Capsule reviews for Sept. 2

Max Rose

While it’s nice to see Jerry Lewis — still spry at 90 — return to a leading role for the first time in two decades, he really deserved a better vehicle than this lackluster drama about aging and grief. Lewis plays a former pianist mourning the death of his wife of 65 years. As his granddaughter (Kerry Bishe) and estranged son (Kevin Pollak) try to help him cope, Max discovers a traumatic secret that causes him to revisit his past. Some powerful character-driven moments are compromised by the far-fetched plotting in the script by director Daniel Noah, with the sappy result lacking the intended emotional resonance. (Not rated, 83 minutes).

White Girl

The protagonist is indeed white, but it’s cocaine that plays the title role in this gritty urban drama with plenty of hot-button issues bubbling beneath the surface. It’s about an Oklahoma girl (Morgan Saylor) who moves to a working-class neighborhood in New York for college, where she becomes caught up in a downward spiral of drugs and debauchery, even falling in love with a small-time drug dealer (Brian Marc). The screenplay by rookie director Elizabeth Wood offers a moderately provocative look at racial profiling, gender politics, the justice system, and more, but overall seems more interested in pushing buttons than generating emotional depth for its characters. (Not rated, 88 minutes).

Zoom

Although it requires a significant buy-in to its hybrid concept, this offbeat sex comedy features enough visual and narrative audacity to offset its more strained absurdities. It starts with a cartoonist (Allison Pill) who’s obsessed with body image yet becomes dissatisfied with her recent breast enhancements. Getting them removed is a financial burden, so she retreats into her world of paper and ink—presented in motion-capture animation in the film — by telling the story of an actor (Gael Garcia Bernal) whose anatomical inadequacies hinder his latest production. Brazilian director Pedro Morell keeps the pace lively, even if most of what’s happening is silly and inconsequential. (Not rated, 96 minutes).