The Judge

Stark becomes a Lannister, with incest, odd siblings, and a principled but morally questionable patriarch.  Duvall delivers best performance in bleak and tedious character study that’s frequently distracted by irrelevant bench discussions.  Overwhelming burden of choosing genre crushes this Grisham reject resulting in a case that must appeal… to few.

Open Range

Dear Costner, just because Dances was four hours of awesome doesn’t mean you need to waste ninety minutes with glorious cloud shouts before transforming into an old fashioned western.  Predictable romance is saved by sensationally gritty showdown.  Half the film is vacuously open and then they reach the shooting range.

Thank You For Smoking

Reitman captures Buckley’s wit beautifully with help from perfect cast. Exotic blend of clever humor with slapstick-esque hilarity, rolled into a perfect satiric cinematic joint. Eckhart makes himself a household name, and spends time in Holmes as well. X-Men Leech holds his own and doesn’t run scared from brilliant flick.

Crazy Heart

Bridges nails washed up Dude as country singer role in Tender Mercies/Wrestler hybrid. More surprising than Bridges’ impressive singing voice is Colin Farrell going country western. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Sherrybaby again, this time as love interest. Mundanely poignant with an ending so emotionally mixed it’ll make your heart go crazy.

The Road

Bleak post-apocalyptic future peppered Hurt Locker style with big stars in small roles. Aragorn’s performance can’t match his previous roles despite enormous amount of screen-time devoted to emotional suicide discussions. Like No Country, exceptionally loyal adaptation of a McCarthy book. Should be titled The Day After the Day After Tomorrow.