Capsule reviews for March 18

The Bronze

Like its subject, this raunchy comedy falls off the beam before completing its routine. It follows Hope (Melissa Rauch), a petite gymnast from small-town Ohio who won a bronze medal years ago, and has since turned petty and vulgar in a desperate attempt to cling to her hometown celebrity status. Among the annoyances in her life are a teenage prodigy (Haley Lu Richardson), a vindictive former teammate (Sebastian Stan) and an enabling father (Gary Cole). Hope’s bratty behavior provides some scattered laughs, but it’s ultimately more obnoxious than amusing, especially when the film loses its edge and awkwardly transitions into a heartwarming tale of redemption. (Rated R, 107 minutes).

Krisha

What starts out as another dysfunctional family gathering for the holidays takes a dark turn into a middle-aged woman’s haunting struggle for normalcy in this striking debut from director Trey Edward Shults. Specifically, Krisha (Krisha Fairchild) arrives with an affliction and plenty of emotional baggage to a suburban Thanksgiving, determined to reconcile with her family, before her demons don’t allow things to go as planned. The film achieves some authentic character dynamics with improvised dialogue and a cast of mostly newcomers. Yet the confident low-budget visuals and unflinching attention to sensory details add an unsettling layer of tension to the proceedings that sticks with you afterward. (Rated R, 83 minutes).

Ktown Cowboys

An uninspired script and uneven performances doom this amateurish comedy about five buddies from the Koreatown section of Los Angeles that chronicles their nights of bar-hopping, womanizing and sophomoric shenanigans. Eventually, however, they realize that growing older means it’s time to put the partying in the past, even if that means breaking up their friendship. That’s a familiar scenario in these types of “bromance” flicks, and this one is handled with less subtlety and surprise than most others. It misses an opportunity to offer observations about the cultural uniqueness inherent in its setting as a way to stand out, instead opting for generic raunchy slapstick. (Rated R, 83 minutes).