Capsule reviews for June 12

Madame Bovary

Much of the steamy desire and internal anguish in Gustave Flaubert’s novel is muted in this stuffy English-language retelling from director Sophie Barthes (Cold Souls). That’s not the fault of actress Mia Wasikowska (Jane Eyre), who brings some heat to this otherwise chilly tale of female empowerment as an independent 19th century French woman stuck in a loveless marriage to a small-town doctor (Henry Lloyd-Hughes). So she takes to promiscuity as a method of social climbing with three willing suitors. It’s a handsomely mounted but deliberately paced adaptation that keeps an emotional distance as it examines gender roles and high-society refinement in rather familiar fashion. (Rated R, 118 minutes).

Me and Earl and the Dying Girl

Among the many sardonic satires about contemporary teenagers, this bittersweet comedy feels more authentic than most. It’s a stylish look at high school social circles focused on Greg (Thomas Mann), an aspiring filmmaker desperately trying to fit in during his senior year while trying to navigate relationships with his eccentric buddy (R.J. Cyler) and a terminally ill classmate (Olivia Cooke). The character-driven script offers both a lighthearted examination of teenage angst and awkwardness, and a tender probe of friendship that sidesteps clichés. Although it tends to be too self-referential in its structure, all three performances ring true in a film that smartly balances humor and poignancy. (Rated PG-13, 105 minutes).

Set Fire to the Stars

Not a full-blown biopic of troubled Welsh poet Dylan Thomas, this black-and-white drama instead narrows its focus to a 1950 tour of Ivy League readings that captures both the brilliance and the emotional instability of Thomas (Celyn Jones) as he’s shuffled between appearances by John Brinnin (Elijah Wood), a Yale professor and aspiring poet who tries to keep his boorish charge from drinking himself to death. Although the screenplay by Jones and rookie director Andy Goddard lacks insight into his creative process, the film playfully dissects stuffy postwar academic ostentation. Plus, the measured performances and austere cinematography help to smooth out some of the rough edges. (Rated R, 97 minutes).

The Wolfpack

This riveting documentary benefits from a topic so fascinating that even the most haphazard approach could hardly compromise its intrigue. That’s not to diminish the efforts of rookie director Crystal Moselle to chronicle a bizarre group of siblings who spent their childhoods essentially locked up together by their eccentric and psychologically abusive father in a cramped Manhattan apartment, where they watch and re-enact movies as a way to pass the time before eventually escaping to experience the outside world for the first time. The film raises more questions than it answers, yet the remarkable access to its subjects makes the result both heartbreaking and hopeful. (Rated R, 84 minutes).

The Yes Men Are Revolting

The third big-screen go-around for the duo of activist pranksters known as The Yes Men has some moments of inspired rabble-rousing, but overall feels sort of tame and repetitive compared to its predecessors. This time, their adventures take them from Copenhagen to Uganda to Canadian oil fields, where their elaborate schemes aim to attack corporate greed specifically related to climate change. Along the way, family obligations threaten to derail their longtime partnership, and cause them to question their effectiveness. This latest documentary is a crowd-pleaser for fans of its stars, whose audacity at its best is still amusing and provocative in equal measure. (Rated R, 91 minutes).