At the Movies: capsule reviews of ‘The Road,’ ‘Old Dogs’ and other films this week

Capsule reviews: ‘The Road,’ ‘Old Dogs’ and others

Capsule reviews of films opening this week:

“Me and Orson Welles” — In Richard Linklater’s adaptation of the historical fiction novel by Robert Kaplow, our view of the great, charismatic director and thespian isn’t straight on, but sideways. We see Welles (Christian McKay) from the perspective of an aspiring teenager, Richard Samuels (Zac Efron), who lands a bit part in Welles’ 1937 production of Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar” at the Mercury Theatre in New York. Fame is imminent for Welles, and he knows it. Richard passionately wants to be around theater, movies and music: It’s a picture of the artist as a young heartthrob. Though Efron’s fly on-the-wall performance is effortless and confident, it also lacks heft. McKay, a previously unknown British theater actor, has Welles down pat: the ever-shifting eyebrows, the sonorous, arch baritone, the “old man.” Though this brisk, amiable film revels in the backstage banter and ramshackle rehearsals of a theater company coming to life, it fails to heed Welles’ own advice: “Make ‘em sweat.” PG-13 for sexual references and smoking. 114 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

— Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer

“Ninja Assassin” — When considering the meager merits of this blood-splattered bone-snapper, it’s best to remember the words of John Goodman’s PC-challenged character in “The Big Lebowski”: “The man in the black pajamas, Dude. Worthy … adversary.” The makers of “Ninja Assassin” want to make those words real and rescue the ninja from the province of turtles. They have a funny way of paying respect to the sword-wielding saboteurs, though. Director James McTeigue (”V for Vendetta”) is clearly more interested in spraying geysers of digital blood than in establishing the ninja as a foe to be taken seriously. Another problem: Since the movie’s ninjas only come out in the dark, the fight scenes are murky and almost impossible to follow. No worthy adversaries here. Korean pop star Rain and Naomie Harris lead the cast of the movie, which centers on a rogue hit man who betrays his clan of assassins. R for strong bloody stylized violence throughout, and language. 99 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

— Glenn Whipp, For The Associated Press

“Old Dogs” — In case anyone in the audience isn’t sure when to cackle, coo, snicker or sigh, the makers of this dead stray of a family comedy have provided a handy on-screen prompt. It’s an old dog, reacting with grunts of canine confusion or curiosity over the antics of Robin Williams and John Travolta. Director Walt Becker cuts away to the pooch, the aging pet of Travolta’s character, so often that maybe the dog should have shared top billing in this rubbish about middle-aged buddies caring for young twins one of them never knew he fathered. After ham-fisted flashbacks chronicling Williams’ whirlwind romance with a woman played by Kelly Preston, Travolta’s real-life wife, the movie stumbles from one clumsy anecdotal sketch to the next as she dumps the surprise 7-year-olds (one played by Travolta and Preston’s daughter) on the guys. A real family affair for Travolta, but not for the rest of us. PG for some mild rude humor. 89 minutes. One and a half stars out of four.

— David Germain, AP Movie Writer

“The Princess and the Frog” — The spirit of Walt Disney lives on in this return to hand-drawn animation by the studio that pioneered the art form. Disney has gone back to its roots with a fresh, funny retelling of a classic fairy tale. This isn’t the second coming of “Beauty and the Beast” or “The Lion King.” It’s just plain pleasant, an old-fashioned charmer that’s not straining to be the next glib animated compendium of pop-culture flotsam. Updating the Brothers Grimm tale “The Frog Prince” to the Louisiana bayou in the 1920s, the film centers on a waitress (voiced by Anika Noni Rose) whose dream of opening her own restaurant is sidetracked when she encounters a smooth-talking prince (Bruno Campos) transformed into a frog. Directors Ron Clements and John Musker (”The Little Mermaid”) deliver a satisfying gumbo of snappy dialogue, lovable characters, bright-hued images and toe-tapping tunes by Randy Newman, all of it spiced up with just the right touch of voodoo peril. G. 95 minutes. Three stars out of four.

— David Germain, AP Movie Writer

“The Road” — Director John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel strives to stay close to the book, but it fails to translate its essence and somehow feels more dreary than it should — which is saying something for a story about the apocalypse. Despite its end-of-the-world setting — an ashen wasteland dotted by marauding cannibals — McCarthy’s book is, at heart, a father-son parable. We know them only as The Man (Viggo Mortenson) and The Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). Hillcoat’s film feels altogether uncertain, unable to find the scene-to-scene drama of their tenuous survival. Our dominant impression of the Man is his morbidity; Mortensen, a fine actor, doesn’t evoke the weighty, terse steadfastness of the Man. Adapting a masterpiece such as “The Road” is a thankless task, but the film doesn’t work on its own merits. “The Road” should reverberate with the most central questions of life and death, hope and despair. Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language. 113 minutes. Two stars out of four.

— Jake Coyle, AP Entertainment Writer