Capsule reviews for Dec. 11

Bleeding Heart

A potentially intriguing examination family bonds and abusive relationships is relegated to the background in this generic revenge thriller starring Jessica Biel as May, a yoga instructor who injects stress into her serene life when she seeks out her biological younger sister, Shiva (Zosia Mamet), who she’s never met. But Shiva is a prostitute living with her deadbeat boyfriend (Joe Anderson), forcing May to decide whether involving herself in the conflict is worth the danger. Biel brings more depth to her performance than is warranted by the script from director Diane Bell, with her provocative moral dilemma compromised by a series of formulaic plot twists. (Not rated, 87 minutes).

Body

While straining to reach feature length, this mildly intriguing low-budget thriller doesn’t provide many big laughs or potent frights. It takes place just before Christmas, when a trio of bored female friends decides to break into the house of a rich family that one of them knows to enjoy a late night of alcohol and mischief. But things go awry when a groundskeeper (Larry Fessenden) winds up dead and they can’t decide what to do. That moral dilemma is designed to stir tension, but despite a couple of clever twists to keep the plot churning, the characters lack sufficient depth to generate sympathy. (Not rated, 74 minutes).

The Boy and the World

More for animation aficionados than for children, this modest yet meticulously hand-drawn effort from Brazilian animator Ale Abreu strikes a powerful contrast between its often gorgeous visuals and its bleak subject matter. Featuring crude stick figures and with no discernible dialogue, the intentionally unpolished look lends an almost dreamlike quality to the story of a young boy whose father is forced to leave the family farm for a job in the big city. When the youngster seeks to follow him, his adventures are chronicled in shifting animation styles that capture childhood innocence, but also convey some harsh realities about preserving the simpler things in life. (Rated PG, 80 minutes).

Dixieland

Some good intentions are left unfulfilled in this low-budget drama about an ex-con (Chris Zylka) whose hopes of going straight and becoming a barber unravel in predictable ways after he returns to live with his mother (Faith Hill) at a Mississippi mobile-home park. He becomes romantically involved with a would-be stripper (Riley Keough) with a sleazy boss at the local nightclub, and is caught up in the same criminal element that landed him in prison in the first place. Rookie director Hank Bedford tries to make the material gritty and evocative within its impoverished setting, but the execution is woefully amateurish and heavy-handed. (Not rated, 92 minutes).

Don Verdean

There are elements of sharp satire in this uneven low-budget comedy from director Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), but they’re compromised by an abundance of random quirks and caper-comedy silliness. Sam Rockwell plays the title character, a biblical archaeologist who peddles videos of his would-be authentic artifact discoveries from the Holy Land to lapdog fundamentalists, such as his naïve assistant (Amy Ryan) and a pastor (Danny McBride) who organizes a desperate scheme to boost church attendance. There are some scattered laughs, but considering its broad targets such as blind faith, charlatan evangelists and organized religion, the film is too detached from reality to consistently hit the mark. (Rated PG-13, 96 minutes).