RECOMMENDED: Why, they go to see movies like When Did You Last See Your Father? at the Ritz, of course! And lo, I go with them. This tear-jerker starring Jim Broadbent and Colin Firth is the kind of Mike Leigh-ish meat-and-potatoes English kitchen-sink drama that’s been keeping the Ritz flush with old people for decades now, but you know what? That’s OK. It’s extraordinarily well-written and superbly acted, if dour, but it’s also a kind of comfort-food movie that is a great father-and-son story. Broadbent stars as the formerly philandering dad, on his deathbed with the bowel cancer, and Firth — who you may remember from Love, Actually — does a great turn as his son finally coming to terms with an awkward adolescence you can tell he’s just been crushing down forever. But through a series of flashbacks — and there is a little baby boomer self-aggrandizement here which may make you cringe a little, but it’s not a dealbreaker, I swear — Firth’s character comes to an uneasy peace with his family, and his own self. The only kind there is, really.

ALSO NEW IN THEATERS THIS WEEK: Wanted, featuring Angelina Jolie with a gun, and for once, no boring babies or causes (whew!); Wall-E, some Disney/Pixar shit that there’ll be time for later, when you have kids or a nervous breakdown; Gunnin’ For That #1 Spot, which seems to have a Hoop Dreams/Drumline kinda vibe; and Finding Amanda, starring Matthew Broderick as a degenerate gambler charged with finding and rescuing his niece in Las Vegas from a life of whorin’. We think it’s a comedy.

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 27th, 2008 at 12:42 pm.