Our Idiot Brother ***

"Our Idiot Brother" is humorous, touching, almost fable-like, in its study of the effect that an innocent can have on lives that are too caught up in the less than innocent schemes and posturings of every day life. Three very normal sisters, normal, that is, by contemporary middle-class American standards, deal with the trials and failings of their brother Ned, who is something of a throw-back to the 'sixties, a resolutely, nay, adamantly trusting soul. It's hard to imagine anyone else than Paul Rudd playing Ned. The child-like purity he projects rings true, and creates the perfect foil for the driving ambitions of his sisters, convincingly played by a trio of talented actresses: Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer. The extended family, from Mom to husbands, boyfriends, and girlfriends are sharply drawn, but quirky and real, while the villains are suitably one-dimensional, and more to be pitied for their lack of depth than hated. It's a sweet film that will excite laughter and a knowing smile or two.

The Whistleblower ****

A gritty drama based on the true experiences of Kathryn Bolkovac, a Nebraska cop who served as a peacekeeper in post-war Bosnia, "The Whistleblower" recounts the story of a dedicated officer uncovering and finally exposing the involvement of the U.N. in very troubling sex trafficking. Rachel Weisz plays the part of Bolkovac in a very straight-forward manner, both as one sworn to serve and protect as well as a mother concerned for the treatment of women and young girls in the male-dominated, brutal conditions she finds in her assignment. The movie covers a lot of ground, from her background in the U.S. to the origins of the exploited girls, to the web of involvement and cover-up she confronts, but manages to hold it all together. Basically a dirty-cop story, writer/director Larysa Kondracki takes a very intimate, personal approach to her subject. Weisz, as usual, delivers outstanding work, and supporting players, which include Vanessa Redgrave and David Strathairn, are solid. Overall, it's an excellent, serious movie well told.

The Guard ****

An enjoyable, intriguing, funny cop story with a thriller edge that pits a free-thinking, prejudiced Irish cop with authority issues (Brendan Gleeson) against an uptight visiting American FBI agent (Don Cheadle) in a drug smuggling case. The Irish setting makes for interesting local color, although the heavy brogue might make it a better Netflix candidate so you can replay the dialogue when necessary. The script, by John Michael McDonagh, who also directed, for me has echoes of "In Bruges." And not just because of the towering presence of Brendan Gleeson, but in its self-conscious and ironical tone and movie and pop culture references. Like that earlier movie, it has heart and lots of laughs.

The Help ***

A kind of history-light drama, this story of the unlikely friendship that develops between aspiring young white writer Skeeter (Emma Stone) and the black house maids of Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960's, presents an engaging and emotional look at the sharp divide between their worlds. While the spoiled and pampered white world of the Junior League is a bit on the cardboard cut-out side, the portraits of the two principal subjects of Jeeter's book, Abileen (Viola Davis) and Minny (Octavia Spencer) emerge powerfully in two incandescent performances. Supporting performances from a host of strong actors, including Sissy Spacek, Bryce Dallas Howard, Mary Steenburgen, and Cicely Tyson (who no longer needs lots of make-up to look as old as Miss Jane Pitman) are fantastic. The setting, decor, and, above all, the hair-dos are spot on. The movie reminds us that this is the time of the murder of Medgar Evers right there in Jackson, but its focus is on the everyday world of a small sliver of Southern society and its spoken and unspoken racist code. It's a fine, if not transcendent, effort, and judging by the reaction of the almost all-white audience at its first showing today in Denver, will be a commercial success.

The Change-Up ***

Yes, the two buddies above, one an established lawyer with wife and kids, the other an "actor" who never grew up, are peeing in the fountain after a night of drinking and male bonding. In front of this statue of the Greek goddess Metis (wisdom but also magical cunning), they impulsively wish for each other's lives, and to their chagrin and amazement, wake up the next morning inhabiting each other's bodies. Raunchy comedy - and it did make me laugh a lot - and the expected life lessons ensue.

One of the things I enjoyed most was seeing Jason Bateman, as the buttoned up lawyer, letting his freak flag fly, and secondarily seeing Ryan Reynolds, the man-child, impersonating an adult. Leslie Mann is excellent as the long-suffering wife, and the quite beautiful Olivia Wilde ("Tron: Legacy" and the recent "Cowboys & Aliens") provides an interestingly unbuttoned performance as the secretly uninhibited new lawyer at the firm. What I didn't enjoy were some old jokes (projectile baby poop again? really?) and the hints of character development that never really happened. But it's a fun light comedy, and rated R for a change.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes ****

How did "The Planet of the Apes" get that way? And why do they all speak English? This and other questions you never asked are answered in this gripping, fast-paced, visually convincing and dramatic sci-fi thriller. James Franco plays a dedicated researcher who wants to enable the brain to repair itself, not least because of the advancing dementia of his father. He experiments on chimps and succeeds beyond all hope, achieving "Limitless"-like results that are apparently passed along genetically to the baby chimp he ends up raising when his first formula's subject is terminated because of bad side effects.

That mistaken termination is emblematic of the movie's point of view, which works to keep the audience on the apes' side, even when the result could be the end of humanity, which is admittedly odd. As is usual in these kinds of movies, the supposed science doesn't bear deep scrutiny, but the pace keeps you from noticing, and the drama of the apes and baby chimp Caesar's development pulls you along. Caesar's rise in the prison-like animal control center reads like a silent movie classic.

Special effects work with the apes is masterful, and using motion-capture actors allows director Rupert Wyatt to dispense with ape suits and concentrate on their eyes as an indicator and metaphor for intelligence. Franco's performance is all bustling, impatient dedication, and John Lithgow as his Alzheimer's-afflicted father displays his usual affecting range. "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" is a very enjoyable example of sci-fi film-making.