Contributor: Paul Asay

This movie is as funny as a puppy with cancer.

If this film wanted to make a salient point about the value of hard work or the perils of greed, that’d give us at least something to work with. But Gold’s core reveals little of value.

The Founder tells Ray Kroc’s story, a tale of oversized success built on beef and buns. And in its cautionary subtext, it asks us, the folks in the audience, what we value.

This is the sort of movie that makes your standard shoot-em-up videogame look subtle, the Fast and Furious franchise (star Vin Diesel’s other claim to fame) look like a Jane Austen novel.

Hidden Figures inspires as it entertains. It acknowledges racial divisions while insisting that there’s more than one way to fix them. And while it can be crass, its heart is good.

Paterson is enjoyable without being entertaining. It’s a shyly thoughtful story that asks its viewers to stretch themselves and dream a little … but to not be in a rush to quit their day jobs.

Even though its dialogue can be harsh and its protagonist can be a monster, Fences has some important things to say.

Lion is a gripping, moving, inspiring film that’s high in heart and relatively low in content.

Even in a place and time when brutal forces mercilessly sought to silence the faithful, their voices could still be heard. In their prayers. In their screams. In their stubborn, resilient devotion.

Why Him? This zany, raunchy movie asks. When I left the movie, it had me asking another question: Why me?

If Passengers teaches us anything, it’s only as an afterthought. The film is an entertainment vehicle. And like the spaceship we see on screen, it does its job only halfway well.

Nocturnal Animals is a devastating movie about sin and retribution. It’s as searing as a thunderbolt, as poisonous as the strike of a snake.

Jackie is a moving, surprisingly spiritual portrait of a woman grieving in the public eye and, in so doing, shaping a nation’s story. And it reminds us all of just how important our stories are.

So is it possible to make an effective exorcism story without, y’know, all that God stuff? No. And Incarnate proves it.

Believe stresses the importance of charity while lauding entrepreneurship and plain hard work. It celebrates the ties between people and questions the commercialism of Christmas.