Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Films

Capsule reviews with star ratings are written by critics for the Philadelphia Inquirer.

Opening today:

Angels & Demons

Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks) confronts an ancient brotherhood known as the Illuminati. Running time: 2:18

Rating: PG-13 (disturbing images, violence) Hayden: 12:15, 2:15, 5, 7:40, 10:20. NorthTown Mall: noon, 12:30, 3:15, 3:50, 6:30, 7, 9:40, 10:10. Post Falls: 1:30, 4:30, 7:30. River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 11:45 a.m., 12:30, 2, 3, 3:45, 5:15, 6:15, 7, 8:30, 9:30, 10:15. Riverstone: noon, 12:30, 3:15, 3:45, 6:30, 7, 9:45, 10:15. Spokane Valley Mall: noon, 3:15, 3:45, 6:30, 7, 9:45, 10:15, 12:30. Village Centre: 10:10 a.m., 12:15, 1, 3:15, 3:45, 6:15, 6:45, 9:15, 9:40.

Paris 36

In 1936 Paris, three out-of-work friends stage a musical in a theater, with the hope of buying it. Running time: 2:00

Rating: PG-13 (language, crude humor) River Park Square: 11:55 a.m., 3, 6:40, 9:50.

Continuing:

17 Again

••• Body-swap fantasy that rests on the sculpted shoulders of Zac Efron, a 17-year-old hoops star inhabited by the spirit of the 37-year-old Matthew Perry. Mildly diverting for adults, but for the teens who are its target audience, Efron’s outside shot is a three-pointer. Running time: 1:42

Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual material, teen partying) Hayden: 12:45, 3, 5:20, 7:25, 9:35. NorthTown Mall: 12:20, 2:45, 5:10, 7:35, 10. River Park Square: 10:50 a.m., 1:10, 3:55, 6:25, 9:15. Riverstone: 12:25, 4:10, 7:50, 10:20. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:50, 4:25, 7:15, 10. Village Centre: 11:45 a.m., 2, 4:15, 6:30, 9:10.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

•• Isla Fisher is appropriately cute in this so-so romantic comedy about a young writer, addicted to shopping, who gets hired (by Hugh Dancy) to give financial advice. Trouble ensues when she is outed as a fraud – on national television. Then comes the happy ending! Running time: 1:45

Rating: PG (language) Garland: 5:05.

Dinosaurs Alive!

Dinosaurs from the Triassic to the Cretaceous period come to life on the giant IMAX screen. Running time: 40

Rating: Not rated IMAX (Riverfront Park): 12:30.

Earth

Animal mothers struggle to raise their young in an increasingly harsh environment. Running time: 1:30

Rating: G River Park Square: 10:55 a.m., 1:15, 3:35, 6:20, 9:05. Village Centre: 10:30 a.m., 12:30, 2:30, 4:40, 6:50, 9.

Fast & Furious

••1/2 Vin Diesel returns for the fourth installment of the street racing franchise, which also brings back the rest of the original cast: Paul Walker, Jordana Brewster and Michelle Rodriguez. Vroom, vroom. Running time: 1:47

Rating: PG-13 (drug references, violence, language, sexual content) River Park Square: 11:15 a.m., 1:55, 4:45, 7:10, 9:40. Riverstone: 12:50, 3:40, 6:50, 10:05.

Fighting

A scam artist introduces a young man to the bare-knuckle street-fighting circuit. Running time: 1:45

Rating: PG-13 (language, intense fight sequences, sexuality) Village Centre: 6:15, 8:30.

Ghosts of Girlfriends Past

••1/2 A “Christmas Carol” update with Matthew McConaughey as a heartbreaker who behaves badly because he’s protecting a fragile heart and Jennifer Garner as the one gal who’s onto him. An average rom-com, a better-than average McConaughey movie. Running time: 1:40

Rating: PG-13 (a drug reference, sexual content, language) Hayden: 1:05, 3:05, 5:10, 7:10, 9:10. NorthTown Mall: 12:40, 3, 5:20, 7:50, 10:15. Post Falls: 1:20, 3:40, 5:45, 7:50. River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 1:05, 2:05, 3:40, 4:40, 6:35, 7:15, 9:15, 9:55. Riverstone: 12:40, 4:05, 7:20, 9:55. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:45, 4:35, 7:30, 10:05. Village Centre: noon, 2:20, 4:40, 7, 9:20.

Grand Canyon: The Hidden Secrets

A rerelease of the 1984 IMAX film re-creating the exploration of the canyon by the earliest settlers and the 1869 trip by American explorer John Wesley Powell. Running time: 35

Rating: Not rated IMAX (Riverfront Park): 1:45, 4, 6, 8.

Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk

A raft ride down the Colorado puts a spotlight on water conservation. Running time: 40

Rating: Not rated IMAX (Riverfront Park): 3, 5, 7, 9.

Hannah Montana: The Movie

••• Miley Cyrus as brunette Miley Stewart, by day a stuttering, accident-prone high-schooler, by night (under a Barbie blond wig) a strutting pop princess. Can down-home girl co-exist with an upbeat celebrat? Mildly diverting for parents, a three-star entertainment for their spawn. Running time: 1:32

Rating: G Post Falls: 12:50, 3:45, 5:40, 8. Village Centre: 11:30 a.m., 1:45, 4.

I Love You, Man

•••1/2 Metrosexual meets caveman in this fresh comedy starring Paul Rudd as a newly engaged guy without a male friend to be his best man and Jason Segel as a prospect. With Rashida Jones and Andy Samberg. Running time: 1:45

Rating: R (crude and sexual references, language) River Park Square: 6:30, 9:10.

