Carla Meyer
Tomatometer-approved critic
| Biography: |
Film Critic, San Francisco Chronicle
|
| Publications: | Sacramento Bee, San Francisco Chronicle, Dallas Morning News |
| Critics' Group: | San Francisco Film Critics Circle |
Movie Reviews Only
| Rating | T-Meter | Title | Year | Review |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3/4 | 84% | A Simple Favor (2018) |
"Favor" is packed with jokes, most very funny. The ones that are not as funny usually land anyway, thanks to Kendrick's sly delivery and Lively's blithe way with a putdown.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Sep 12, 2018
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| 2/4 | 90% | Teen Titans Go! To the Movies (2018) |
"Teen Titans" never reaches that sweet spot where adult and kid humor align in a single gag.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jul 25, 2018
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| 1/4 | 54% | The First Purge (2018) |
Without ideologies at play, how is this "Purge" film different from the others? It isn't. It's interesting, then boring, then bad, like the rest.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jul 3, 2018
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| 4/4 | 100% | Leave No Trace (2018) |
Whether this insular relationship can survive in the larger world is the source of such consistent, compelling tension that you do not notice until this close-to-two-hour film is nearly over that it contains almost no exposition.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jun 29, 2018
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| 2/4 | 53% | A Kid Like Jake (2018) |
Some of this material is too sensitive, granted, to have a very young actor play it. But "Jake" goes too far the other way, giving us only glimpses of the boy, who emerges as more of a symbol than a real child.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jun 13, 2018
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| 3/4 | 100% | The Judge (2018) |
"The Judge" lays out facts while avoiding making easy judgments about how Palestinian men view and treat women.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Apr 26, 2018
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| 2/4 | 92% | Lean on Pete (2018) |
Watching it means pretending the acting around Plummer is believable, to be able to follow the story.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Apr 12, 2018
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| 2/4 | 50% | The Miracle Season (2018) |
High school volleyball is not an exciting sport to watch on a big screen. At least not the way "Miracle" director Sean McNamara presents it.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Apr 5, 2018
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| 3/4 | 96% | Foxtrot (2018) |
Israeli filmmaker Samuel Maoz's strange, engaging "Foxtrot" offsets tragedy with a significant entertainment factor.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Mar 13, 2018
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| 2/4 | 87% | Thoroughbreds (2018) |
It starts out strong but ends up basic, lacking the complexity of "Heavenly Creatures" or even "Wild Things."‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Mar 6, 2018
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| 1/4 | 24% | The 15:17 to Paris (2018) |
Athough Eastwood deserves credit for not going the cheesy route by drawing out the attack unnaturally, the rest of "15:17" is so drawn out, you almost wish he would have given into cheese.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Feb 8, 2018
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| 2.5/4 | 76% | In the Fade (Aus dem Nichts) (2017) |
[Kruger's] performance sustains interest in the movie when director and co-writer Fatih Akin ("Head-On"), after a highly promising start, takes it into C-grade Liam Neeson territory.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jan 10, 2018
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| 3/4 | 100% | Paddington 2 (2018) |
These actors all yield the floor to Hugh Grant's delightful performance as Phoenix Buchanan, a vain thespian who lives near the Browns in London. ‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2018
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| 1/4 | 18% | Father Figures (2017) |
Comedian Katt Williams, in a small role as a chipper hitchhiker, injects about 15 minutes worth of fun into Father Figures, an otherwise mostly dreadful road comedy in which Ed Helms and Owen Wilson play twins searching for a man to call dad.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Dec 21, 2017
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| 3/4 | 76% | Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017) |
Johnson is good at suggesting a timid teen beneath his wall of muscle. Gillan seems believably unsure of herself as the nerd Martha, while also making exposed abs look classy.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Dec 19, 2017
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| 2/4 | 85% | My Friend Dahmer (2017) |
Which came first, bullies or dead animals in jars? "Friend" does not say, nor is there a clear link between the discord in Jeff's home and his behavior.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2017
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| 3/4 | 96% | Mudbound (2017) |
The story's eventual move into brutality is all the more devastating because of well-observed intimacy that preceded it.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Nov 16, 2017
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| 3/4 | 98% | Jane (2017) |
Full of vivid greens and sun-backlit wildlife imagery, Van Lawick's shots are beautifully composed yet not too formal looking, thanks to the warm, grainy quality of 16-millimeter film. "Jane" looks like an old home movie directed by David Lean.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Oct 26, 2017
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| 1/4 | 50% | Blood Money (2017) |
This brand of eccentricity does not suit Cusack.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Oct 12, 2017
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| 3/4 | 93% | The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (2017) |
Sandler lends Danny an open-heartedness that grounds the film.‐ San Francisco Chronicle
Read More | Posted Oct 11, 2017
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| 100% | Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (2017) |
If you have or had a mother, or a daughter, or a father, or a son, you are likely to blubber through Bright Lights ... But don't. You will miss part of the show, and Reynolds would not want that.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2017
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| 87% | Other People (2016) |
Other People [is] a highly affecting Sacramento-set tragi-comedy .‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2017
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| 82% | Amanda Knox (2016) |
The powerful new documentary "Amanda Knox" emphasizes the spike in awareness of sexism just since 2007. ‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jun 23, 2017
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| 98% | Moonlight (2016) |
The five stories' most striking commonality is placing its characters in conflict with the American ideal of being able to forge one's own destiny.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jun 22, 2017
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| 2.5/4 | 64% | The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2015) |
The retirees' embrace of India, and a resulting lack of transformative experiences, diminish the dramatic possibilities in Second.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2016
