Dakota Johnson has all of the ingredients – the looks, a family deeply steeped in Hollywood history, plenty of excellent opportunities, and high public opinion; she just can’t quite seem to put it all together. Every performance comes off somewhat flat, dull, or one-noted, which is incredibly disappointing given that she had the potential to become one of our next great movie stars after “The Peanut Butter Falcon” and “The Lost Daughter”. Outside of her, the film is funny, sexy, and overall a good time, but has an overall corporate sheen to it that can leave a bad taste in the viewer’s mouth. Everything feels so polished that it almost doesn’t feel real. The script is solid and most of the performances are serviceable, but the film lacks any real message. What’s the lesson here? That it’s okay to cheat? That you should steal your neighbors’ jet skis? That all it takes is one little visit to prison, and Dakota Johnson will fall in love with you again? The characters also feel like the exact same people at the end as they did at the start, such little character development results in the film feeling meaningless. Despite this heap of criticism, the film is by no means terrible and has some undeniable charm.

★★★☆☆

Jay Roach’s narrative suffers from treading on some well-worn ground and some obvious corporate overlords, but it is still a fun, riveting, and hilarious time at the movies. Cumberbatch finally escapes the Marvel machine to deliver a solid, small-scale performance, and Coleman is simply delightful. Together, the two have excellent chemistry and sell the movie’s happy and early-falling-out bits (the end “climactic” hate-filled segments were not as successful). Nothing special, but a serviceable pseudo-romcom, an option I would take every day of the week over some of the other IP-driven garbage being pushed out.

★★★☆☆

As a football fanatic, horror junkie, and Jordan Peele fanboy, his (produced, not directed) new film, “Him,” seemed like an automatic slam dunk for me. Advertised like “Any Given Sunday” meets “Eyes Wide Shut,” the film had high expectations, both critically and financially. It failed to meet any of those expectations. The film debuted to a $13.5 million opening weekend, mostly due to the scathing reviews it received from most major critics. “Him” is brimming with fascinating ideas: the fragility of black masculinity in the modern age, the unhealthy culture inside football, the worship of celebrities, and the misguided use of religion. Unfortunately, it merely grazes each of these themes, rather than diving headfirst into them. It remains painfully surface-level on each of these themes, which results in a relatively boring viewing experience. The film as a whole also lacks a strong sense of story. The majority of the film is merely a training montage with disturbing scenes interspersed, rather than an actual strong narrative. The surface-level exploration of themes and lack of narrative result in a poorly made film.

★★☆☆☆

Inside Kogonadas’ “A Big Bold Beautiful Journey” are two movies; one is bright, magical, an ode to classic Hollywood, jam-packed with film references. The other one, unfortunately, the dominant one, is remarkably flat and dull, with little emotional value and disengaging characters. Colin Farrell and Margot Robbie are two of the best performers working today, but they are given a script that is so emotionless that they both come off entirely bland. Similar to most of the film’s tone, the cinematography is incredibly mixed. It features some of the best shots we’ve seen this year, with gorgeous primary colors and stupendous blocking, but also features some uncommonly boring shots that look straight out of a mid-2010s CW TV show.

★★☆☆☆