FREEZE FRAME: “Mary” (Not rated)

Gary Oldman has always been a busy actor, but since picking up his Oscar as Winston Churchill in 2017’s “Darkest Hour,” he’s made ten more movies. If the horror entry “Mary” is any indicator, perhaps Oldman should seriously consider slowing down the pace a bit. In what is essentially a haunted house movie set at sea, Oldman plays David, a struggling sailboat captain trying to keep his head above water financially. Against the better judgement of his longsuffering wife, played by Emily Mortimer, David buys a ramshackle sailboat that was discovered after years of apparent abandonment. After some paint and plenty of elbow grease, David, his wife, two daughters and a two-man crew hop on the boat named Mary and set sail for (where else?) the Bermuda Triangle.

 

The actors are too good for this material and they do their best to add some spark to an overly familiar script. “Mary” isn’t terrible, it just drifts.

 

Also opening this week, Will Smith stars in “Gemini Man” a sci-fi effort about an assassin who goes to battle with a much younger clone of himself. Oscar-winner Ang Lee directs. “Addams Family” is a computer animated reboot of the popular horror comedy clan. “First Love” is the latest unrated crime flick from Japanese auteur Takashi Miike. “High Strung Free Dance” is a backstage drama about a love triangle among dancers in a Broadway show. “Jexi” is a high concept comedy starring Adam Devine. He plays a pop culture writer whose artificial intelligence phone assistant interferes in his love life in a jealous rage. And, finally, “El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie” gets a brief big screen run before its appearance on Netflix. Aaron Paul returns as drug dealer Jesse Pinkman who’s on the run as the story picks up where the series left off.


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