Michael Radford’s polished but oddly lifeless heist thriller, set in soon-to-be swinging London, teams an embittered businesswoman and a put-upon janitor in a daring scheme to rob a diamond exchange. Read more>>

Adapting another one of his stage plays, prolific writer/director Tyler Perry (“Diary of a Mad Black Woman,” “Madea’s Family Reunion,” “Daddy’s Little Girl,” “Why Did I Get Married?”) continues his exploration of the sense and sensibility of the African-American community. Read more

Less obviously titled than THE KILLING OF JOHN LENNON (2006), Jarrett Schaefer’s account of Mark David Chapman’s murder of the former Beatle stumbles, and on the same obstacle: Crazy doesn’t necessarily mean interesting, and Chapman was a navel-gazing bore. Read more>>

AWFJ highlights films made by and about women: Read more

Gary Susman of Entertainment Weekly’s PopWatch asks whether we need more female movie critics mostly as a way to pat EW on the back doubly Read more

Director Patricia Riggen makes an auspicious feature film debut with this hot button drama that�s as warmhearted as the midday sun. Ostensibly a story of the undeniable pull of mother and son, this effecting piece is also a savvy look at the multidimensional realities of illegal immigrants in today�s America. Read more

As the title suggests, there is a little bit of fairy tale moondust sprinkled over this story of a nine-year-old boy who runs away from his home in Mexico to find his mother in Los Angeles. As with all fairy tales, the magical glow makes possible engagement with some heart-wrenching themes that might be too disturbing if told in a more straightforward manner. Read more>>

Though it appears to be about the travails of illegal immigrants, Under the Same Moon (La Misma Luna) (* * * out of four) is a powerful and evocative account of the efforts undertaken to forge a perilous mother-and-child reunion. Told in Spanish with English subtitles, it is a moving tale of yearning, as well as unflagging courage and determination. Read more>>

Firing off a deluge of immigrant-hardship vignettes with the thudding consistency of a tennis-ball machine, Under the Same Moon presents a genre somewhat at odds with itself: the gritty fable. Read more>>

In another movie, such faith might seem admirable or ridiculous, a sustaining fiction or damaging delusion. But in Under the Same Moon, it�s just the way the world works. Read more>>