Looking for something to watch this week?
Richard Roeper’s weekly reviews are in, including a film he described as “one of the most delightful surprises of the year.”
See his latest reviews below:
“The Dog Stars” (in theaters)
With a filmography that includes “Blade Runner,”” Alien,” “Gladiator” and “Blackhawk Down,” Sir Ridley Scott is one of the most accomplished directors of the last half-century, and it’s beyond cool that he’s still making movies just a couple of years shy of his 90th birthday.
Alas, “The Dog Stars” is one of Scott’s lesser works.
Set in the year 2035 after a devastating flu pandemic wiped out much of the world, “The Dog Stars” has an engrossing story for the first 45 minutes or so. Jacob Elordi isn’t the most emotive of actors, but he’s well cast here as in a Clint Eastwood-type of role as Hig, a resourceful mechanic and pilot who shares a makeshift compound with Josh Brolin’s Bangley, a one-time Marine and survivalist. Later in the story, we meet Margaret Qualley’s Cima, who, like Hig, lost her spouse to the epidemic. We know where that’s going; after all, they look like Jacob Elordi and Margaret Qualley, and even when they’re grimy and sweaty and dodging attacks from roving bands of marauding criminals, they’re movie stars.
Where “The Dog Stars” falls apart is in a bizarre Act III that seems like something straight out of “The Shining,” with the wonderful Alison Janney stuck playing one of the most ludicrous characters in recent memory. This is a great-looking film with stunning visuals, a sprinkling of dark humor and some sparks of genuine emotion, but the screenplay is in serious need of a rewrite.
2.5 stars
“Coyote vs. Acme” (in theaters)
One of the most delightful surprises of the year.
Back in 2023, Warner Bros. famously shelved this live action/animation hybrid comedy. It seemed as if “Coyote vs. Acme” might never see the light of day (or should we say the darkness of a movie theater), until Ketchup Entertainment revived the film for worldwide distribution. That turned out to be a lucky break for us, because this is a clever, breezy, creative and heartwarming story, bolstered by nifty animation and a terrific underdog performance by Will Forte.
The ingenious premise has Wile E. Coyote filing a lawsuit against the Acme Corporation for selling him all those faulty products in his endless pursuit of the Road Runner. (I mean, the stuff DOES backfire on him every time, right?) Forte is Kevin Avery, a small-time ambulance chasing lawyer who inadvertently finds himself taking the case, which pits him against his arch rival, a powerhouse corporate defense attorney wonderfully played by John Cena. Granted, that’s a paper-thin premise, but “Coyote vs. Acme” is consistently smart and funny, with endless callbacks to the Warner Bros. Looney Tunes canon and a matter-of-fact approach to a world in which humans and cartoon characters live side-by-side and just accept that reality.
3.0 stars
“Death of the Pastor’s Wife” (Netflix)
True-crime documentaries have to walk a challenging line between telling a compelling story and exploiting someone’s tragedy. The three-part series “Death of the Pastor’s Wife” respectfully and expertly navigates that road, offering a disturbing portrait of a young woman named Mica Miller and the abusive marriage that preceded her 2024 death. It never forgets that this is Mica’s story.
Co-directors Julia Willoughby Nason and Mike Gasparro, two of the best in the business at this genre, chronicle Mica’s story beginning with her family’s move to Myrtle Beach when Mica was a teenager. In search of a sense of community and belonging, they soon joined Solid Rock Church, led by the charismatic (and narcissistic) pastor John-Paul Miller. Over the next decade, Mica became teenage choir leader, Miller’s assistant and family babysitter, then his mistress and eventually his wife.
From there, the story becomes increasingly unsettling. Through police records, cellphone footage, text messages and interviews with Mica’s family, the filmmakers document a pattern of coercive control, cyberstalking and psychological abuse. The most effective ( and, yes, eerie) technique involves an AI recreation of Mica’s voice reading passages from her journal. (This was done with her family’s blessing.) Hearing her words, e.g., Since the day we became husband and wife, I have been abused in every way I can think of,” gives the testimony a chilling immediacy. As is the case with so many of these films, we feel for the loved ones of Mica, who express their frustration and their pain.
John-Paul Miller comes across as a bizarre and creepy figure, whether he’s delivering blatantly misogynistic sermons or, according to the evidence presented here, allegedly tormenting Mica in a myriad of ways. His behavior after her death is jarring: The day after Mica died, he held a lengthy service at Solid Rock Church, only announcing her passing at the very end.
Authorities ruled Mica’s death a suicide and confirmed Miller’s physical alibi. But his subsequent federal indictment for cyberstalking only adds to the troubling questions surrounding the case. This is one of those Netflix documentary series that will make you uncomfortable, even as you quickly binge from chapter to chapter.
3.0 stars
Richard Roeper has reviewed films and TV series for more than 25 years, most notably with the Chicago Sun-Times and on the nationally syndicated “Ebert & Roeper.” Roeper is an entertainment and culture contributor to NBC 5 Chicago. He is the host of the globally popular “The Movie of Your Life” podcast, and he writes reviews for RogerEbert.com.
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