It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.

Another week passes, a few more movies open, and I tell you whether or not they’re worth your time and hard-earned cash.

This week, two dramas, one a thriller, the other action. So what connects them? Sub-par reviews, for the most part. But before you write both of them off, each features a couple well-known faces, and if you’re looking for something to burn away a few hours this weekend, you could probably do worse.

Plus there’s always caramel popcorn…

Here are The Truth About Emanuel and Kidnapping Mr. Heineken.

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Mike Laidman

Welcome to another edition of Film Focus. I’m Mike Laidman.

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The Truth About Emanuel (2014, Francesca Gregorini)
A troubled girl becomes preoccupied with her new neighbor.

It’s amazing how hard it is to predict how good a movie will be, even based on all the information to which we have access. I’ll admit the title to this one does nothing for me, but the trailer, actors, and premise all had me thinking that this was going to be a pretty solid little thriller. I have to admit I haven't seen it yet, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. With middling reviews, there’s really no compelling reason to recommend The Truth About Emanuel.

Let’s see what’s going on here.

Emanuel is a troubled girl who becomes preoccupied with her mysterious new neighbor, a woman who bears a striking resemblance to her dead mother. In offering to baby-sit Linda's newborn, Emanuel unwittingly enters a fragile, fictional world, of which she becomes the gatekeeper.

The problem with the movie is that it’s a little too wild from the get-go, too confused and over-the-top. There are some positive audience reviews floating around out there, though, so give it a chance if you’re curious.


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Kidnapping Mr. Heineken (2015, Daniel Alfredson)
The true story of beer tycoon Alfred Heineken’s kidnapping.

Here’s another example of an interesting idea that just didn’t pan out the way people hoped.

Kidnapping Mr. Heineken tells the inside story of the planning, execution, rousing aftermath and ultimate downfall of the kidnappers of beer tycoon Alfred "Freddy" Heineken, which resulted in the largest ransom ever paid for an individual.

The issue here is that despite the exciting, real-life story, the movie is just too predictable and generic. There’s great potential here to really follow through with the source material and present something new and exciting, but that just doesn’t happen. Instead, we’re left with a flat, half-hearted version of what could have been.