“The Woman in the Yard” (Horror/Thriller: 1 hour, 28 minutes) 

Starring: Danielle Deadwyler, Peyton Jackson, Estella Kahiha and Okwui Okpokwasili  

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra

Rated: PG-13 (Terror, some violent content/bloody images, suicide-related content and strong language.)

Movie Review:

“The Woman in the Yard” takes audiences on a long ride to issue a public service announcement. Danielle Deadwyler (“Till,” 2022) is impressive as always, but everything around her is less desirable. This horror movie contains stale stereotypes and modern technology hiccups that plague it.

Romona (Deadwyler), her teenage son Taylor (Jackson) and her young daughter Annie (Kahiha) are a family. They live in a countryside house, where Romona, who is recovering from a tragic automobile accident that killed her husband David (Russell Hornsby). One day, a mysterious woman (Okpokwasili) dressed in all black appears in the yard, sitting in an ornate metal garden chair. Her face is covered in a veil, and she warns, “Today’s the day.”

The woman in black is scarier when she is silent and just sitting there. She stirs the mind with stranger-danger cautiousness with her unknown intentions. The moment she talks, she no longer inspires anxiety.

Cellular phones have become the Achilles’ heel of horror and thriller genres. Screenplay scripters must consider the insertion of the modern convenience of the portable devices that could remedy a plot in minutes. Writer Sam Stefanak has something creative, but it is not clever.

The advertising for Jaume Collet-Serra’s movies is better than his movies. He has directed flicks such as “The Commuter” 2018 and “Jungle Cruise” 2021. His features create original ideas that pique one’s interest. “Woman in the Yard” is one of those movies. It offers an interesting story, a person appearing in a family’s yard. The mystery woman is a nice lure. The problem is once audiences are hooked, this tale becomes less of a horror and more of an unexplainable psychological photoplay with less zing.

Grade: C (Tell her, “Go on now and git!’)

 

 “A Working Man” 

(Action: 1 hour, 56 minutes) 

Starring: Jason Statham, Jason Flemyng and Maximilian Osinski

Director: David Ayer

Rated: R (Strong violence, strong language throughout and drug content.)

Movie Review:

This movie’s tagline is “Human traffickers beware.” Agreed, they should know they are going into another brainless Jason Statham action film.

Levon Cade (Statham) is a construction foreman. He agrees to retrieve his boss’s daughter, Jenny Garcia (Arianna Rivas), from human traffickers. To do so, he must use skills he acquired in military service to fight sinister criminals, including members of a powerful Russian mob.  

 If you have seen any of Statham’s last 10 movies, you have seen this one. “Working Man” has more action and deaths, but little new material exists. People espouse tired masculine tropes as bullets. Amazingly, Statham’s characters, including Levon Cade, rarely suffer injury from gunfire. He kills bad guys with one shot, and they return fire with hundreds of bullets and none hit their target. These tactics are entertaining but tiresome facets of action movies.  

Grade: C- (The man needs a vacation.)

 

“The Penguin Lessons” 

(Drama: 1 hour, 51 minutes) 

Starring: Steve Coogan, Jonathan Pryce and Vivian El Jaber

Director: Peter Cattaneo

Rated: PG-13 (Strong language, sexual references and thematic elements including bullying)

Movie Review:

Directed by Peter Cattaneo (“The Full Monty,” 1997), “The Penguin Lessons” is an enjoyable adaptation of Tom Michell’s book. It chronicles the real-life events involving Tom Michell, played by Coogan.

Unexpectedly, a Magellan penguin named Juan Salvador attaches itself to Michell, an English instructor at St. George’s boarding school for boys in Argentina in 1976. Despite being on probationary status with the school’s headmaster (Pryce) and teaching unruly students, Michell decides to keep the penguin in his living quarters. The Englishman’s life and those of his students and colleagues change with the arrival of Juan Salvador.

“Penguin Lessons” takes place against a background of civil strife in Argentina. Meanwhile, Tom Michell deals with the contention in his classroom and gradually adapts the rules and regulations of St. George’s. The arrival of a penguin changes this movie and makes it more engaging. This easy-going drama is reminiscent of last year’s “My Penguin Friend,” which starred Jean Reno and Adriana Barraza.

“Penguin Lessons” starts sluggishly but soon becomes a pleasing movie for most audiences. It is not sentimental as it attempts to be, yet enough emotive elements exist to make one interested in the characters.

Grade: B- (A worthy but lightweight curriculum.)