The following are capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television during the week of Feb, 2, as well as notes on TV programming for the same week. Televised films may or may not be edited for language, nudity, violence and sexual situations while the programs listed have not been reviewed and therefore are not necessarily recommended by OSV News.
Streaming Now
“The Fall Guy” (2024; Amazon Prime)
After a near-fatal accident, a Hollywood stuntman (Ryan Gosling) leaves the film business and cuts off contact with the aspiring director (Emily Blunt) he’d been dating. Yet he continues to carry a torch for her. So when her feature debut is subsequently threatened by the disappearance of its lead, the egotistical star (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) for whom he used to substitute, and the movie’s producer (Hannah Waddingham) begs him to track the missing actor down, he complies. Director David Leitch’s loose adaptation of the eponymous 1980s TV series has some appeal as a snappy actioner but even more as a toothsome romantic comedy, though the wit and engaging sentiment in Drew Pearce’s script are offset by an excess of off-color dialogue. Considerable stylized violence, including gunplay, a possible offscreen premarital sexual relationship, several instances each of profanity and milder swearing, fleeting rough language, pervasive crude talk, obscene gestures. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“Mr. Deeds” (2002; Hulu)
Slight fish-out-of-water comedy in which a small-town writer of greeting-card verses (Adam Sandler) inherits a fortune and moves to New York City where a conniving TV producer (Winona Ryder) pretends to fall in love with him in order to get the inside scoop about the new billionaire for her sleazy tabloid entertainment show. Director Steven Brill’s uninventive remake of Frank Capra’s classic reprocesses hackneyed cliches about the nasty rich and wholesome, simple poor folk, while including fierce slugging scenes out of sync with the film’s mostly good-natured tone and its corny ending. A few scenes of nasty fisticuffs, brief rear nudity, some crass expressions. The OSV News classification is A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
“Notting Hill” (1999; Netflix)
Gauzy romantic comedy in which a Hollywood movie star (Julia Roberts) and a timid London bookseller (Hugh Grant) fall in love but he is too intimidated by her fame to pursue the relationship. As directed by Roger Michell, the contrived crowd-pleaser is long on stunning smiles and sugary sentiment but short on realistic romance. An off-screen sexual encounter, sexual references, occasional profanity and minimal rough language. The OSV News classification is A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Looking Ahead
Sunday, Feb. 2, 7-8:30 p.m. EST (EWTN) “Holy Mass With Religious on the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord.” Pope Francis celebrates the Eucharistic liturgy for the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord with the members of various religious orders (TV-G — general audience).
Sunday, Feb. 2, 8-10:30 p.m. EST (TCM) “Mr. Holland’s Opus” (1996). Satisfying drama in which an aspiring composer (Richard Dreyfuss) reluctantly takes a job as a high school music teacher to support a wife and deaf son and spends his life inspiring generations of adolescents with his dedication and love of music. Helped by Dreyfuss’ fine performance, director Stephen Herek’s sentimental tale of a good man stresses old-fashioned virtues, as well as the importance of good teachers and the arts in developing young minds. Mild sexual innuendo and fleeting profanity. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG — parental guidance suggested. Some material may not be suitable for children.
Wednesday, Feb. 5, 10-11 p.m. EST (PBS) “King Arthur’s Lost Kingdom.” This episode of the series “Secrets of the Dead” takes viewers to Tintagel, a village on the coast of Cornwall, where new archaeological evidence concerning the origins of the legend of King Arthur has emerged.
Thursday, Feb. 6, 9:30 p.m.-12:30 a.m. EST (AMC) “Cast Away” (2000). Finely crafted drama in which a harried businessman (Tom Hanks) is transformed after surviving a plane crash that leaves him stranded on an uninhabited island for four years before he makes a daring escape in hopes of returning to the woman (Helen Hunt) he loves. With Hanks’ superb performance at its center, director Robert Zemeckis’ film movingly probes what matters most when someone is stripped of his everyday life and possessions. A violent accident and an instance of profanity. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-II — adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
Saturday, Feb. 8, 9:50-11:55 p.m. EST (HBO) “The Notebook” (2004). Florid romance set in both present-day and 1940s North Carolina about a vacationing prep school debutante (Rachel McAdams) and a local working-class boy (Ryan Gosling) whose passion echoes through the decades and has a healing effect on an aging couple (James Garner and Gena Rowlands) who read their star-crossed saga in a diary. Though cynics may write it off as mawkishly melodramatic, director Nick Cassavetes’ old-fashioned tearjerker, based on a Nicholas Sparks novel, wears its heartfelt sentimentality like a badge of honor and proves ultimately to be a tender portrait of the miraculous power of love. A few sexual encounters with shadowy nudity and recurring profanity. The OSV News classification of the theatrical version was A-III — adults. The Motion Picture Association rating was PG-13 — parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
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