movie review the war with grandpa

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The war with grandpa, common sense media reviewers.

Mischievous slapstick comedy has multigenerational appeal.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Intended to entertain rather than educate.

Positive message about value that relationship wit

While Grandpa does engage in "war" with his grands

Slapstick live-action violence that would result i

It's implied that a teen couple is interrupted whi

Language includes "wiseass," "hell," "suck," "dumm

Brands and stores featured positively include Fry'

Adults spike their own drinks with hooch from a fl

Educational Value

Positive messages.

Positive message about value that relationship with grandparents can add to kids'/people's lives. Also a lesson about why war/violent conflict resolution should always be avoided.

Positive Role Models

While Grandpa does engage in "war" with his grandson, he never reacts to the pranks and sabotage with yelling. No diversity of note within main characters/cast.

Violence & Scariness

Slapstick live-action violence that would result in serious injury or even death in real life: being electrocuted and multiple falls from high places onto hard surfaces. A "fight "involves a lot of swinging and food being thrown. Remarks about a bully punching a kid in the face. A woman tackles and threatens a minor with her fist but doesn't actually hit him.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

It's implied that a teen couple is interrupted while kissing, but actual kissing isn't shown. A man's pants are accidentally pulled off; glimpse of his underwear from the backside.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language includes "wiseass," "hell," "suck," "dummy," and the word "booby trap" being turned into "boobies." A kid says "shut up" and is instantly reprimanded by a younger child that "shut up is a bad word." Some bathroom humor.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

Brands and stores featured positively include Fry's Electronics, Skyzone, Nissan Pathfinder, and Lyft.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Adults spike their own drinks with hooch from a flask.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The War with Grandpa is a family comedy based on Robert Kimmel Smith's 1984 book about a resentful boy named Peter ( Oakes Fegley ) who pranks his grandfather ( Robert De Niro ) in hopes that he'll move out of his room. Eventually, Grandpa engages, and the two start a "war" that actually ends up creating a bond between them. If you can suspend your disbelief, it's funny enough, and it promotes the value that a relationship with grandparents can add to kids' lives. But Peter's tactics come off more mean-spirited on-screen than they did on the page. His "pranks" cause many accidents for Grandpa and his elderly friends, including electrocution and falls that in real life would cause broken bones, cracked skulls, or even death. A recurring joke involves Peter's older sister being caught kissing her boyfriend (though the actual kissing is never shown), and the older characters have a couple of jokes about drinking (and they spike their own drinks). Mild language includes "hell," "boobie," and "wiseass"; there's also some potty humor, a glimpse of a character's underwear, threats, and remarks about a bully punching a kid in the face. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

Parents say (15)
Kids say (19)

Based on 15 parent reviews

the grandson should have been murdered

All's fair in love and war., what's the story.

THE WAR WITH GRANDPA stars Robert De Niro as Ed, an older man who moves in with his daughter, Sally ( Uma Thurman ), and her family. Mayhem ensues when Ed's grandson, Peter ( Oakes Fegley ), is forced to give Grandpa his bedroom. Peter is determined to reclaim his room and enlists his friends to pull off a series of increasingly outrageous pranks to scare his grandfather away. But Grandpa isn't easily intimidated. He gets his own friends ( Christopher Walken , Cheech Marin , and Jane Seymour ) on board to wage an all-out battle.

Is It Any Good?

This impish comedy brings the whole family together with a nod to appreciating their elders just a little more. In other words, there's a winner in this War -- and it's grandparents. More than 18% of the U.S. population (about 57 million households) live in multigenerational households, and The War with Grandpa is one of the few mainstream films to represent that reality on-screen. That number has actually doubled since the movie's inspiration, Robert Keller Smith's popular children's novel, was first published in 1984. But that's not the only thing that's changed. Many people now have a greater awareness of how we treat one another -- and, as a result, some of the prank scenes are more wince-inducing than laugh-creating. The page vs. screen delivery system also has an impact. Reading about an 11-year-old tricking his grandfather into dropping marbles all over the floor plays differently than watching a 75-year-old man slip and fall flat on his back. That's a big part of why the cartoonish violence here is more heart-stopping than in, say, Home Alone : The targets in that movie were hardened, 30-something scoundrels, while here it's an older man who's so fragile his family thinks it's no longer safe for him to live alone.

