The ninth annual Dallas International Film Festival kicks off tonight with a screening of I’ll See You in My Dreams, a Sundance favorite that is making its North Texas debut. Over the course of the next 11 days, the festival will screen more than 160 films, including special programs focusing on Latino and German cinema. Over the the next week, be sure to check back in as we offer daily updates and reviews from the festival. To kick things off, here are reviews of all the films playing at this year’s festival that we were able to preview.
I’ll See You in My Dreams
7:30 p.m. April 9, Majestic | 4:30 p.m. April 10, Angelika 6
Grade: B-
This charming romantic comedy gives Blythe Danner a welcome chance to shine, playing a widowed teacher and former singer who hits rock bottom after her dog dies, prompting her to break from her mundane routine and seek a fresh start. She winds up befriending a younger pool cleaner (Martin Starr) before meeting a handsome retiree (Sam Elliott) who unleashes her inner free spirit. The result is mildly perceptive but mostly predictable. However, while it lacks subtlety and surprise, Danner finds sympathy and complexity in a role that might resonate with a certain demographic. The cast includes June Squibb, Rhea Perlman, and Mary Kay Place. — Todd Jorgenson
Raiders!: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made
7:15 p.m. April 10, Angelika 7 | 9:15 p.m. April 11, Angelika 4
Grade: B+
This entertaining documentary recounts the story of three Mississippi teenagers who produced a shot-for-shot remake of Steven Spielberg’s classic Raiders of the Lost Ark over the course of seven summers in the 1980s and who reunited in 2014 to shoot the one scene they’d been unable to complete. It’s a loving portrait that seeks to inspire as the now-grown men refuse to give up on their childhood dreams even as the challenges facing the production mount. — Jason Heid
Margarita With a Straw
12:15 p.m. April 11, Angelika 7 | 10:30 p.m. April 18, Angelika 6
Grade: B
The premise might sound sappy, but this gentle coming-of-age story from India about a young woman with cerebral palsy is more charming than cloying. Laila (Kalki Koechlin) lives a relatively normal life for someone with such limited speech and motor skills, even earning a scholarship to NYU. That’s where she befriends a tutor (William Moseley) and gets in touch with her sexuality after meeting a blind lesbian (Sayani Gupta). The production is rough around the edges, but thanks to smart writing and a terrific performance by Koechlin, the sympathy for Laila feels genuine instead of forced. It might even cause viewers to change their perspective. – Todd Jorgenson
The Jones Family Will Make a Way
2:30 p.m. April 11, Angelika 6 | 7:15 p.m. April 12, Angelika 7
Grade: B-
If you’ve never heard of the Jones Family Singers, this crowd-pleasing documentary aims to change that. The gospel group hails from a blue-collar background along the Texas Gulf Coast, where patriarch Fred is a longtime Pentecostal preacher trying to gain fame and fortune for his family’s considerable vocal talents. What results is a rather shallow portrait of the family members themselves, but a more compelling study of how reputation influences gospel’s fit in the commercial music landscape. Still, nobody doubts their talent, and it’s easy to root for the resilient Jones and his offspring to succeed even if the creative odds are stacked against them. — Todd Jorgenson
She’s the Best Thing In It
7 p.m. April 11, Angelika 4 | 12:15 p.m. April 12, Angelika 7
Grade: B
You might recognize Tony-winning actress Mary Louise Wilson from a handful of noteworthy roles on stage and television, and you might appreciate her longevity as a character actor. The latter seems to be the goal of this documentary directed by screenwriter Ron Nyswaner (Philadelphia) that focuses both on Wilson’s career highlights and on a late-career slump that led to her returning to her hometown of New Orleans to teach acting classes. The film’s compassion for the 82-year-old Wilson is obvious, although the film is more valuable for the insight gleaned through interviews with several actresses who’ve achieved the fame that somehow eluded her. – Todd Jorgenson
Playing It Cool
7:30 p.m. April 11, Angelika 6 | 4:30 p.m. April 17, Texas Theatre
Grade: D
A strong cast is squandered in this clichéd romantic comedy that feels strained in its stabs at both romance and humor. It follows a screenwriter (Chris Evans) struggling with ideas for a romantic comedy because, he figures, he’s never truly been in love. Then he meets a woman (Michelle Monaghan) who’s engaged but nevertheless strikes up a friendship, and before long his life turns into a romantic comedy so, you know, art imitates life and all that. Despite a few amusing diversions, the film consists of endless relationship discussions without any meaningful insight to show for it. The ensemble includes Topher Grace, Anthony Mackie, and Luke Wilson. – Todd Jorgenson
Closer to God
11:59 p.m. April 11, Angelika 7 | 10:15 p.m. April 12, Angelika 8
Grade: C+
