Capsule reviews for Dec. 16

Neruda

While ignoring conventions of traditional biopics, this fictionalized portrait of the Chilean poet and politician from director Pablo Larrain (Jackie) manages plenty of shrewd insight both into the life of its subject and into post-World War II cultural upheaval in Chile. The film focuses on Neruda (Luis Gnecco) as a senator forced into exile for his communist beliefs. As his working-class art continues to be popular, he eludes, a police inspector (Gael Garcia Bernal) for whom the cat-and-mouse chase takes on an almost surreal quality. Evocative and dramatically compelling, the film drifts between fantasy and reality in a way that Neruda himself would appreciate. (Rated R, 107 minutes).

Solace

This silly potboiler might have been more at home on the small screen as a high-concept episode of a police procedural. It follows a serial killer case in which an FBI agent (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) enlists the help of a retired colleague (Anthony Hopkins) with psychic visions, to the chagrin of his skeptical partner (Abbie Cornish). Eventually, the gruesome killing spree is tied to a ethically challenged mastermind (Colin Farrell) with specific targets based on misguided motives. There’s some mild intrigue in the premise, and Hopkins offers an amusing performance, but the film seems content to rehash crime-thriller clichés without much regard for subtlety or coherence. (Rated R, 101 minutes).