s sure-handed assessment of Iran’s class struggle, a thoughtfully-parsed topic with universal implications, is the film’s most fascinating dimension.Read entire review on Variety -
The Stand In
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-12-10
Ultimately, the only respectable thing that remains consistent throughout The Stand In is the beguiling appeal Barrymore brings to both of the personalities, even though neither of them is particularly likable.Read entire review on Variety -
Mayor
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-12-01
It’s an acutely observed you-are-there procedural about a modern metropolis that dares to exist, even thrive amid the enduring repercussions of 1967’s Six-Day War, when Israel occupied the region.Read entire review on Variety -
Coming Home Again
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-10-23
While this is not exactly a premise with mass appeal, Wang’s movie is still an unassuming exercise, defiantly in contrast to Hollywood’s typically over-sentimental terminal illness fare.Read entire review on Variety -
The Kid Detective
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-10-15
Both entertainingly old-fashioned and defiantly fresh.Read entire review on Variety -
Penguin Bloom
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-09-16
Shrewdly, Watts goes for something subtle and soft here — instead of clichéd garishness, her performance hinges on her doleful gaze and melancholic tinge, ultimately helping Penguin Bloom honor its real-life character’s journey with some respect.Read entire review on Variety -
Enemies of the State
A review by Tomris Laffly for Variety2020-09-15
While Enemies of the State does not necessarily provide all the answers, it sneakily sharpens your analytical radar by its haunting end. And in today’s conspiracy-theory-fueled world, that just might be everything.Read entire review on Variety
