3 Best Movies to Watch by Victor Garber

Mark Ruffalo, Anne Hathaway, and Tim Robbins star in this well-executed and eye-opening drama based on a true story. Robert Bilott (Ruffalo) is a successful corporate lawyer in New York. He is visited by a distressed farmer from his hometown in Cincinnati whose cows have been developing strange behaviors and diseases. Robert decides to take on this case in what will become one of the biggest class-action lawsuits in the country: the use of cancerous chemicals by the company that commercializes Teflon (the stuff in pans). Excellent acting in an incredibly frustrating but necessary story that will trouble you more than any other legal thriller you have watched in the past: prepare to be outraged (and throw away your pans).

Genre: Drama, History, Thriller

Actor: Abi Van Andel, Aidan Brogan, Amy Morse, Amy Warner, Angel Kerns, Anita Farmer Bergman, Anne Hathaway, Barry G. Bernson, Barry Mulholland, Bill Camp, Bill Pullman, Bret Aaron Knower, Brian Gallagher, Buz Davis, Caleb Dwayne Tucker, Carly Tamborski, Chaney Morrow, Clara Harris, Courtney DeCosky, Daniel R. Hill, David Fultz, David Myers Gregory, Denise Dal Vera, Elizabeth Marvel, Geoff Falk, Glen Yrigoyen, Greg Violand, Jason M. Griggs, Jeffrey Grover, Jim Laprelle, Joanne Popolin, John Newberg, John W. Harden, Jon Osbeck, Karen Koester, Kathleen Ellerman, Keating P. Sharp, Kelly Mengelkoch, Kevin Crowley, Lea Hutton Beasmore, Louisa Krause, Lyman Chen, Marcia Dangerfield, Mare Winningham, Mark Ruffalo, Matt Hudson, Michael Joseph Thomas Ward, Michael King, Mike Seely, Ming Wang, Ramona Schwalbach, Richard Hagerman, Robert Gerding, Scarlett Hicks, Sheryl Annette Colley, Steven Schraub, Teri Clark, Tim Robbins, Victor Garber, William "Bucky" Bailey, William Jackson Harper, Wynn Reichert

Director: Todd Haynes

Rating: PG-13

Fly Me to the Moon is many things: a movie about the power of marketing, the glory of outer space, the beauty of human connection, and famous pretty people doing their thing. But what it isn’t is believable. Nothing about this movie is, except perhaps for Scarlett Johansson’s endearing performance (she’s the only one who seems to care, which tracks because she’s credited as a producer). The plot is implausible, the backgrounds are painfully flat, the tone is weirdly uneven, and maybe most disappointing of all, the acting just doesn’t pack a punch. It’s been reported that Channing Tatum, who plays Johansson’s love interest, was cast as a last-minute replacement for Chris Evans. If it’s true, it shows. He seems lost. His deadpan delivery may work in boisterous comedies like 21 Jump Street, but here it feels jarring. This is the guy Johansson’s impassioned character is supposed to have chemistry with? The guy who can’t so much as lift his eyebrows to express any emotion other than mild annoyance? To its credit, the movie has an interesting lead in Kelly (Johansson), an ad woman who isn’t defined by the men surrounding her, and who is morally complex and nuanced. I also appreciate her friendship with her secretary Ruby. They provide a fresh angle to a well-known story, it’s just too bad the direction seemed to go off the rails in the end.

Genre: Comedy, History, Romance

Actor: Anna Garcia, Channing Tatum, Christian Clemenson, Christian Zuber, Colin Jost, Colin Woodell, Dariusz Wolski, Donald Watkins, Gary Weeks, Gene Jones, Jessie Mueller, Jim Rash, Joe Chrest, Kade Pittman, Nick Dillenburg, Njema Williams, Noah Robbins, Peter Jacobson, Ray Romano, Scarlett Johansson, Stephanie Kurtzuba, Todd Allen Durkin, Victor Garber, Woody Harrelson

Director: Greg Berlanti

Rating: PG-13