If Peter going after his grandfather feels unlikely, it's far more believable how Grandpa decides he'll defend his territory, particularly thanks to De Niro's charming performance. With his gentle, soothing voice and attitude, Grandpa never boils into rage (although it would be hard to blame him if he did), and he even shows a sense of respect for Peter's tactics: The apple doesn't fall far from the tree, it seems. Ed is having fun with the war, and his attitude lets viewers know that it's OK to laugh and enjoy the film. Moreover, every family member ultimately realizes how much they gain from giving up a little space for Grandpa. While a nice lesson is inserted at the end about why we should avoid war, it's pretty apples to oranges. The better, stronger message lands much more clearly: Spend some time with Grandpa; you won't regret it.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about whether they think the slapstick violence in The War with Grandpa is funny. Is it ever appropriate to laugh when someone gets hurt?

Can you think of other movies that feature comical relationships between grandparents, adult children, and kids? How does this one compare to those?

Why do you think Peter acts out? How would you feel if you were Grandpa? How does putting yourself in someone else's shoes help you resolve conflict? Do you think the characters could have come to a solution without going to "war"?

If you have grandparents (or friends/neighbors of a similar age) in your life, what do you know about them? What achievements are they most proud of? What was their childhood like?

Movie Details

In theaters : October 9, 2020
On DVD or streaming : December 22, 2020
Cast : Robert De Niro , Uma Thurman , Rob Riggle , Oakes Fegley
Director : Tim Hill
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : 101 Studios
Genre : Family and Kids
Topics : Brothers and Sisters , Friendship
Run time : 94 minutes
MPAA rating : PG
MPAA explanation : rude humor, language, and some thematic elements
Last updated : February 2, 2023

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‘The War With Grandpa’ Review: Robert De Niro Gets Juvenile

Coming off the artistic high of “The Irishman,” De Niro returns in a bland family comedy that features jokes about bodily functions.

Share full article

By Glenn Kenny

In his first feature release after last year’s widely acclaimed “The Irishman,” Robert De Niro returns with a role choice that is sure to frustrate his old-school fan base. Here he appears in “The War With Grandpa” — which is not a sequel to his coarse 2016 “Dirty Grandpa .”

“War” is, rather, a family comedy. Directed by Tim Hill, from a novel by the late children’s book writer Robert Kimmel Smith, it concerns the travails of the sixth-grader Peter (Oakes Fegley). Already beset by a host of sixth-grader complaints, he now has to deal with his slightly shaky grandfather Ed (De Niro) taking over his room.

Relegated to the attic, Peter declares war, and pranks ensue. Peter sabotages a collection of marbles that have sentimental value to Ed, the better to land the punchline “Grandpa lost his marbles.”

Ed then rewrites Peter’s “what I did on my summer vacation” report, adding distasteful body function activities; the child unwittingly reads this aloud in class. Soon things get more physical, as Ed enlists senior pals Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin and Jane Seymour into his elder army.

“The War With Grandpa” is relentlessly anodyne, from the cartoony lettering of the opening credits on. Even its bad-taste jokes, culminating in some awkward corpse inspection at a funeral, land in the nicest way possible.

De Niro is game throughout, and sometimes amusing in that way he can be. But Walken is the funniest performer here; his delivery of the line “I don’t know this guy” at the aforementioned funeral is magnificent. And as Peter’s mom, Uma Thurman gets through the proceedings without ever betraying a “I never thought my career would come to this” glance.

The War With Grandpa Rated PG for vulgar jokes that are, while bland, still vulgar. Running time: 1 hour 34 minutes. In theaters. Please consult the guidelines outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention before watching movies inside theaters.

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The War With Grandpa Reviews

It could have been worse--it could have run for 100 minutes instead of 94.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Aug 19, 2023

It’s a family film about lessons without the burden of having any.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 3, 2022

So much of The War with Grandpa feels utterly cheap. It plays more like a Disney Channel Original Movie that somehow got Robert De Niro and Uma Thurman to sign on. While the film didn’t work for me, it may keep younger kids entertained for the most part.

Full Review | Original Score: 4/10 | May 20, 2022

Fegley and his character miss it for me because of an innate selfishness in motivation, plus overall meanness to the story's pranks.

Full Review | Jul 19, 2021

Beyond an inevitably sentimental and conciliatory closure, what is striking is the absolute lack of charisma, charm and fluidity for what is ultimately a quickly forgettable comedy. [Full Review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Jun 15, 2021

I experienced battle fatigue.

Full Review | Apr 22, 2021

[An]ungainly, ugly, depressing hybridisation of a playful family dramedy and over-the-top physical humor.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Mar 27, 2021

Hollywood family entertainment at its most humdrum and stupefying - less a babysitter in motion picture form than an audio-visual bowl of Mogadon-laced Coco Pops.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 21, 2021

You can't say The War With Grandpa is terrific, but it has its moments - and it's likely to entertain the kids for an hour and a half.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/4 | Feb 21, 2021

A harmless family film but the movie lover in me couldn't help but cringe just a bit watching The Deer Hunter co-stars De Niro and Walken return to battle against a bunch of tweens.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Jan 29, 2021

The film attempts to check all the boxes of a children's comedy, but fails to make a connection. They are the shells of these archetypes without making them novel in any way.

