Welcome to Reel News, our weekly segment looking at what’s coming out in the box office, and what’s worth your money this weekend. Join Erin Keeney and Riley Winn as they take a look at The Gentlemen, The Turning, and The Rhythm Section.
First up is The Gentlemen, the new film from director Guy Ritchie, which stars an ensemble cast including Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant, Charlie Hunnam (Sons of Anarchy), Colin Farrell, and more. Ritchie returns to his scrappy roots in this story about an American expat (McConaughey) studying at Oxford who discovers his true calling as a cannabis kingpin. Twenty years later, he’s looking to sell off his empire to retire, and he discovers he has both friends and enemies in high places. “This film is more than a decade in the making,” notes Keeney, “and a return to Ritchie’s gangster comedy genre that he does so well.” She adds, “I love that Grant is bringing his comedic chops to the sleazy P.I. who makes a living digging up dirt on the rich and shameless.” The Gentlemen arrives in theaters on January 24.
Next up is The Turning, a supernatural horror film based on American author Henry James’s 19th-century novella The Turn of the Screw. The movie takes us to a mysterious estate in the countryside of Maine, where a new nanny (Mackenzie Davis) arrives to care for two disturbed young orphans. “She soon finds that the children have some pretty dark secrets,” Winn says. Keeney adds, “This is a Stephen Spielberg passion project. He served as executive producer on the film, and says he just wanted to get involved in a horror film again.” Directed by Italian-Canadian Floria Sigismondi, a multitalented artist, photographer and music video director, “she sounds like a good match for this kind of nightmarish film,” Keeny says. The Turning turns up on the big screen on January 24.
Finally, we have The Rhythm Section, a spy thriller about a woman (Blake Lively) trying to find the truth behind a plane crash that killed her family. She was meant to be on that flight, but now heads off on an international mission to track down those responsible. Jude Law and Sterling K. Brown (This Is Us) co-star. Keeney says, “the story is based on the first four of Mark Burnell’s “Stephanie Patrick” novels, and we have the multitalented female director Reed Morano at the helm.” Winn adds, “I’m excited to see this movie because I don’t think I’ve ever seen Blake Lively in a role like this. The transformation she’s made for this role is astonishing.” The Rhythm Section comes to theaters on January 31.
However, says Winn, if you see one movie this weekend, make it The Gentlemen.
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