Reel-View Ratings: The Bigger The Beard, The Better The Movie

BEFORE WE GO

Two beautiful people meet by happenstance and then spend one night shambling all around Manhattan (obstinately to retrieve a lost purse, but not really because they don’t seem to be in much of a hurry) with ho-hum romantic entanglements with other people getting in the way of their blink-and-you’ll-miss-it chemistry. Conversation-heavy movies work only when the chatter and characters are interesting enough to want to focus on for two hours. These two people are not, and their problems seem dull and uninteresting, with nary a dark, thrilling secret between the two. Chris Evans stars in and directs this frankly very boring romantic dramedy, but not even Captain America can save this film.

Plays at 2 and 7:45 p.m. Nov. 6, and 2, 5:45 and 9:30 p.m. Nov. 8 at the Movie Museum

MISS YOU ALREADY

Milly (Toni Collette) and Jess (Drew Barrymore) are lifelong, inseparable best friends confronted with the worst when Milly is diagnosed with cancer. Already, audiences can predict the trajectory of the film — through the highs and very low lows of the disease, as the narcissistic, unlikable Milly is forced to confront the grim reality that awaits her — and for the most part, things are exactly that: foreseen. The film salvages itself with its heartfelt portrayal of female friendship (though, again, Milly can be unbearable and Jess a little too generic) and its honest portrayal of the less-beatific parts of cancer. Still, you won’t miss this film enough to want to rewatch it.

Opens Nov. 6 at Kahala Theatre

ROOM

Five-year-old Jack (Jacob Tremblay) and his Ma (Brie Larson) live in a small, single room — the only room in the whole world that he knows. It turns out that Ma was abducted and imprisoned seven years ago, and she has long since abandoned hope that she and Jack will escape — until, of course, things change. The claustrophobic first half of the film (which is based off the novel by Emma Donoghue) is excellent, with that little room both expansive and suffocating in turn; the second half falters somewhat as more people enter the picture. Still, Tremblay is an engaging and charming narrator who sidesteps the pitfalls of most child protagonists, and Larson gives a sensitive, nuanced performance.

Opens Nov. 13 at Kahala Theatre