It’s the weekend again, and that means Film Focus. Here’s Mike Laidman with what’s new in local theaters.
This is it. Your last weekend to enjoy something a little off the beaten track. Next week Star Wars drops, and that’s all we’ll be hearing about until the new year.

So before then, take some time to peruse this week’s crop of mid-December openings, and just breathe a little, before all the craziness sets in.

This week a crime thriller will make your heart beat, and a romantic comedy will make your eyes weep.

Here are Legend and Trainwreck.

[Slug CG]
Mike Laidman

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

[Slug CG]
Legend (2015, Brian Helgeland)
The story of the identical twin gangsters Reggie and Ronnie Kray.

First this week, the tight crime thriller Legend, starring Tom Hardy in dual roles as twin London gangsters Reggie and Ron Kray.

The film focuses on the twin brothers, both played by Hardy, as they experience a rise to power and then subsequent fall, becoming known as the most notorious gangsters in London.

Like many of the movies being released lately, Legend earns praise for Hardy’s brilliant performances as the two main characters. But this on its own isn’t enough to support a full movie, and there are some problems with the story not doing justice to all that the Kray twins did.


[Slug CG]
Trainwreck (2015, Judd Apatow)
A commitment-phobic career woman meets a good guy.

Maybe it’s because expectations aren’t as high, maybe it’s because a comedy is just easier to get right. Whatever the reason, Trainwreck is another hit from director Judd Apatow.

Since she was a little girl, it's been drilled into Amy's head by her dad that monogamy isn't realistic. Now a magazine writer, Amy lives by that credo - enjoying what she feels is a life free from boring romantic commitment. But when she finds herself starting to fall for the subject of the new article she's writing, a charming and successful sports doctor named Aaron Conners, Amy starts to wonder if other grown-ups, including this guy who really seems to like her, might be onto something.

While this is definitely an adult movie, there’s lots to like: strong performances from the leads, a smart, funny script from star Amy Schumer, and a uniqueness that’s hard to find anywhere else.