Here Are All the Movies Opening Today, April 24; What Will You See?
Here are the films opening theatrically in the U.S. the week of Friday, April 24. [Synopses provided by distributor unless listed otherwise.]
Wide
The Age of Adaline
Director: Lee Toland Krieger
Cast: Blake Lively, Ellen Burstyn, Harrison Ford, Amanda Crew, Richard Harmon, Michiel Huisman
Synopsis: “After 29-year-old Adaline recovers from a nearly lethal accident, she inexplicably stops growing older. As the years stretch on and on, Adaline keeps her secret to herself — till she meets a man who changes her life.”
Criticwire Grade Average: B- (10 reviews)
Little Boy
Director: Alejandro Gomez Monteverde
Cast: Emily Watson, David Henrie, Kevin James, Michael Rapaport, Ted Levine, Tom Wilkinson, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Abraham Benrubi, Ben Chaplin, Ali Landry, Toby Huss, Kelly Greyson
Synopsis: “A young American boy tries to bring his father back from World War II.”
Criticwire Grade Average: C- (6 reviews)
The Water Diviner
Director: Russell Crowe
Cast: Jai Courtney, Russell Crowe, Olga Kurylenko, Isabel Lucas, Damon Herriman, Ryan Corr, Jacqueline McKenzie, Allen Tiller
Synopsis: “An Australian man travels to Turkey after the Battle of Gallipoli to try and locate his three missing sons.”
Criticwire Grade Average: B- (8 reviews)
Limited
24 Days
Director: Alexandre Arcady
Cast: Zabou Breitman, Pascal Elbé, Jacques Gamblin, Éric Caravaca, Sylvie Testud
Synopsis: “This tense policier based on true events captures what some consider a pivotal moment in a wave of anti-Semitic sentiment and violence that swept France. The 1986 kidnapping of 24-year-old Ilan Halimi by a suburban Parisian gang of thugs became a cause célèbre because of the anti-Semitic nature of the crime. Director Arcady based his film on a book by the abducted man’s mother, Ruth Halimi, in order to refocus attention on the Halimi family. He notes, “I noticed a tendency in France to focus on the perpetrators instead of the victims. Making this film was my way of setting things straight.” The production was allowed to shoot inside Paris police headquarters and other authentic locations where crucial events transpired. The police team regarded the nearly 700 ransom calls made to Ilan’s father as their main clue to the perpetrators’ psychology. But Ruth finds other information more significant, something that the authorities are regretfully too slow to recognize.” [Palm Springs International Film Festival]
Criticwire Grade Average: B- (4 reviews)
Theatrical Release: Various (including New York and Los Angeles, Boston and Miami)
Adult Beginners
Director: Ross Katz
Cast: Nick Kroll, Rose Byrne, Bobby Cannavale
Synopsis: “A young, narcissistic entrepreneur crashes and burns on the eve of his company’s big launch. With his entire life in total disarray, he leaves Manhattan to move in with his estranged pregnant sister, brother-in-law and 3-year-old nephew in the suburbs — only to become their nanny.” [Toronto International Film Festival]
Criticwire Grade Average: B- (12 reviews)
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles, Austin, Boston, Chicago, Columbus, Denver, San Diego and Washington, DC
After the Ball
Director: Sean Garrity
Cast: Portia Doubleday, Marc-André Grondin, Chris Noth, Lauren Holly, Natalie Krill
Synopsis: “Kate’s dream is to design for couturier houses. Although she is a bright new talent, Kate can’t get a job. No one trusts the daughter of Lee Kassell, a retail guru who markets clothes “inspired” by the very designers Kate wants to work for. Who wants a spy among the sequins and stilettos? Reluctantly, Kate joins the family business where she must navigate around her duplicitous stepmother and two wicked stepsisters. But with the help of a prince of a guy in the shoe department her godmother’s vintage clothes and a shocking switch of identities, Kate exposes the evil trio, saves her father’s company — and proves that everyone can wear a fabulous dress.”
Theatrical Release: Los Angeles, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Miami, Philadelphia, Seattle and Mesa, AZ
Bass Clef Bliss
Director: Patrick Scott
Synopsis: “A true story about a young man at the intersection of autism, hope, and music. As a young boy, his speech disappears, and his sensitivity to sound triggers frequent tantrums. His music therapist introduces him to the trombone. With the help of caring professionals, he makes a slow and steady progress in his ability to function in the world. Years later, his high school music teacher discovers he has perfect pitch. Today, his talent opens doors for him to play with orchestras, theater productions, jazz ensembles, and his church choir.”
Theatrical Release: Los Angeles
Because I Was a Painter
Director: Christophe Cognet
Synopsis: “In 1945, when the Allies liberated the concentration camps, they discovered thousands of secretly created artworks. These drawings, hidden from the Nazis, offer an unparalleled understanding of life in the camps. Featuring interviews with surviving artists, curators, as well as recently uncovered evidence, this fascinating documentary considers the ability of art to capture, reflect and survive under unimaginable conditions.”
