Gary Goldstein

Even with Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan front and center, little in the trailer of "The Dig" seemed particularly promising,? I gave it a go and it's good. Some of it's true, too: Along the east coast of Britain in 1939, with war clouds looming, self-taught Suffolk archeologist Basil Brown was hired by ailing widow Edith Pretty to discover if anything of value lay beneath the earth mounds on her property. There was indeed, and the remains and artifacts of a sixth-century Anglo-Saxon burial ship stunned the world. Fiennes is Basil; Mulligan is Edith; around the halfway point of director Simon Stone's film, the focus (for better or worse) shifts to others in the orbit of the excavation effort, particularly characters played by Lily James and Johnny Flynn. Based on the 2007 novel by John Preston, "The Dig" freely mixes fact and invention, overloading the crises a bit but generally succeeding. A fair amount of screenwriter Moira Buffini's dialogue plays out as Terrence Malick-styled voiceover, while the camera focuses on the stark beauty of the surroundings, and men and women actually doing the work. The results are trim, well-made and quite moving. So much for my prejudgments. (Netflix) — Michael Phillips

‘Penguin Bloom’ review: A bird inspires Naomi Watts in family drama

January 27, 2021 at 2:01 p.m.

"Penguin Bloom" is a touching and inspiring, if often painful, look at a family dealing with the aftermath of a singular tragic event. In 2013, Samantha "Sam" Bloom (Naomi Watts),...

Sienna Miller as Adrienne, left, and Diego Luna as Matteo in a scene from "Wander Darkly."

‘Wander Darkly’ review: Sienna Miller captivates in mindbending romantic thriller

December 10, 2020 at 8:30 p.m.

Is she dead or alive? Is what we're watching real or imagined? Is this scene set in the past or the present — or the future? These are but a...

‘Uncle Frank’ review: Strong performances can’t redeem Alan Ball’s heavy-handed personal story

November 26, 2020 at 2:49 p.m.

"You're gonna be the person you decide to be, or you're gonna be the person everyone tells you you are. You get to choose." So says Frank Bledsoe (Paul Bettany),...

‘Love Wedding Repeat’ review: Olivia Munn-Sam Claflin rom-com doomed by high-concept mess on Netflix

April 10, 2020 at 10:51 a.m.

It would have been interesting to see what British rom-com maestro Richard Curtis ("Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Notting Hill," "Love Actually") might have made out of "Love Wedding Repeat,"...

From left, Isla Fisher, Steve Coogan and Asa Butterfield star in the film, "Greed."

‘Greed’ review: Michael Winterbottom and Steve Coogan return to skewer the super-rich

March 3, 2020 at 9:19 p.m.

In Oliver Stone's 1987 film "Wall Street," corporate raider Gordon Gekko, played by Michael Douglas, reveled in the pronouncement that "greed ... is good." It became a kind of mantra...

‘Frankie’ review: Isabelle Huppert plays a dying actress bidding adieu

November 18, 2019 at 8:04 p.m.

If there is such a thing as a breezy drama, director Ira Sachs' lovely and pensive new film "Frankie" fills that niche. Although it may initially seem like a fairly...

‘The Invisibles’ review: Doc hybrid tells moving Holocaust stories

February 1, 2019 at 8:54 p.m.

More than 70 years after the Holocaust, there remain many uncommon or under-told stories of the era to be shared on film — and the docudrama “The Invisibles” is the...

‘Studio 54’ review: Documentary transports viewers to disco’s last days in New York’s most famous nightclub

December 12, 2018 at 2:36 p.m.

If you think you already know everything you need to — or want to — about what remains the world's most iconic night club, the evocative, deep-dive documentary "Studio 54"...

‘The Bookshop’ review: Emily Mortimer stars in post-WWII tale that speaks volumes

December 13, 2018 at 2:12 a.m.

"The Bookshop," based on the 1978 novel by Penelope Fitzgerald, is a far more somber, measured outing than its quaint and cozy title may at first imply. Within its staid...

‘Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood’ review: From Ill. farm boy to LA denizen supplying ‘fix-ups’ for the stars

December 13, 2018 at 2:10 a.m.

When Scotty Bowers, the subject of Matt Tyrnauer's fun, dishy, uniquely nostalgic documentary "Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood," says, "I'm up for anything, anytime," you'd best believe him....

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