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Love Is Strange, directed by Ira Sachs
Love Is Strange, directed by Ira Sachs

Love Is Strange, directed by Ira Sachs

(R, 98 minutes)

There's passion, there's love, and there's commitment. All three are major motifs in the bittersweet, beautifully told story of a long-term commitment at the heart of Love Is Strange.

George (Alfred Molina) and Ben (John Lithgow), who have been romantically involved for nearly 40 years, at last get married, surrounded by friends and family, during a storybook ceremony in lower Manhattan. But the official declaration of being gay announced by the marriage causes George, who teaches music at a Catholic school, to lose his job.

The couple, forced by financial woes to sell their comfortable apartment, must temporarily live apart until they find an affordable accommodation. Ben squeezes into the Brooklyn abode of his obnoxious nephew Elliot (Darren E. Burrows) and his complicated family, and George dosses on the couch of two young, party-hearty gay police officers who live in his former apartment building.

These often awkward situations further challenge their interactions with those around them, and to a certain extent with each other -- although their affection never falters.

Nor does the film, which remains honest, authentic, touching and often funny in its portrayal of the difficulty of being one's self when one is not where one wants to be, where one is surrounded by those who, although concerned and caring, don't always have the empathy that is found in a loving couple's relationship. Adding to the poignancy is the touching onscreen chemistry brought about by heartfelt performances from Molina and Lithgow.

It's the kind of movie you may not think you'll like. But chances are you will.

Wetlands (R, 105 minutes) Helen Memel (Carla Juri), the star of this creative, unconventional and not-for-everybody comedy, is having trouble comprehending the reasons for her parents' divorce. It's a problem she copes with by breaking the rules when it comes to hygiene, sexuality, and social mores. When a preventable accident (involving shaving) brings her into a hospital, she escalates her increasingly outrageous behavior, including coming on to a male nurse (Christoph Letkowski). But what she really wants is to bring her parents back together. Directed by David Wnendt. In German with English subtitles.

Bird People (not rated, 128 minutes) An airport hotel near Paris is the setting of this compassionate, dreamy and pervasive drama in which Silicon Valley engineer Gary Newman (Josh Charles) quits his job, abandons his marriage, and tries to make sense of it all in the company of hotel maid Audrey (Anais Demoustier), who shares his ambivalence about the future. With Radha Mitchell, Clark Johnson; directed by Pascale Ferran.

Fitzcarraldo (PG, 157 minutes) Werner Herzog's fascinating 1982 collaboration with Klaus Kinski, now available on Blu-ray, tells the story of Kinski's insanely obsessive Irish impresario of the title, a passionate and crazily visionary capitalist dedicated to bringing an opera house and opera superstar Enrico Caruso to the jungles of South America.

The film, shot in the Peruvian Amazon basin under grueling conditions, resulted in Herzog wearing out his welcome there. With Claudia Cardinale, Jose Lewgoy. In German, Spanish and Italian with subtitles.

Young Ones (R, 90 minutes) It's rare that a film starring Michael Shannon doesn't succeed on some level or other. In the case of Young Ones, it founders because of lackluster character development. Set in the near future when water's scarcity affects everything from public policy to interpersonal relationships, this dreary drama observes Ernest Holm (Shannon) and his children Jerome (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Mary (Elle Fanning) as they battle to survive on a barren farm. Trouble arrives in the form of Mary's boyfriend Flem (Nicholas Hoult), whose grandiose plans can't be realized unless he acquires Ernest's land for himself. Troubles ensue. Directed by Jake Paltrow (Gwyneth's younger brother).

Jessabelle (PG-13, 90 minutes) A clumsy yet sometimes surprisingly effective horror mystery that concerns Jessabelle (Sarah Snook, who does her best with a thankless and cliche-ridden role), who has come home to a Louisiana bayou to convalesce from debilitating car-accident injuries. There she encounters an ill-tempered spirit that's been lying in wait for her to return. Tarot cards, voodoo and other Southern Gothic mainstays are involved. With Amber Stevens, David Andrews, Mark Webber; directed by Kevin Greutert.

The Two Faces of January (PG-13, 96 minutes) Set in Greece and Istanbul in 1962, this elegant thriller introduces viewers to glamorous American tourists Chester MacFarland (Viggo Mortensen) and his wife Collette (Kirsten Dunst), who encounter a personable tour guide named Rydal (Oscar Isaac), not only an expert on Greek holiday attractions but also skilled at the art of grifting. The unlikely trio, who are in the wrong place at the wrong time, find themselves to be suspects in a hotel murder, an unfortunate situation that forces them to go on the run together. Adapted from Patricia Highsmith's novel of the same name. Directed by Hossein Amini.

MovieStyle on 01/16/2015

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