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| 2/4 | 50% | Unbroken (2014) |
Unbroken is a triumph-of-the-spirit film that devotes too much time to attempts at squashing that spirit.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2016
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| 2.5/4 | 29% | Exodus: Gods and Kings (2014) |
It creates a less-believable ancient world and contains fewer compelling action scenes than Scott's previous sun-and-sandals epic Gladiator -- nor conviction.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2016
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| 4/4 | 97% | Two Days, One Night (2014) |
It is Cotillard's emotional accessibility that turns this drama and character study into a quiet thriller.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2016
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| 3/4 | 89% | A Most Violent Year (2015) |
J.C. Chandor is becoming American cinema's foremost chronicler of men in crisis.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Nov 8, 2016
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| 3/4 | 93% | Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens (2015) |
[The Force Awakens] rarely stops moving, yet its action never seems excessive. That's because combatants and targets always remain clear instead of fuzzed up by the hyper-speed visuals hack action directors use.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Dec 17, 2015
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| 3/4 | 94% | All Things Must Pass: The Rise and Fall of Tower Records (2015) |
The film never lapses into hagiography, partly because Solomon is too authentic a presence.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Oct 22, 2015
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| 4/4 | 97% | Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) |
Real people and organic settings always capture the eye more fully, and imply higher stakes, than CGI imagery. Miller ups the ante by ensuring all characters and vehicles are visually striking, either in their good looks or their hideousness.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted May 14, 2015
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| 2/4 | 75% | Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) |
Ultron is too full, of action and CGI, while also being nearly empty of genuine thrills. A talented cast impresses throughout, but the action ultimately overwhelms it.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Apr 29, 2015
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| 3/4 | 84% | While We're Young (2015) |
When "Young" is good, it is delicious, playing on 40-somethings' resistance to being considered "middle-aged."‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Apr 9, 2015
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| 2.5/4 | 80% | Furious 7 (2015) |
The ramrod-serious Diesel and Statham sell the dialogue, anyway. So do the more lighthearted Johnson and Tyrese Gibson. Johnson and Gibson wring laughs from obvious jokes. The acting champ of 7, though, is Michelle Rodriguez.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Apr 2, 2015
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| 3/4 | 97% | It Follows (2015) |
It succeeds as a thriller, with performances that strike a grave, quiet tone suited to the film's wide shots, long takes and carefully cultivated mood of foreboding.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Mar 26, 2015
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| 1.5/4 | 29% | Get Hard (2015) |
The distasteful, often flat Get Hard succeeds only as a testament to the resilience of talent.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Mar 26, 2015
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| 1.5/4 | 29% | Insurgent (2015) |
Long and violent but lacking narrative momentum, Insurgent is an inferior sequel to the already mediocre Divergent.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Mar 18, 2015
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| 2/4 | 83% | Cinderella (2015) |
Even with Blanchett playing her, the stepmother remains the same uncomplicated villain she was in the 1950 Disney animated film. This is even more disappointing than the Cinderella character lacking gumption, since she's always been bland.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Mar 12, 2015
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| 2.5/4 | 55% | Focus (2015) |
Robbie brings such genuine feeling to heavier scenes and such joy to light ones that her acting fools us into thinking Jess is a more developed character than she is.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Feb 27, 2015
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| 3/4 | 80% | McFarland USA (2015) |
The lovely McFarland, USA hits the expected mile markers on the inspirational-sports-movie path while slowing down enough to craft a rich portrait of a place and its inhabitants.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Feb 19, 2015
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| 3/4 | 87% | Still Alice (2015) |
Attempting to describe the level of tragedy contained in Moore's performance in the film's third act brings to mind the limits within Alice's chosen field of study. Because no words do it justice.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Feb 5, 2015
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| 10% | The Boy Next Door (2015) |
Gigli exists. Therefore no other Jennifer Lopez movie can be the worst Jennifer Lopez movie ever made. The silly, clichéd, visually irritating The Boy Next Door gives it the ol' high school try, anyhow.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jan 22, 2015
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| 3.5/4 | 72% | American Sniper (2015) |
Though his past as a punk-challenging, on-screen enforcer suggests a guy who thinks he has the answers, Eastwood the director always asks the big questions.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jan 15, 2015
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| 3/4 | 73% | Inherent Vice (2015) |
Vice will be remembered as minor Anderson. But even greats can use a romp or two in their oeuvres.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jan 9, 2015
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| 3/4 | 98% | Selma (2015) |
DuVernay shows visual assurance and a way with actors and especially words.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jan 8, 2015
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| 3/4 | 90% | The Imitation Game (2014) |
Knightley here gives a mature performance that matches Cumberbatch's in commitment.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Jan 4, 2015
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| 2.5/4 | 87% | Foxcatcher (2014) |
Foxcatcher does not invoke ideas beyond the real-life story of du Pont and the Schultzes, thus depressing its audience without offering any compensating lessons.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Dec 18, 2014
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| 3.5/4 | 89% | Wild (2014) |
Wild captures the quality of real-life thinking and walking, of the physical rhythm of movement sometimes dislodging random memories.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Dec 18, 2014
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| 3/4 | 86% | Top Five (2014) |
Top Five entertains more than any previous film in which Rock was top-billed primarily because its content as well plays like an extension of Rock's stand-up act.‐ Sacramento Bee
Read More | Posted Dec 11, 2014
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