Three mainstream movies from the recently concluded 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival debut today in select theaters around the country before finding places everywhere on Sept. 29.
Let's begin with the rough Dublin charms of "Flora and Son," another lyrical effort from writer/director John Carney ("Once," "Begin Again"), featuring opening credits with a musically wild and energetic, dance-club intro to his Flora, a single mom apparently looking for love and fun in all the wrong places.Rated "R" by MPAA: language throughout, sexual references and brief drug use; 1:37; $ $ $ $ out of $5.
In introducing the world premiere of "Dumb Money" to Toronto International Film Festival audiences, director Craig Gillespie ("I, Tonya," "Cruella") explained why he was so intent on helming this "David vs. Goliath" story about the stock market."My 24-year-old son actually found himself in this situation of owning some Game Stop shares and lived through the ups and downs of it all during that crazy summer," he said. "So, having observed it all, I wanted to explore it, too."
And then he did -- and does -- just that, by neatly telling a complex financial tale and managing to define both sides. The mostly young investors in "Game Stop" stocks face-off with wealthy hedge fund owners who literally were betting against them, and Gillespie's hip cast of players makes the whole historic revolution a lot funnier than it really was or, honestly, ever should be.
Leading the way, to name just a few, are Paul Dano, as a normally small investor with a faithful online following that started it all; "SNL" mainstay Pete Davidson, as his smart-aleck brother; and Seth Rogen, as a hedge fund owner who discovers that losing millions a day is no laughing matter. Or maybe it is.
Rated "R" by MPAA: pervasive language, sexual material, and drug use; 1:44; $ $ $ and 1/2 out of $5.
Bits of devilishly dark humor and more twists and turns than a titular "Reptile" keep us guessing throughout this lengthy crime thriller from first-time feature director Grant Singer, formerly a music-video helmer of some note.Now he co-writes with his lead actor, Benicio Del Toro, and Benjamin Brewer, the lead visual effects artist from last year's Oscar-winning "Everything Everywhere All at Once," to offer bits and pieces of great things ahead.
Here, though, the screenwriting trio often leans on perceptions initiated by characters and the actors playing them to present a watchable whodunnit after the early and brutal murder of a real estate agent (Matilda Lutz).
Certainly, when Del Toro leads Alicia Silverstone into a bar near the beginning of the film, they look more like a gangster and his moll than a police detective and his wife. And, as they say, you still ain't really seen nothin' yet.
Justin Timberlake, Eric Bogosian, Frances Fisher, and Domenick Lombardozzi genuinely deliver as intriguing and capable co-stars, too.
(In addition to its theatrical run, "Reptile" will stream on Netflix, beginning Sept. 29.)
Rated "R" by MPAA: language, violence, and some nude images; 2:14; $ $ $ out of $5.
New now in NE Ohio theaters: "Camp Hideout," "Expend4bles," "I Can," "It Lives Inside," and "The Origin of Evil," Streaming only: "No One Will Save You" (Hulu) and "Spy Kids: Armageddon" (Netflix).