As our local cinemas are still temporarily closed, this week’s Freeze Frame will concentrate on new movies that can be streamed at home.
The raunchy Netflix original comedy “Coffee & Kareem” is shamefully wrong-headed and beneath the talent and dignity of its able cast. Ed Helms plays Officer James Coffee, a bungling Detroit cop who’s dating a nurse, played by Taraji P. Henson. The merry mix-ups occur when Officer Coffee tries to impress her son Kareem, played by the precociously foul-mouthed 12-year-old Terrence Little Gardenhigh. When on a spin in the patrol car, the duo witnesses a gangland murder. Young Gardenhigh shows promise, but the obscene dialogue he’s asked to do deliver is contemptable. Here’s hoping that “Coffee & Kareem” is the worst film of the year.
The touching Netflix original “Uncorked” is an uplifting and involving comic drama. Mamoudou Athie plays Elijah, a young man who is introduced to the world of wine when he takes a job at a local liquor store. Things get complicated when decides to leave his family’s barbecue restaurant to become a sommelier. Courtney B. Vance plays his disapproving dad and Niecy Nash is his supportive mom. “Uncorked” is heartfelt, realistic and offers characters you can actually care about.
“Disneynature: Elephant” is a visually dynamic new documentary on Disney+. It follows a small herd of African pachyderms as they travel on their annual trek across the Kalahari Desert in search of precious water. It’s family-friendly and features diverting narration by Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex.
“Disneynature: Dolphin Reef” is yet another visually engaging family-friendly Disney+ documentary. The focus is on a juvenile bottle-nosed dolphin named Echo and his clan that live near a coral reef somewhere in the Pacific. Natalie Portman’s narration is geared to the kiddies, but it manages to stay afloat for adults.