At times Closer to God’s Frankenstein story about the birth of a human clone aims to ruminate intelligently about the ethical quandaries involved in scientific advances: whether man should play God in the name of genetic research. However, it soon becomes instead a run-of-the-mill horror story, employing the well-worn trope of the monstrous family secret literally locked away in the attic. The antihero, Dr. Victor Reed (Jeremy Childs), begins as an intriguing character — driven to give all his attention to the invention of new life while ignoring his own biological daughters — but he becomes as plodding and preachy as the rest of the film. — Jason Heid
Alice in Marialand
3 p.m. April 12, Angelika 4 | 1:30 p.m. April 14, Angelika 8
Grade: B-
I’m imagining the pitch for this Mexican film was 50 First Dates meets Vertigo, with some unsubtle, half-baked allusions to Alice in Wonderland. Tonatiuh (Claudio Lafarga) remains obsessed by memories of his life with unfaithful, emotionally volatile girlfriend Maria (Barbara Mori) after the two are in a car crash. While he’s convalescing in the hospital he’s nursed by Alicia (Stephanie Sigman), who pops up in his dreams. Alicia soon suffers an accident of her own that leaves her unable to retain memories. Mentally she exists only in the present, while Tonatiuh is stuck in the past when they meet again at a bar a year later. It’s all a bit overwrought and doesn’t earn the emotional release director Jesus Magaña Vasquez expects the audience to experience as Tonatiuh finally makes peace with the loss of Maria by reshaping the blank slate that is Alicia to his own liking. Still, it’s a twisty enough narrative to serve as a momentary diversion. — Jason Heid
Ladygrey
5:30 p.m. April 12, Angelika 6 | 10:45 p.m. April 13, Angelika 8
Grade: C-
Racial and socioeconomic politics among the working class in post-apartheid South Africa are examined in this uneven melodrama that weaves together the stories of a handful of characters, among them a grieving single father (Peter Saarsgard) struggling to make ends meet, a mentally disabled man (Jeremie Renier) dealing with a dying father and a fascination for animals, and a sheep farmer (Liam Cunningham) who treats both his day workers and his wife (Emily Mortimer) with contempt. The film features some strong performances and striking visuals from rookie French director Alain Choquart. Yet with its jumbled narrative approach, the muddled screenplay tends to remain emotionally distant. – Todd Jorgenson
Stations of the Cross
1 p.m. April 13, Angelika 7 | 12 p.m. April 19, Angelika 4
Grade: B+
The structure might be a gimmick, but this German drama is a powerful exploration of spirituality through the eyes of Maria (Lea Van Acken), a teenager from a fundamentalist Catholic family who dedicates her life to becoming a saint, even if her fractured family life won’t allow it and her classmates discourage her. As the title suggests, the film consists of 14 vignettes — each told in fixed-angle long shots — meant to parallel the stages of Jesus’ journey to the crucifixion. It’s an ambitious idea that doesn’t always work, but manages a powerful cumulative effect thanks in part to a terrific performance by its young lead. – Todd Joregenson
The Ambassador to Bern
1:30 p.m. April 13, Angelika 8 | 12:30 p.m. April 19, Angelika 7
Grade: B
Two armed men, angered by the execution of the leader of the doomed 1956 Hungarian revolt against Soviet hegemony, entered the Hungarian embassy in Bern, Switzerland, one morning in August 1958. Though it’s based on state security files, this Hungarian film is upfront about being only one theory of exactly what occurred inside the embassy that day, why the men were there, and what they hoped to achieve after taking the ambassador hostage. Patriotic Hungarians will likely make deeper emotional connections than did I to this depiction of a valiant effort by two freedom fighters. For the rest of us it’s still a perfectly serviceable representation of a minor episode of the country’s struggle against totalitarian communist rule. It has many of the trappings of a prestige Hollywood project, even if it lacks the depth of the great films it’s emulating. — Jason Heid
Welcome to Leith
4:45 p.m. April 13, Angelika 8 | 10:30 p.m. April 14, Angelika 8
Grade: A-
Both fascinating and infuriating, this documentary tracks the efforts of notorious white supremacist Craig Cobb to buy land in the titular North Dakota farming town (population 24), then announce his efforts to lure his supporters to join him and take over the local government. As the frightened locals urge the authorities to fight back against the interloper, it launches an examination of political extremism, community activism, and constitutional rights. Framed as a thriller with Cobb as the villain — a role he seems to relish — the film captures plenty of candid footage and is impressive in its objectivity despite the obvious inclination to join the outrage. – Todd Jorgenson
Being Evel
10:30 p.m. April 13, Angelika 6 | 7:15 p.m. April 14, Angelika 7
Grade: B+
This affectionate documentary pays tribute to legendary stuntman Evel Knievel, the legendary 1970s motorcycle stuntman who helped to pave the way for some of the extreme sports that are popular today. Through plentiful interviews and impressive archival footage, the film provides a straightforward chronicle of his career highlights (including the infamous crash at Caesars Palace and the Snake River Canyon rocket launch), but more importantly it offers insight into Knievel’s motives and flamboyant personality, which was both gregarious and severely temperamental. Although he could dig deeper in spots, director Daniel Junge (Fight Church) captures a bygone era through the legacy of a larger-than-life character. – Todd Jorgenson
