At first, The Gift seems like a conventional “stalk the yuppie” ‘90s flick. The handsome, successful Simon (Jason Bateman) and his lovely wife, Robyn (Rebecca Hall), find themselves slowly entangled with Gordon (Joel Edgerton, who also directs), an old acquaintance of Simon who hasn’t quite let go of some past grudges. Things may seem clear from that summary, but instead, the movie surprises with an uneasy tension, as both Simon and Gordon prove themselves to be equally unsettling, unkind and unhinged. Though the film is ultimately more focused on its homage to yuppie crisis films than its characters, the simmering ending does, eventually, boil over. You won’t quite be satisfied. That’s the point.
Opens Aug. 7 in wide release
IRRATIONAL MAN
It seems a tad unfair to call Woody Allen out for being Woody Allen, but these are the facts: Irrational Man is another Woody Allen film about a dissatisfied older man (Joaquin Phoenix), beloved by sexy women (Emma Stone and Piper Posey), who must overcome his own impotency (both literal and mental) to find a very ambiguous kind of catharsis. Allen has done this before in better films, so how does this attempt differentiate itself? It doesn’t, for the most part, though Phoenix does his damnedest to bring his own signature laconicism into play, and there’s a surprisingly nuanced discussion of existentialism. It’s not an unpleasant watch, though you might wondering about the point of it all.
Opens Aug. 7 at Kahala Theatre
KURT COBAIN: MONTAGE OF HECK
The man that was Kurt Cobain often disappears in the myth and tragedy that he eventually became. This documentary — executive produced by his daughter, Frances Bean Cobain and with footage provided by his family — is as close to an authorized portrait as anyone will ever get. A mixture of rare archival footage, interviews (with his mother Wendy O’Connor and wife Courtney Love, among others), animation and voiceover remind audiences that Cobain blazed as brightly as a meteor even on the verge of his fatal impact. No blame is cast here, but no one escapes scrutiny, either — including Cobain, who was in every way the man he made himself to be, for better or worse.
Plays at 1 and 7:30 p.m. Aug. 8, 7:30 p.m. Aug. 12 and 1 p.m. Aug. 13 at Doris Duke Theatre
