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“Love, Simon” (PG-13) – High-school senior Simon Spier (Nick Robinson) is not unlike most of his peers – loving family, great friends, a secret crush on someone he met online. Although maybe he’s not quite like everyone else, since he’s gay and hasn’t shared this information with his loving family or his great friends, and that secret crush is someone from an anonymous website, so he doesn’t even know who it is among his fellow students. As Simon chases romance and acceptance, we are along for the ride, feeling those familiar pangs of longing and insecurity. It’s a romcom for the new ages, but it feels just as good and heartwarming as any you’ve seen before.
Michael Finley in “I Can Only Imagine” (Lionsgate/Roadside Attractions photo)
“I Can Only Imagine” (PG) – This musical biopic details the story behind Bart Millard (Michael Finley), the real-life Christian rocker who wrote the titular hit single that is one of the most successful and inspirational songs in Christian music ever. After an injury, Millard is no longer able to play football to impress his abusive father (Dennis Quaid) and instead turns to singing and performing as part of music class. This leads him to explore music after high school, forming the band MercyMe, and to the success that it will achieve after he reconciles with his father and writes the hit song. Although it is technically Christian-themed, the story appeals to a broader audience thanks to a light touch and some genuine heartstring-pulling emotions.
“Sherlock Gnomes” (PG) – Gnomeo (James McAvoy) and Juliet (Emily Blunt) return with their cast of garden characters, as Mr. and Mrs. Montague and Capulet have moved to the big city. The pair are declared the new garden leaders and tasked with setting up home. All across London, however, gnomes are going missing. When Gnomeo and Juliet return to the garden one day to find all the other inhabitants missing, too, they call in the big guns: the arrogantly confident Sherlock Gnomes (Johnny Depp) and his trusty but overlooked assistant (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who have been chasing down a clue-dropping pie mascot named Moriarty (Jamie Demetriou), Sherlock’s nemesis, who may be responsible.
“Tomb Raider” (PG-13) – Alicia Vikander stars as Lara Croft in the newest incarnation of the “Tomb Raider” tale. Daughter of an enigmatic archaeologist (Dominic West) who disappeared and is presumed dead, Lara has no interest in taking the reins of the family empire. When she finally receives her dad’s true legacy – a mystery surrounding an ancient goddess controlling life and death – it turns out there’s nothing this Croft likes more than a puzzle, except perhaps for jumping from disaster to disaster. Although Vikander’s parkour skills are demonstrably on point, the excitement level never exceeded “pretty OK,” and with such rich material, it seems like a waste.
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(c) 2018 King Features Synd. Inc.
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