Nowitzki: The Perfect Shot
7:30 p.m. April 14, Angelika 6 | 4:30 p.m. April 16, Angelika 6
Grade: B-
You don’t have to be a Mavericks fan — although it doesn’t hurt — to appreciate this documentary that traces the career of the basketball superstar from his roots in Germany to his championship season in Dallas. Since it’s a German production, it yields an outsider perspective to his adjustment to life in Texas after becoming a prodigy in his homeland under the tutelage of eccentric coach Holger Geschwindner, who developed his work ethic and remains his mentor to this day. It also features interviews with his parents and childhood friends to provide details on Dirk’s first 19 years. Still, it’s more of a layup than a slam dunk. – Todd Jorgenson
Jasmine
9:45 p.m. April 14, Angelika 4 | 7:15 p.m. April 16, Angelika 8
Grade: A-
A year after his wife was murdered, Leonard (Jason Tobin) is a mess. Forever separated from his former life, he’s trying awkwardly to make new connections and still grieving the woman he loved. The film spends a little too much time — its entire first third — doing little other than following Leonard as he wanders the streets of Hong Kong. But then he spies a man visiting the grave of his wife and the spot where she was killed, and he becomes obsessed with learning what this man had to do with her death. The result is a believable and surprising portrait of a descent into madness. — Jason Heid
Frame By Frame
10:15 p.m. April 14, Angelika 7 | 7:15 p.m. April 15, Angelika 7
Grade: B+
Under the Taliban regime, there was no journalism in Afghanstan. Not only that, photography was forbidden. After the U.S. toppling of the Talian a number of NGOs entered the country with hopes of training-up a new fourth estate in the country. This film follows two of the most prominent photo journalists, including Pulitzer Prize-winner Massoud Hossanini. The story offers an interesting, well, lens into everyday life in post-war Afghanistan — a country still riddled with violence and facing an uncertain future as western forces pull out — weighing war’s personal toll on those new journalists who position themselves on the front lines of their country’s history. – Peter Simek
Radiator
1:30 p.m. April 15, Angelika 8 | 4 p.m. April 16, Angelika 4
Grade: B+
Tom Browne’s directorial debut tells the story of a son, Daniel (Daniel Cerqueira) returning to his parents’ dram home in a corner of the Lake District in England to take care of his ailing and aging father. He finds his parents living in a kind of happy disorder and dysfunction, his father sleeping in his own filth on a couch next to the stove, his mother so ingrained in the habit of their life she seems to be lost in a kind of limbo just outside of reality. Browne’s achievement is in the way he handles his trio of lead actors, who all turn in subtle performances in a film that strikes right to the heart of a difficult subject, parents, aging, and death. –Peter Simek
Echoes of War
7:30 p.m. April 15, Angelika 6 | 9:30 p.m. April 16, Angelika 4
Grade: C
Director Kane Senes accents the everyday violence of life in Texas just after the Civil War with a bevy of shots that linger on animals being stripped of their skins and disemboweled. The rest of the film is just as unsubtle in its approach to telling the story of a Confederate army veteran (James Badge Dale) who returns to the family of his deceased sister. Slowly it’s revealed just how traumatically his mind was damaged by his wartime experiences. He draws his brother-in-law (Ethan Embry), niece (Maika Monroe), and nephew (Owen Teague) further into a dispute with their richer neighbors, resulting in a bloody mess. There’s about 45 minutes worth of plot that’s been stretched an hour longer. — Jason Heid
Love and Mercy
8 p.m. April 18, Angelika 6
Grade: B+
Despite a disjointed structure, this well-acted biopic about eccentric Beach Boys singer and songwriter Brian Wilson manages to become both insightful and endearing. It focuses on two key segments of his life, one in which Wilson (Paul Dano) is struggling creatively after the group first finds fame during the 1960s, and another in which a middle-aged Wilson (John Cusack) has become mentally unstable before starting an unlikely relationship with a car saleswoman (Elizabeth Banks). The film is uneven by nature and too conveniently elicits sympathy. Yet in avoiding a straightforward approach, it finds the spirit of a subject whose music and emotions often conflicted. – Todd Jorgenson
Manglehorn
2:45 p.m. April 19, Angelika 6
Grade: C+
The latest bittersweet character study from Richardson native David Gordon Green (Joe) provides a showcase for Al Pacino as an aging locksmith living an isolated life of regret and guilt over love unrequited, until a bank teller (Holly Hunter) provides him an opportunity for redemption. As with Green’s other low-budget efforts, the film is rich in quirky detail to offset a deliberate pace and somber tone, although its meandering anecdotes too often feel like diversions. Meanwhile, in a change of pace, Pacino’s performance is understated yet intense, playing a character with underlying sweetness behind his emotional scars, even if he’s still more pitiful than sympathetic. – Todd Jorgenson
