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“Same Kind of Different as Me” (PG-13) – A troubled couple (Greg Kinnear and Renee Zellweger, sporting a terrible accent) attempt to repair their marriage through service to others. Deborah, faith-focused and empathetic, dreams that they will meet a poor man who will change their world. When they meet homeless former sharecropper Denver Moore at a soup kitchen, Deborah gives husband Ron the task of befriending him, which is not easy. In time, the two men come to understand one another’s past and are bonded into the future. Its message is unmistakable and it hits all the right notes for its genre: It’s sweet and uplifting and faithful, with likable characters and good-person feels. It’s also can be really heavy-handed and perhaps a little too sweet.
Brooklynn Prince, Willem Dafoe in “The Florida Project” (FOX photo)
“The Florida Project” (R) – Spunky 6-year-old Moonee and her sidekicks live in the Magic Castle, a rundown budget motel off the main highway, steps away from Walt Disney World’s splendor. Despite this, the children manage to fill their summer days with enchanting experiences – ice cream-cone money pawned off tourists, a cow pasture presented as an animal exhibit, an abandoned field’s view of the theme park fireworks – fueled by imagination. These are interspersed with vignettes of the very troubling and dangerous reality of the technically homeless. We watch Moonee’s mother struggle to maintain even this basest of lifestyles. “The Florida Project” has been hailed for its illuminating subject matter and filming style, as well as some outstanding performances by Brooklynn Prince, who plays Moonee, and Willem Dafoe as Bobby, the hotel’s sweet manager.
“Daddy’s Home 2” (PG-13) — In this sequel to the 2015 film, stepdads Brad (Will Ferrell) and Dusty (Mark Wahlburg) are now co-parenting nicely, and they decide to spend Christmas together in lieu of schlepping the kids back and forth. It’s challenged by the arrival of Brad’s dad (played by John Lithgow) and Dusty’s (Mel Gibson). The personalities are opposites, much like in the original. It’s watchable, and still has funny parts – Ferrell and Wahlburg present a nice foil. But it’s the same old thing, hashed up and relying on its own smugness.
“Mom and Dad” (R) – This cinema sleeper is perfect for a Friday-night family movie night. Or maybe not. What happens when a mysterious static signal puts parents in a crazed trance with one thing on their minds: kill the kids? This fun but jet-black comedy takes up that story line and runs with it. The key here is in casting. Selma Blair plays Mom, and Nicolas Cage is Dad. Director Brian Taylor gives us the level-10 Nicolas Cage that we always knew was there. Have fun, kids.
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(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.
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