More Friday openings: fall of a smart phone

Above : “Blackberry” explores the rise and fall of the self-named smart phone. (Photo/IFC Films)

OK, even more films are scheduled to open on Friday. One tells the story of the kind of cellphone that I once was issued by an employer but never really learned how to use.

Turns out, the people who ran the company didn’t know what they were doing either, since they’re now out of business – as the movie “Blackberry” makes clear.

The other scheduled openings are:

“Blackberry” : Directed by Matt Johnson (and co-written by Johnson and Matt Miller), the film – according to Rotten Tomatoes – “tells the story of Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie, the two men that charted the course of the spectacular rise and catastrophic demise of the world’s first smartphone.”

Peter Debruge of Variety wrote, “Like a shark in the kiddie pool, (actor Glenn) Howerton delivers the kind of performance that can make a career, or force audiences to totally reconsider an actor’s potential.”

“Hypnotic” : Robert Rodriguez directed and co-wrote (with Mac Borenstein) this mystery about – according to IMDb.com – a police detective investigating a mystery involving his missing daughter and a secret government program.

Valerie Complex of Deadline Hollywood wrote, “To its credit, the movie is never boring and has a solid concept that is solid enough to get behind, but it’s in desperate need of heavy tweaking to find some middle ground.”

“Fool’s Paradise” : Charlie Day wrote, directed and stars in this comedy about a guy just out of a mental hospital (Day) who becomes – temporarily – an instant movie star.

No reviews available. Seldom a good sign. Whatever … go and see (or stream) a movie.