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Oprah Winfrey in “A Wrinkle in Time” (Disney photo)
“A Wrinkle in Time” (PG-13) – A brilliant scientist (Chris Pine) has found the key to interdimensional travel, but goes missing mid-experiment, leaving his smart and tough young daughter Meg (Storm Reid) adrift. Meg’s precocious brother Charles Wallace (Deric McCabe) makes contact with a charming trio of celestial mentors – Mrs. Whatsit (Reese Witherspoon), Mrs. Who (Mindy Kaling) and Mrs. Which (Oprah Winfrey) – who inform the kids that their dad is imprisoned by an evil force known as The It that is threatening the entire universe. Meg, Charles Wallace and the three mentors are joined by Meg’s school crush on a journey that will test the limits of belief and love in order to rescue their father.
“Death Wish” (R) – An unassuming emergency-room doctor (Bruce Willis) goes berserk when his home is attacked, his wife killed and his daughter put into a coma. Police incompetence enrages the good doctor, who sets out to make things right with his own brand of justice. It’s not too long before his antics get caught on viral video, and he’s dubbed “The Grim Reaper.” A cautionary tale for criminals, he works his way through the list of lowlifes who have done his family wrong. It’s not deep on story intricacies so much as it’s an excuse for creative payback scenarios. In the end, the 1974 Charles Bronson original was better, but for a Friday night shoot-’em-up, Bruce Willis still delivers.
“Gringo” (R) – David Oyelowo portrays Harold, a pharmaceutical company representative, Nash Edgerton’s comedic crime story set in Mexico. He’s on a business trip to a crime-ridden city dealing as a straight arrow with criminals and is mistaken for the company president and therefore subject to repeated kidnapping attempts. Somehow, he muddles his way through it all – or maybe he’s the one setting this clockwork caper in motion. The problem is, the parts of this machine are too intricate to figure out, and the many-layered story lines (the hijinks of Harold’s slick bosses, played by Joel Edgerton and Charlize Theron; a pair of happy-go-lucky drug mules, played by Amanda Seyfried and Harry Treadaway; a cartel that can’t shoot straight) don’t make it any easier.
“Thoroughbreds” (R) – Depravity, thy name is a pair of upper-crust soulless teen girls. Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is a robust ball of feelings smoothed out by a penchant for plagiarism and a vain, cruel stepfather. Amanda (Olivia Cooke) is an empty shell who euthanized her own horse and must pretend to have feelings in order to operate from day to day. Somehow these unlikely partners bond over a shared disdain for Lily’s stepdad, whom they hatch a plot to kill. They recruit a local drug dealer (Anton Yelchin) for the task, but soon find out that crossing the line from killer instinct to killer is complicated.
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(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.
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