Capsule reviews for May 22

Diana Kennedy: Nothing Fancy

Indeed, there’s nothing fancy regarding this documentary about Kennedy, who has been a foremost expert on authentic Mexican cooking for decades. The film finds her as feisty as ever at age 95, still scouring street markets for the finest ingredients. Kennedy also shares in detail her philosophy on cuisine, her atypical career path to becoming a bestselling cookbook author, and how a British woman became so deeply enamored with and ingrained in Mexican culture. Foodies will marvel at the delectable dishes on display, but Kennedy is the star of her own show, and her fiercely independent attitude both inside and outside the kitchen is magnetic. (Not rated, 73 minutes).

The Ghost of Peter Sellers

You probably don’t remember the Peter Sellers comedy Ghost in the Noonday Sun, but almost a half-century later, Peter Medak recalls it too well. The Hungarian filmmaker is still haunted by memories of shooting the pirate movie off the coast of Cyprus, where Sellers’ notoriously erratic behavior essentially ruined the project. In Medak’s case, it also might have irreparably damaged the career of an up-and-coming Hollywood director, with financiers obviously siding with the actor. This documentary is not only a fascinating behind-the-scenes chronicle of a forgotten film and its boorish star, but a compelling illustration of the various elements behind a big-budget film-set power struggle. (Not rated, 93 minutes).

Inheritance

Ridiculous twists squander some committed portrayals in this intermittently taut thriller from director Vaughn Stein (Terminal) about power and privilege, family legacies, and revenge. It chronicles Lauren (Lily Collins), a no-nonsense district attorney from an influential political family whose father (Patrick Warburton) dies suddenly. She gradually unravels the dark secrets he left behind, involving a former college classmate (Simon Pegg) along with Lauren’s mother (Connie Nielsen) and younger brother (Chace Crawford) in the midst of a high-profile congressional bid. The film’s moderately intriguing concept struggles to generate consistent tension while lacking sufficient character depth and moral complexity. Then it becomes completely detached from reality. (Not rated, 111 minutes).

Lucky Grandma

Beneath her perpetual scowl and ornery temper, Grandma Wong (Tsai Chin) is delightfully eccentric. So is this droll comedy set in New York’s Chinatown, where the chain-smoking widow hopes to remain independent instead of moving in with her family. To that end, she manages to parlay a favorable fortune-telling session into a windfall at the casino, except her winnings also attract attention from gangsters, causing our granny to hire a bodyguard (Corey Ha) and use her spry wit to keep her fortune. The stylish and quirky film transitions into more routine territory in the second half, but Chin’s spirited portrayal garners plenty of rooting interest. (Not rated, 87 minutes).

Mr. Jones

This harrowing true-life drama from esteemed Polish director Agnieszka Holland (In Darkness) manages to find another World War II niche that hasn’t been cinematically explored. It focuses an idealistic Welsh journalist (James Norton) whose quest to visit with Soviet officials about impending war during the mid-1930s instead finds him stymied by bureaucratic obstacles and political suspicion. A detour takes him to Ukraine, where he uncovers in perilous fashion the genocidal famine perpetrated by the Stalin regime. The straightforward film is a handsomely mounted and well-acted history lesson, although its uneven nature slightly diminishes the overall impact. The ensemble cast includes Vanessa Kirby and Peter Sarsgaard. (Rated R, 118 minutes).

Murmur

Practically any episode of “Hoarders” shares some traits with this modest, character-driven Canadian drama about codependency and consequences, except without this level of depth and detail. It’s a quietly powerful story about Donna (Shan MacDonald), a lonely and emotionally damaged woman whose recent DWI conviction has severed her relationship with her adult daughter. Assigned to an animal shelter for her community service, Donna finds companionship with various dogs and cats, and then decides to bring them all home. The deliberately paced screenplay by rookie director Heather Young remains engaging as it focuses on Donna’s daily routine, while newcomer MacDonald finds sympathy amid her character’s vulnerability. (Not rated, 84 minutes).

The Painter and the Thief

The unlikely friendship between two outsiders is used to examine the value of art to both the creator and the fan, and more broadly notions of redemption and forgiveness, in this fascinating documentary. It follows Czech painter Barbora Kysilkova, whose two paintings are stolen from an Oslo museum. After the perpetrator is captured, she confronts him in the courtroom, finds out he’s a junkie who claims to have no idea where the artwork has gone, then asks him to become her muse for a self-portrait. And that’s all in the first 20 minutes. The film’s mild structural manipulations don’t inhibit the emotional power of its story. (Not rated, 107 minutes).

The Trip to Greece

A decade after starting their European travelogue, Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon remain charming in their fourth and apparently final film in their collaborative franchise with British director Michael Winterbottom (Greed). Fans of the previous installments will enjoy more of the same good-natured needling, celebrity impressions, and philosophical banter as Steve and Rob check out the exotic scenery and dine at fine restaurants. In this case, they also attempt to retrace the ancient journey of Odysseus from Troy to Ithaca while enduring some lightly fictionalized personal obstacles. Uneven by nature, the film indulges in some appropriately bittersweet drama while providing generous laughs along the way. (Not rated, 103 minutes).

Villain

The latest story of an ex-con trying to go straight, this British drama takes a more character-driven approach yet doesn’t find anything new to say about rehabilitation or recidivism. Upon his release from prison, Eddie (Craig Fairbrass) finds that his younger brother (George Russo) has jeopardized the family finances on his drug habit and that his adult daughter wants no part of reconciliation. So while he just wants to get back to running his pub, Eddie can’t escape his violent tendencies or gangster past. Fairbrass (Cliffhanger) finds depth and complexity in a familiar character, with his portrayal outshining the formulaic material and obligatory genre tropes. (Rated R, 97 minutes).