Waiting for Superman (Rated PG)
Director/writer and narrator Davis Guggenheim (The Inconvenient Truth) has crafted another Oscar-worthy film for Best Documentary with his searing indictment of public education – and how it fails our kids. The title comes from educational activist Geoffrey Canada, who grew up in poverty and recalls the moment of despair he felt as a kid when he realized that Superman was not going to swoop in and save him from the bleak realities of his life. But, one of the lucky ones, he went on to earn a master’s degree from Harvard. He took over the Harlem Children’s Zone in 1990, now a much-praised model of educational success. The film provides a big picture of the current state of public education with grim statistics that make a convincing case (supported by Bill Gates) that the U.S. will continue its competitive decline until the system is fixed. Ex-D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee, also prominently featured (pre-resignation) gives a sobering glimpse of the seemingly insurmountable challenges facing any outside reformer, especially the difficulty of working with unions. Nationwide, firing incompetent teachers is ridiculously hard. But, Guggenheim also wisely focuses on five kids and their loving caregivers, providing an intimate window into their world (and our hearts). Manipulatively (but effectively), he builds tear-jerking suspense as the kids wait for their fate to be determined by various lotteries, the bouncing ball the doorway to a better school (and a life of opportunities). But, like any lottery, the odds of winning are slim.

The Social Network (Rated PG-13)
If there’s even a scintilla of truth in this compelling, fictionalized account of Mark Zuckerberg (the world’s youngest multibillionaire at 26) and the meteoritic rise of Facebook (more than half a billion strong), he is not particularly likable. Based on Ben Mezrich’s non-fiction book, The Accidental Billionaires, writer Aaron Sorkin (The West Wing) and director David Fincher (Fight Club, Zodiac), establish a theme of betrayal early in the film. In the opening scenes in a Cambridge, Mass., bar in 2003, Zuckerberg (played by a brilliant Jesse Eisenberg), spars with his girlfriend (Rooney Mara). He has a razor-sharp intellect but arrested social skills. She dumps him; he trashes her online. Betrayal resurfaces when he “steals” ideas from fellow Harvard students (the principled Winklevoss twins played by handsome Armie Hammer and Josh Pence) and creates “Thefacebook” (the “the” subsequently dropped, gratis Napster founder, Sean Parker, played with bravado by Justin Timberlake). Facebook is an instant hit at Harvard and beyond, its scope and influence a true cultural phenomenon. Framed by contentious lawsuits filed by the Winklevosses, and Zuckerberg’s roommate and business partner, Eduardo Saverin (an excellent Andrew Garfield), this hyper-articulate film jumps back and forth in time telling a classic tale of great ambition (or is it obsession?) and its consequences. What motivates Zuckerberg is unclear (and part of the film’s complexity). It isn’t money (he rents a modest house in Palo Alto with his long-time girlfriend). Team Fincher would have us believe it’s an unmet psychological need, the perennial outsider yearning to be part of the “in” crowd. A bit pat; I suspect Zuckerberg mostly gets his kicks from being the smartest kid in the room.

Let Me In (Rated R)
This film is a creepy, atmospheric, occasionally stomach-turning meditation on loneliness starring a 12-year-old misfit and a vampire. It’s also a faithful remake of the original Swedish film, Let the Right One In (2008), but transplanted to the wintry landscape of 1983 Los Alamos, New Mexico. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays Owen, a social outcast, stuck in a miserable life with a boozy, religious mother and an absent father. Mercilessly tortured by a gang of bullies at school, he copes by eating candy and spying on his neighbors. One frosty, gloomy day, hanging out in the apartment courtyard, he meets a strange young girl, Abby, (Chloe Moretz), barefoot in the dead of winter. She doesn’t feel the cold and when he asks her age, she says, “I’ve been 12 – for a long time.” She recently moved into the apartment next door with a man we believe is her father (Richard Jenkins), and as in the classic Rosemary’s Baby, there’s mighty strange things going on behind those shared walls. But, Abby is a good friend to Owen, encouraging him to stand up to the bullies. However, their relationship is naturally limited by the conventions of vampirehood: to “live,” Abby must avoid the light and feed on a steady supply of human blood, supplied by the “father” committing a series of grisly murders. Where’s that synthetic blood that sustains HBO’s True Blood vampires when you need it? The talented Jenkins is relegated to a small part (much of it disfigured or with a plastic garbage bag over his head) but the two young leads shine. As in Carrie, we dread and root for the likely, bloody comeuppance brewing for the bullies.    

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (Rated PG-13) 
On his way to commit suicide, Craig (Keir Gilchrist), a depressed teen, swerves off the path of self-destruction into an adult psychiatric ward in Brooklyn populated with characters who, like him, find the “real” world too much. Pressure comes from all sides – his father, the demands of an elite high school, the apparent ease with which his best friend waltzes through life, and his unrequited love for his best friend’s girl. Shaken by the despair in the ward (a middle-aged roommate who never leaves his bed, a catatonic old man frozen at the ping pong table), he wants out. But, the doc-in-charge (Viola Davis), tells him he’s stuck for five days, make the most of it. The days neatly divide the film into chapters honoring its literary roots, a bestselling young adult novel by Ned Vizzini. The empathetic Craig, despite a propensity to projectile vomit under pressure, bonds with his fellow inmates, acquires an unusual mentor in Bobby, (a fabulous Zack Galifianakis), and opens his still-bruised heart to Noelle, (a lovely Emma Roberts), the other teen on the ward. With a generous and compassionate spirit, and a hip soundtrack (including a rousing rendition of “Under Pressure” by David Bowie and Queen), this whimsical coming-of-age story gives a poignant peek at what many teens feel, but few will admit. 
Buried (Rated R)
This taut, claustrophobic, 94-minute thriller from director Rodrigo Cortes is bookended by pitch-black screens and that’s appropriate since all the action takes place in a coffin buried several feet underground somewhere in the killing fields of 2006 Iraq. Unfortunately, Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is in the coffin and he’s still alive – for now. After an ambush, Conroy, a civilian truck driver for an American contractor, regains consciousness to find himself in this unimaginable predicament. The rest of his convoy is dead or injured and he’s on his own. His cell phone still works, but the battery is dying. He makes frantic (and frustrating) calls to his family in Michigan, his employer, and the FBI. As the power dies on the phone, his captor keeps calling with increasingly outrageous demands, including a $5 million ransom. He has two hours to comply – or die. The phone calls create a world beyond the coffin that flavor the film with grim, geopolitical realities. Reynolds is excellent as the average guy in extremis, and Cortes effectively ratchets up the tension as the film unfolds. But, ultimately, the film’s success depends on whether we care if Conroy lives or dies. I did, but only in the abstract. Something blocked my emotional connection. Maybe it’s not a film flaw, but more an act of self-preservation given the horror of the situation.   

Agree? Disagree? Let Beth know what you think at beth@bethlambdin.com.