Jojo Rabbit

Well that's weird. You can say that about a lot of this movie, but I'm specifically referring to the unusual fact that this movie's most notable conceit--Hitler as the protagonist's imaginary friend--was in fact completely unnecessary. This would have been a better film overall without it, if writer and director Taika Waititi had had the belief to just let his young lead go on this journey on his own. One suspects that  Waititi indulged himself, largely to get himself in his own film. (Perhaps someone told him once that he kind of looks like Hitler, and an idea was born--though perhaps not a great one.) There are other issues: a certain unevenness in tone--possibly unavoidable, given the Anne Frankishness of the plot--some of the funny isn't quite up to satirical snuff, and (one of the worst transgressions for this viewer) this is one of those movies that seems to think the world would get better simply through people dancing (it wouldn't--sorry). All that reads a little harsh, probably too harsh in fact; you can watch this one and find it enjoyable and ticklish (except for one very jarring moment); it's just not as good as some made it out to be.

Table 19

Lots of fun moments here. Which is not to call this one great; there's good stuff, but also a lot of uneven work. Sometimes it's a little too serious, sometimes the comedy isn't quite comedic enough, and there's at least two too many storylines shoehorned in there. On the major plus side, you get Anna Kendrick doing her thing, which is a good thing as usual. You also get more evidence that movie-making these days is now firmly in the hands of children of the '80s; the soundtrack shrieks "grew up in the Reagan years" for the writers. That's either a good or bad thing, depending upon your point of view. Overall, I'd say there's just enough good stuff in this flick to make it worth your time--especially considering it clocks in at a mere 90 minutes running-time. So there's very little to lose, some chuckles to gain, and, again, Anna Kendrick. Worth it to me.