Capsule reviews for Feb. 25

The Burning Sea

Following on the heels of The Quake and The Wave, this latest self-explanatory Scandinavian disaster thriller struggles to build much meaningful suspense. The social commentary is hardly revelatory, exposing the environmental ramifications of offshore oil drilling off the Norwegian coast, where a crack in the ocean floor causes a rig to collapse, prompting a frantic rescue effort. But the problem is much larger in scope, forcing government officials to make difficult decisions about saving workers, and causing family members to take matters into their own hands. Some solid action sequences provide the framework for a crowd-pleasing story of resilience, although the narrative predictability diminishes the stakes. (Rated PG-13, 104 minutes).

Butter

The lessons about cyberbullying and mental health are worthwhile, but this earnest coming-of-age drama is too sanitized and far-fetched to offer much genuine emotional resonance. The title character is an obese teenager (Alex Kersting) who feels too marginalized and insecure to pursue his dreams as a saxophone prodigy. In a desperate plea to become popular and talk to his dream girl (McKaley Miller), he builds a website to live stream his “final meal,” uncertain if he will follow through with his suicidal thoughts. The screenplay by veteran television director Paul Kaufman is compassionate yet lacks flavor, trivializing and watering down issues that deserve the spotlight. (Rated PG-13, 110 minutes).

The Desperate Hour

School shootings have been examined on screen from just about every conceivable angle, and this heavy-handed thriller from veteran director Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games) doesn’t add anything to the conversation, despite an audacious performance by Naomi Watts. It’s essentially a one-woman show in which she plays a harried single mother in various states of paranoia and distress on a rural morning run. When she learns of an incident at her son’s school, she scrambles to learn the truth and find him using only her phone. Despite unfortunately topical subject matter, Watts deserves better than this contrived and repetitive saga that doesn’t exploit yet rarely rings true. (Rated PG-13, 84 minutes).

Let Me Be Me

Navigating a tricky subject with sensitivity and sincerity, this documentary overcomes its promotional tendencies with by powerfully navigating the ups and downs of a family dealing with autism. At its center is Kyle Westphal, a women’s fashion designer who grew up on the spectrum during a time when effective treatment methods were scarce, and afflicted youngsters often were dismissed as outcasts. Frustrated at their recalcitrant preteen, his desperate parents experimented with a breakthrough psychological program. The film mostly avoids bogging down in science, instead focusing on Kyle’s growth and the evolution of autism acceptance as a toggles between his troubled past and his happy present. (Not rated, 76 minutes).

No Exit

Much of the suspense in this tightly wound, character-driven thriller is compromised by progressively far-fetched contrivances, especially in the final act. It follows Darby (Havana Rose Liu), a recovering addict who escapes from a rehab facility to visit her hospitalized mother. Yet on the way, a snowstorm strands her in a roadside shelter with four strangers. When she suspects one of them of actively committing a crime, Darby is forced to fight for her survival amid the elements. The film’s resourceful heroine generates a sufficient rooting interest, although the script doesn’t provide much thematic depth or moral complexity as its characters’ true motives are revealed. (Rated R, 95 minutes).

Studio 666

The reputations of the venerable rock band Foo Fighters and frontman Dave Grohl are too secure to be endangered by this bizarre horror exercise that nevertheless comes across mostly as a tossed-off vanity exercise suitable only for die-hard fans. It features group members (alongside actors such as Jeff Garlin, Will Forte, and Whitney Cummings) in a fictionalized recording session at an Encino mansion that turns haunted, leading to a bloody night of mayhem. Perhaps this was an ill-conceived passion project, but the appeal of the gritty visual aesthetic and over-the-top humor wears thin well before the music stops playing. Revisit the band’s clever music videos instead. (Rated R, 106 minutes).