Full Review | Jan 28, 2021

A "comedy for the whole family" assumes adults want De Niro and Riggle sharing multiple scenes where the latter reacts convulsively to Grandpa's accidentally exposed penis.

Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Jan 14, 2021

Another pleasing, undemanding feather-light Robert De Niro comedy and yet another example where you survey the reviews after seeing the film and wonder if everybody else saw a different version. It's an unassuming, straight up-and-down family comedy.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Jan 1, 2021

You can find this frivolous, if forgettable family comedy - filled with childish, slapstick pranks - at Redbox now...

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 27, 2020

Consistently terrible.

Full Review | Dec 22, 2020

The War with Grandpa is the type of film which is not really a great watch and throughout you are thinking you that you have seen a film exactly like this before. And you wonder why you are watching it again as you did not really enjoy it the first time.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Dec 17, 2020

This holiday season, if you're burnt out on watching the Home Alone movies for the ten billionth time, The War with Grandpa will nicely satisfy.

Full Review | Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 16, 2020

There won't be much of anything amusing to be detected while this formulaic old-coot-versus-young-brat affair goes about its very average business.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Dec 6, 2020

The War with Grandpa is one battle where there are no ultimate winners.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Dec 1, 2020

Tim Hill (Alvin and the Chipmunks) directs with irregularity. [Full review in Spanish]

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Nov 30, 2020

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Did I See The War With Grandpa ? I Don’t Remember.

I’m pretty sure that the last time I saw Robert De Niro and Christopher Walken onscreen together, the latter was tragically blowing his brains out in a smoky, crowded Saigon gambling den, so it is entirely possible that my expectations were a bit too high for their latest collaboration. At the same time, the two have been doing disposable paycheck gigs for so long — De Niro usually as a lead , Walken as a role player — that one should know not to expect anything special from The War With Grandpa . (Even if the last movie De Niro did with the word “Grandpa” in the title was some sort of unholy, misanthropic masterpiece.) Still, the amiably bland family comedy The War With Grandpa genuinely surprises with how un-special it is. It’s the kind of film that seems to vanish from the mind even as you’re watching it.

De Niro plays Ed, an aging widower whose increasing frailty and disconnection to the world prompts his daughter (Uma Thurman — that’s right, it’s a Mad Dog & Glory reunion, too) to convince him to move in with her family. Unfortunately, that requires Ed to take over the room of his 12-year-old grandson Peter (Oakes Fegley), who in turn has been relegated to the house’s dank, bat-filled attic. Determined to get his room back, Peter declares war on grandpa. Ed doesn’t really seem into the whole idea — he’s a veteran and, as he informs Peter, knows what real war is like — but he reluctantly assents, with the proviso that there be no collateral damage and the rest of the family is spared. (Spoiler alert: They are not.)

As the hostilities between Ed and Peter escalate from glued-shut marble jars and loosened furniture screws to drones and snakes and funerals — don’t get too excited, it’s all a lot less interesting than it sounds — one might expect some De Niro sparkle, a glimpse of the sleeping giant intensity that we know can sometimes lurk in those eyes even when he engages in fluff. But the film gives us none of the goofy menace De Niro brought to the paranoid father-in-law of the Meet the Parents franchise, or the gleeful raunch of the aforementioned Dirty Grandpa , or even the agreeable sentimentality of The Intern . A few effective physical gags aside — much of them involving Rob Riggle, playing Ed’s vaguely clueless son-in-law — there’s precious little actual humor to be found in this comedy.

The best thing I can say for The War With Grandpa is that it passes the time — which is perhaps a more valuable quality in this current moment than it might have been otherwise, and it’s certainly more than I can say for such previous De Niro monstrosities as New Year’s Eve . But so, too, does a nap. The movie has the quiet cadences of an after-school special, yet even that level of earnestness seems to be beyond its grasp. Maybe it would have worked better had it not kept reminding us of the way better picture it could have been. Playing Ed’s gadget and game-happy pal Jerry, Walken gets a few good lines here and there thanks to his characteristically unpredictable delivery, but his mere presence — much like De Niro’s, much like Thurman’s, much like Cheech Marin’s or Jane Seymour’s (yes, they’re here, too) — promises a more engaging movie. Similarly, the film presents the relatively recent loss of Ed’s wife (“Maybe we can miss her together,” his daughter says early on, while trying to get him to move in with her) as an early character detail that will presumably inform his actions throughout. But aside from a brief and vaguely non-sequitur payoff late in the film, this idea is mostly dropped. Ditto Ed’s whole war experience, which you’d think would somehow come into play in this “war” with his grandson. Even an encouraging subplot involving grandpa and his geriatric friends making quick work of the school bully who’s been tormenting Peter is resolved way too quickly to be satisfying or funny or ironic. The War With Grandpa feels less like a movie and more like a checklist — one that’s been filled out only halfway through.