Knowing

•• A weird and gloomy existential sci-fi thriller with Nicolas Cage as an MIT professor who discovers a page of numbers that seem to predict cataclysmic events. Run for your lives! Running time: 1:55

Rating: PG-13 (language, disturbing images) Garland: 7:20.

Monsters vs. Aliens

••• This goofy computer-animated romp is an amicable amalgam of the vintage sci-fi schlock “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” and Pixar’s “Monsters Inc.” With the voices of Reese Witherspoon, Seth Rogen and Kiefer Sutherland. Running time: 1:34

Rating: PG (language, crude humor) Hayden: noon, 2:30, 5:15, 7:15, 9:15. NorthTown Mall: 12:05, 2:35, 4:50, 7:10, 9:30. Post Falls: 1:10, 3:25, 5:15, 7:20. River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 1:15, 3:50. Riverstone: 12:35, 3:55, 7:05, 9:40. Spokane Valley Mall: 1:15, 4:15, 6:45, 9:35. Village Centre: 10:20 a.m., 12:20, 2:20.

Monsters vs. Aliens 3D

Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 2, 4:20, 6:40, 9.

Next Day Air

A delivery man (Donald Faison) accidentally brings a box full of cocaine to the wrong address. Running time: 1:24

Rating: R (sexuality, drug content, language, violence) River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 12:40, 2:50, 5:10, 7:20, 9:25.

Obsessed

A stalker from the workplace threatens the idyllic life of a happily married man (Idris Elba). Running time: 1:48

Rating: PG-13 (sexual material, violence, suggestive dialogue) NorthTown Mall: 1:05, 4:05, 7:30, 10:20. River Park Square: 11:10 a.m., 1:50, 4:25, 7:05, 9:35. Riverstone: 1:05, 4:25, 7:35, 10:10. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:20, 3:40, 6:55, 9:55. Village Centre: 11:30 a.m., 2, 4:30, 7, 9:35.

The Soloist

••1/2 Joe Wright’s unsparing, unsentimental account of real-life newspaper columnist Steve Lopez (Robert Downey Jr.) and his life-changing encounter with homeless cello virtuoso Nathaniel Ayers (Jamie Foxx) is an involving chamber piece conducted as though it were a symphony. Running time: 1:57

Rating: PG-13 (language, drug use) NorthTown Mall: 12:10, 2:55, 6:40, 9:35. River Park Square: 10:40 a.m., 1:35, 4:30, 7:10, 10. Riverstone: 1:10, 4:35, 7:55. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:05, 3:25, 6:40, 9:30. Village Centre: 11:40 a.m., 2:10, 4:40, 7:10, 9:45.

Star Trek

•••1/2 J.J. Abrams’ enjoyable reboot of the sci-fi saga takes a refreshing chug from the fountain of youth, imagining what happened when Kirk met Spock. With Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana and Leonard Nimoy. Running time: 2:06

Rating: PG-13 (sexual content, violence) Hayden: 11:50 a.m., 2:25, 5:05, 7:35, 10:10. NorthTown Mall: 12:15, 1:15, 3:30, 4:15, 4:40, 6:45, 7:15, 7:45, 9:55, 10:25, 12:50. Post Falls: 12:20, 3, 5:40, 8:15. River Park Square: 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 12:45, 1:30, 2, 3:40, 4:30, 5, 6:45, 7:30, 8, 9:45. Riverstone: 12:15, 12:45, 1:15, 3:30, 4:15, 4:45, 6:45, 7:30, 8, 10, 10:30. Spokane Valley Mall: 12:10, 1:10, 3:20, 3:50, 4:20, 6:35, 7:05, 7:35, 9:40, 10:10, 12:40. Village Centre: 10:30 a.m., 11 a.m., 1:10, 1:40, 3:50, 4:20, 6:30, 7, 9:10, 9:40.

State of Play

•••1/2 A journalist (Russell Crowe) and a politician (Ben Affleck), once college roommates, play hide-and-seek in this enthralling thriller where murder mystery and political scandal intersect. With Rachel McAdams, Helen Mirren and the ever-resourceful Jason Bateman. Running time: 2:07

Rating: PG-13 (drug content, language, sexual references, violence) River Park Square: 10:35 a.m., 1:45, 4:35, 7:25, 10:15. Riverstone: 12:05, 3:20, 6:35, 9:35. Village Centre: 4:20, 6:45, 9:15.

Watchmen

••• A fanboy’s fantasy come true, Zack (“300”) Snyder’s reverent adaptation of the lauded graphic novel offers a violent, subversive take on superhero mythology. Set in an alternate 1985, with costumed crimefighters acting cranky and weird, the movie, like the comic, is about power and history – its making, and its reimagining. Running time: 2:43

Rating: R (language, nudity, sexuality, violence) Garland: 9:45.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

•• Hugh Jackman revisits his X-Men role to show how Wolverine came into being in this meaningless mishmash of combat sequences, passable visual effects, Marvel Comics backstory and goofy Liev Schreiber-as-a-villain thespianizing. Running time: 1:48

Rating: PG-13 (language, sexual content) Hayden: 12:55, 3:10, 5:30, 7:40, 9:50. NorthTown Mall: 12:35, 1, 4:30, 5, 7:25, 8, 10:05, 10:30. Post Falls: 12:45, 3:15, 5:30, 8:05. River Park Square: 10:45 a.m., 11:15 a.m., 12:30, 1:20, 1:50, 3:15, 4:15, 4:45, 6:20, 7, 7:30, 9, 9:30, 10. Riverstone: 12:20, 1, 4, 4:30, 7:15, 7:45, 9:50, 10:25. Spokane Valley Mall: 1, 4, 4:30, 6:50, 7:20, 9:50, 10:20, 12:15. Village Centre: 10:15 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 12:20, 1:50, 2:35, 4:15, 5, 6:40, 7:20, 9:15, 9:50.