John Gallagher Jr.

Short Term 12 Review

Short Term 12 Review

RATING: (4 STARS) There’s a moment in Short Term 12, about an hour in, that feels so wildly out of place it will take your breath away. It’s a scene out of any number of movies—a slasher flick, a gangster movie, the Jennifer Lopez vehicle Enough—but certainly not this tender-hearted drama about struggling teenagers and […]

Whatever Works Review

Whatever Works Review

RATING: (2.5 STARS) Perhaps a more apt title for Woody Allen’s “Whatever Works” would have simply been “Whatever,” because that’s exactly what I felt about the film when it finished. It was whatever. I didn’t dislike it, but almost nothing about it was original, and while it was clever in parts, it didn’t measure up […]