Capsule reviews for Nov. 8

The Armstrong Lie

Much to the chagrin of Oscar-winning director Alex Gibney (Taxi to the Dark Side), the title of his latest documentary is hardly a revelation. Gibney’s detailed account of the rise and fall of disgraced cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was banned from the sport for doping, is tainted itself by Armstrong’s admission to cheating in a televised interview with Oprah Winfrey that seemed to steal most of Gibney’s thunder. As a result, this film seems more like vengeance by a scooped journalist against an unscrupulous subject. The project is mildly insightful and technically competent, even if its efforts to connect its subject with a motive are cloudy. (Rated R, 124 minutes).

Best Man Down

It’s what everyone fears at their wedding: The best man gets drunk at the reception, passes out in his hotel room, and is found the next morning impaled by a cactus. Such is the set-up for this broad and obvious comedy that never generates many laughs or captures a consistent tone. Justin Long and Jess Weixler have minimal chemistry as the newlyweds who bicker over how to deal with the tragedy, while the periphery roles are more caricatures than well-rounded people who are grounded in reality. Either way, the script by rookie director Ted Koland lacks subtlety as it strains to establish some emotional resonance. (Rated PG-13, 89 minutes).

Go for Sisters

The latest character-based drama about redemption among the working-class and oppressed from indie-film stalwart John Sayles follows a parolee (LisaGay Hamilton) who teams with an estranged friend (Yolanda Ross) and a disgraced cop (Edward James Olmos) to search for her missing son along the Mexican border. The film is evocative and visually sharp considering the low budget while avoiding melodrama and cheap sentiment. The strong performances help to smooth over the more conventional elements in the script, which gradually builds suspense. Within a deeper story about relationships, Sayles takes a typically provocative approach to depicting social issues such as immigration and the justice system. (Not rated, 122 minutes).

How I Live Now

This muddled apocalyptic romance about childhood innocence amid a wartime backdrop follows Daisy (Saoirse Ronan), a mentally unstable American teenager sent to England to stay for the summer with a couple of distant cousins. She forms a reluctant yet eventually inseparable bond with their young neighbor (George MacKay), which forces her to make some difficult decisions when she’s given the chance to fly home as England is on the brink of nuclear war. There are some ambitious ideas here, along with some visual flair from director Kevin Macdonald (The Last King of Scotland). But despite some strong performances, the script’s disparate ideas don’t jell emotionally. (Rated R, 101 minutes).

The Motel Life

Like its title, this drama about guilt, redemption and male bonding meanders among various ideas without ever settling down. It follows Frank (Emile Hirsch), a Reno drifter whose life is thrown into turmoil after his older brother (Stephen Dorff) is involved in a hit-and-run accident. The pair goes on the run from police, but their conscience is another story. The character-driven film works intermittently, with some hand-drawn animated sequences reflecting Frank’s imaginative storytelling abilities, although it otherwise feels more like an acting workshop that can’t sustain itself at feature length. As the protagonists wallow in melancholy and despair, they drag helpless moviegoers in with them. (Rated R, 85 minutes).