Theatrical Release: New York
Blackbird
Director: Patrik-Ian Polk
Cast: Julian Walker, Mo’Nique, Isaiah Washington
Synopsis: “In small-town Mississippi, high school choirboy Randy is practically a perfect saint: a virgin who prays regularly and takes care of his devout but unhinged mother, he doesn’t curse, drink, or indulge in pleasures of the flesh. Unfortunately, Randy also can’t stop having fantasies that Jesus might not approve of. Waking up in a bed full of unholy emissions after dreaming about the high school football star, Randy frantically searches to save his soul. This is not your typical case of denial, since many around Randy presume he’s gay and don’t fuss. But while his friends are losing their virginity left and right, Randy is in a mighty struggle for self-acceptance—a struggle that must confront his Baptist religion, Southern values, and African American culture.” [Frameline Film Festival]
Theatrical Release: New York and Los Angeles, Atlanta, San Francisco and Washington, DC
Brotherly Love
Director: Jamal Hill
Cast: Keke Palmer, Cory Hardrict, Faizon Love
Synopsis: “West Philadelphia basketball star Sergio Taylor deals with the pressures of fame while his brother and sister have their own issues with ambition.”
Theatrical Release: Various (including New York and Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia and San Francisco)
Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll
Director: John Pirozzi
Synopsis: “Through the eyes, words and songs of it’s popular music stars of the 50s, 60s, and 70s, Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll examines and unravels Cambodia’s tragic past, culminating in the genocidal Khmer Rouge’s dismantling of the society and murder of 2,000,000 of its citizens.”
Theatrical Release: New York (expands to various cities in nine states and Calgary throughout the end of June)
Emptying the Skies
Director: Douglas Kass & Roger Kass
Cast: Jonathan Franzen, Peter Berthold, Sergio Coen Tanugi, David Conlin
Synopsis: “If you want to impress your dining companions in Cyprus, it’s not caviar that you order, but ambelopoulia: a tiny songbird. But as this gripping doc reveals, the cost to bring such delicacies to the table is enormous. Bestselling novelist Jonathan Franzen takes a break from the world of fiction to guide us through an all too horrifying reality: tens of millions of protected migratory songbirds are illegally killed every year. Franzen, a longtime bird lover, accompanies young staffers of the Committee Against Bird Slaughter on their expeditions. With police enforcement in Southern Europe practically non-existent, they risk their lives to rescue trapped birds, and confront hostile poachers. It’s a topic that proves a cultural flashpoint — the Cypriot landowners cannot understand why a bunch of Italians can tell them what to do on their land.”
Theatrical Release: New York and Chicago
The Forger
Director: Philip Martin
Cast: John Travolta, Christopher Plummer, Tye Sheridan, Abigail Spencer, Jennifer Ehle, Anson Mount, Marcus Thomas, Travis Wade
Synopsis: “The world’s best art forger (John Travolta) makes a deal with a crime syndicate to get an early release from prison, but in return he must pull of an impossible heist – he must forge a painting by Claude Monet, steal the original from a museum and replace it with a replica so perfect that no one will notice. He enlists the help of his father (Christopher Plummer) and son (Tye Sheridan) and together they plan the heist of their lives!”
Criticwire Grade Average: C (4 reviews)
Theatrical Release: Select Cities
Just Before I Go
Director: Courteney Cox
Cast: Seann William Scott, Garret Dillahunt, Olivia Thirlby, Kate Walsh, Rob Riggle, David Arquette, Missi Pyle, Kyle Gallner
Synopsis: “Ted Morgan, a down-on-his-luck everyman, has decided he’s had enough of the hard knocks life has thrown his way. But before saying his final adieu, Ted returns to his hometown to right a few wrongs. Enter a zany cast of characters who, whilst royally messing up his scheme, manage to teach him a few clumsy, but ultimately valuable lessons.” [Tribeca Film Festival]
Theatrical Release: Select Cities
Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Director: Brett Morgen
Synopsis: “Experience Kurt Cobain like never before in the first fully authorized portrait of the famed rock music icon. Director Brett Morgen expertly blends Cobain’s personal archive of art, music, and never-before-seen home movies with animation and revelatory interviews with his family and closest confidantes. Following Kurt from his earliest years in Aberdeen, Washington, through the height of his fame, a visceral and detailed cinematic insight of an artist at odds with his surroundings emerges. While Cobain craved the spotlight even as he rejected the trappings of fame, his epic arc depicts a man who stayed true to his earliest punk rock convictions, always identifying with the ‘outsider’ and ensuring the music came first.” [Sundance Film Festival]
Criticwire Grade Average: A- (9 reviews)
Theatrical Release: Various (including Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and San Francisco)
Laugh Killer Laugh
Director: Kamal Ahmed
Cast: William Forsythe, Bianca Hunter, Tom Sizemore, Victor Colicchio, Larry Romano, Robert MacNaughton
Synopsis: “A Jewel thief named Frank Stone is a very deeply disturbed, anti social, milquetoast who finds no joy or humor in anything – until he awakens from a deep coma with a changed personality.”
