Capsule reviews for March 15

Ash Is Purest White

The intimacy between the two main characters creates a striking contrast to the sprawling scope of this compelling drama from Chinese director Jia Zhangke (Mountains May Depart). It’s roughly divided into three parts, chronicling the relationship from 2001 to 2017 between a mobster (Fan Liao) and the strong-willed woman (Tao Zhao) who winds up imprisoned for trying to defend him. After her release, the couple tries to start over amid China’s evolving 21st century cultural landscape. The deliberately paced film sidesteps genre conventions and benefits from a pair of committed performances that keep the meandering narrative grounded. The stylish visuals take care of the rest. (Not rated, 136 minutes).

Combat Obscura

For those seeking a genuine boots-on-the-ground war experience without leaving home, this visceral and immersive documentary should do the trick. It consists of footage shot by director Miles Lagoze, a former combat cameraman stationed with a Marine battalion in Afghanistan in 2011. He was assigned to shoot footage for a recruitment film, but came back with much more, such as the alternately amusing and harrowing episodes featured here — from mundane routines to a firefight with casualties. The structure seems a bit haphazard, probably by design. And the film smartly avoids politics without providing much context, preferring to salute its subjects for their courage and camaraderie. (Not rated, 68 minutes).

Finding Steve McQueen

The jumbled narrative structure functions as an excuse for the unfocused nature of this heist thriller from director Mark Steven Johnson (Ghost Rider), which is loosely based on a true story. It chronicles the successful robbery of a California bank, specifically targeting safe-deposit boxes that contained slush money belonging to Richard Nixon. The parallel stories chart the caper itself, the efforts of an eccentric investigator (Forest Whitaker), and the subsequent fugitive life of an accomplice (Travis Fimmel), who assumed the name of the titular action hero. The film captures the look and feel of the Watergate era, yet fails to generate consistent suspense beneath the surface. (Rated R, 91 minutes).

Five Feet Apart

Cystic fibrosis is the affliction of choice in this latest entry into the subgenre of tearjerkers about young lovers battling life-threatening diseases. Such flippancy might seem crass, but so is the way in which this melodrama settles for such an emotionally hollow resolution to its initially touching romance. Stella (Haley Lu Richardson) is a hospitalized teenager awaiting a lung transplant who meets fellow CF patient Will (Cole Sprouse), who bond over their shared obstacles in seeking treatment. What starts as an insightful glimpse into CF and its ramifications — Stella and Will must maintain their distance, for example — turns manipulative and stuffy in the final act. (Rated PG-13, 115 minutes).

The Hummingbird Project

Compelling performances and intriguing character dynamics are washed away by the muddled plotting in this low-key thriller, in which the emotional stakes don’t match the urgency of its setting. Fast-talking hustler Vincent (Jesse Eisenberg) and his tech-nerd cousin, Anton (Alexander Skarsgard), are high-frequency financial traders whose scheme to gain revenge on their ruthless former boss (Salma Hayek) involves building a 1,000-mile fiber-optic cable from Kansas to New Jersey, thereby gaining a lucrative millisecond advantage over their competition. The script by Canadian director Kim Nguyen (War Witch) explains the idea’s merit sufficiently for those unfamiliar, yet becomes bogged down in contrivances that diminish its character-driven suspense. (Rated R, 110 minutes).

Mission of Honor

Any attempt to salute true-life courage and sacrifice is compromised by formulaic melodrama in this generically titled World War II saga. It chronicles a squadron of Polish pilots who joined with England’s Royal Air Force during the war to heroically combat the Nazis during the Battle of Britain and other conflicts. Besides fearing for their homeland, they had to overcome prejudices to fly alongside their British allies in Hurricane fighter jets, rather than just bombers. The airborne sequences look fine considering obvious budget constraints, yet the earnest screenplay suffers from ham-fisted dialogue, historical embellishments, and a reliance on irrelevant subplots. These guys deserved better. (Not rated, 107 minutes).

The Mustang

Two wild animals find solace in one another in this heartfelt drama of redemption. One is a palomino horse captured by the government as part of a population control initiative in rural Nevada. The other is a hardened criminal (Matthias Schoenaerts) assigned to train him as part of a rehabilitation program that prepares the equines for public auction. Amid some tangential narrative contrivances, the intimate interaction between the equally impulsive man and beast is stylish and poignant, validating rookie French director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre’s goal of promoting the true-life program that inspired the project. The first-rate cast includes Jason Mitchell, Connie Britton, and Bruce Dern. (Rated R, 96 minutes).

Never Grow Old

The bodies pile up almost as quickly as the clichés in this revisionist Western that spotlights cultural diversity on the 19th century American frontier. It’s a bloody morality tale about a vengeful outlaw (John Cusack) whose gang wreaks havoc on an Old West town that has outlawed alcohol, gambling, and promiscuity. His rampage initially is lucrative for an Irish undertaker (Emile Hirsch) and his family, until they, too, become targeted by the violence. The two leads are convincing, and film’s throwback qualities might appeal to genre aficionados, although the screenplay by Irish director Ivan Kavanagh doesn’t explore the moral complexities of his premise with much depth. (Rated R, 100 minutes).

Yardie

The feature directorial debut of actor Idris Elba is an evocative but formulaic crime drama that only occasionally rises above its mundane genre trappings. Taking place during the early 1980s, this gritty saga follows a Jamaican man (Aml Ameen) who has relocated to England, yet can’t escape his troubled past that included the murder of an older brother (Everaldo Creary). As he tries to start a new life by reuniting with an ex-flame (Shantol Jackson), he becomes targeted by drug dealers that might provide a key to revenge. Solid acting and an appealing reggae soundtrack can’t overcome an uneven screenplay burdened by gangster clichés. (Not rated, 101 minutes).