Theatrical Release: New York
Misery Loves Comedy
Director: Kevin Pollak
Cast: Jon Favreau, Kevin Smith, Bobby Cannavale, Freddie Prinze Jr., Matthew Perry, Whoopi Goldberg, Martin Short, Jimmy Fallon, Christopher Guest, Janeane Garofalo, Judd Apatow, Stephen Merchant, Kevin Pollak, Matt Walsh, Jason Alexander, Joe Lo Truglio, Jason Reitman, Chris Hardwick, Samm Levine, David Koechner, Nick Swardson, Andy Richter, Bob Saget, Richard Kind, Amy Schumer, Kevin Nealon, Paul Feig, Laraine Newman, Jim Gaffigan, Maria Bamford, Paul F. Tompkins, Larry Miller, Jim Jefferies, Kumail Nanjiani, Mike Birbiglia, Richard Lewis, Greg Proops, Dave Thomas, Lewis Black, Marc Maron, James L. Brooks, Penn Jillette, Michael Ian Black, David Wain, Robert Smigel, Scott Aukerman, Michael Showalter, Jim Norton, Andy Kindler, Rob Delaney, Dana Gould
Synopsis: “Over fifty very famous American and Canadian funny people (filmmakers, writers, actors and comedians) share life and professional journeys and insights, in an effort to shed light on the thesis: Do you have to be miserable to be funny?”
Theatrical Release: New York (expands to sixteen additional markets throughout May)
Planetary
Director: Guy Reid
Cast: Paul Hawken, Bill McKibben, Mae Jemison, Ron Garan, Joanna Macy, Janine Benyus, Elizabeth Lindsey, Lawrence Ellis, David Loy
Synopsis: “Planetary presents a stunning visual portrait of our Earth, taking us on a journey across continents: from the African savannah to the Himalayas, and from the heart of Tokyo to the view of our fragile planet from orbit. Through intimate interviews with a diversity of people, from NASA astronauts and environmentalists to philosophers and Tibetan lamas, the film explores our shared future. It suggests that the key to transforming our civilisation lies in an understanding that all life is inseparably interconnected, and that we cannot change the world unless we change the way we see ourselves, our planet, and the wider cosmos we are embedded within.” [SXSW Film Festival]
Theatrical Release: Various (including New York and Los Angeles, Albuquerque, Anchorage, Chicago, Cincinnati, Honolulu, Philadelphia, Portland and San Francisco; also available on VOD)
Road to Juarez
Director: David De Leon
Cast: William Forsythe, Charley Koontz, Jessica Jade Andres, Pepe Serna, Omar Avila, Jacqueline Pinol, Walter Perez, Sal Lopez, Yareli Arizmendi
Synopsis: “An American ex-con with Mexican underworld ties ensnares a pair of young misfits into a dangerous heist in Mexico.”
Theatrical Release: Los Angeles, Austin, Houston and San Diego
See You in Valhalla
Director: Jarret Tarnol
Cast: Sarah Hyland, Steve Howey, Odeya Rush, Bret Harrison, Emma Bell, Jake McDorman, Beau Mirchoff, Michael Weston, Conor O’Farrell
Synopsis: “After the bizarre death of her brother, Johana Burwood must return home after four years to face her quirky family, including her estranged dad, her two competitive brothers and various significant others. The family is uncomfortable with each other at first, and their inner turmoil manifests itself in quarrels and outright fights. Johana is forced to face some secrets from her past when she runs into an old boyfriend who just can’t seem to let go. It’s only when tensions are at a breaking point that someone comes up with a brilliant idea that will send their departed brother off with incredible style.”
Theatrical Release: Various (including New York and Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Orlando and Tempe)
The Wisdom Tree
Director: Sunil Shah
Cast: Sheetal Sheth, Patrick Alparone, Eric Holter, Nick Scoggin, Ross Turner
Synopsis: “Quantum Physicist Steve Hamilton has struggled for years to prove the controversial theory that cost his mother her scientific reputation and well-being. When a mysterious car accident leaves him at death’s door, Steve acquires an unlikely pair of allies in the anguished FBI agent investigating the crash and the neuroscientist (Sheetal Sheth) shepherding him out of unconsciousness. As the trio begins to speculate that the accident is somehow connected to Steve’s research into the fundamental nature of matter, the three are entangled in a bizarre set of coincidences -spanning past, present, and future- that suggest they are on the edge of a much larger mystery. If they can read the clues encoded in science, art, music and mysticism, and survive a spiritual transformation in the process, they will avert an imminent catastrophe and guide humanity towards the profound realization that the universe is multi-dimensional, strange and harmonic.”
Theatrical Release: Portland
Missed last week? Here are all the releases from the weekend of April 17.