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DVD & Streaming

The War With Grandpa

Content caution.

In Theaters

October 9, 2020
Robert De Niro as Ed; Oakes Fegley as Peter; Uma Thurman as Sally; Rob Riggle as Arthur; Laura Marano as Mia; Cheech Marin as Danny; Jane Seymour as Diane; Christopher Walken as Jerry; Juliocesar Chavez as Billy; Isaac Kragten as Steve; T.J. McGibbon as Emma; Poppy Gagnon as Jennifer

Home Release Date

December 22, 2020

Distributor

101 Studios

Movie Review

Everyone likes a little patch of space to call their own. Peter is no different.

Sure, he might’ve just entered middle school and be a decade or two from a mortgage, but does it matter? His room is his castle, and within its sunny confines he’s practically lord and master. Well, until his mom tells him to clean the place up, that is.

But now, Peter’s sovereign territory is being usurped. And the invader is … wrinkly.

It’s not that Peter’s Grandpa Ed is a bad guy. Peter loves him. But it was easier to love Grandpa when he lived two hours away.

But ever since Grandma died, Grandpa Ed’s been having a tough time. He can’t get the hang of these self-checkout lines. He’s not supposed to drive, but he does so anyway—and sometimes hits his own mailbox in the process. And even when he’s ensconced safely at home, Grandpa spends most of his time listening to music and staring out the window, remembering better days.

Peter gets all that, sure. He understands why Mom might’ve been worried about the guy. But drag Grandpa across town to live with them ? A little drastic, don’t you think? And give him Peter’s room ? Force Peter to live in the attic , with all the mice and bats and, who knows, wolves that might call the place home, too?

“We’re a family,” Mom tells him. “And we make sacrifices for each other.”

“Sometimes very big sacrifices,” Peter’s dad says, casting something of a stink eye in Mom’s direction.

But it’s not fair . It’s not right . Great Britain didn’t stand for such shenanigans when Argentina tried to take over the Falkland Islands. Why should Peter?

So Peter slips a declaration of hostilities underneath his—I mean, his grandpa’s—door. “When one person steals another person’s bedroom, there is no other choice but war,” the missive reads. Peter signs it “Secret Warrior.”

Grandpa Ed reads the paper. He scowls a bit. “Nice handwriting,” he mutters and moves on with his evening. He understands Peter’s frustration. The kid’s probably just joking, right?

Because if Peter’s not … well, he better watch out. Grandpa knows a thing or two about war.

Positive Elements

It’s not just Peter who struggles with this new member of the household. It’s an adjustment for everyone. Some, like Peter’s Christmas-crazy sister, Jennifer, is thrilled to have a new playmate in the house. But Arthur, Peter’s dad, welcomes his father-in-law with fear and trembling. He and Ed have never gotten along very well.

But we see evidence that their relationship is turning a corner. Ed admits that he shouldn’t have been so hard on Arthur when he and Ed’s daughter, Sally, were dating. And when he sees his architect son-in-law sketching out a submission for a library extension (something quite different from the big-box stories he typically designs), he praises and encourages him.

He passes on some helpful tips when Sally struggles with the boyfriend of her eldest daughter (Mia), too. It takes some time for Sally to accept that advice (and some parents may argue that she shouldn’t accept it), but the movie suggests that taking a more tolerant tack with Mia’s beau will help preserve Sally’s relationship with Mia.

As for the central conflict: Grandpa and Peter’s relationship obviously is under some strain in the movie. And certainly, much of what they do to each other should never be done to anyone. But underneath it all, both clearly care for each other. Grandpa often holds out olive branches to Peter in an effort to stop or, at least, ratchet down hostilities, but in the end he admits he’s more culpable in the chaos than Peter. (He is, after all, the adult here.) And through their bitter household war, Grandpa tries to teach Pete something about real war, too: It’s a horrible, painful thing that always seems to escalate.

I don’t think we need a spoiler warning to say that Peter and Grandpa do finally find peace with each other. And while Grandpa is right—war is never a good thing—the war gave Peter an opportunity to see facets in his grandfather that he never saw before. And Grandpa got something out of it, too: In all his plotting and planning, he admits that the war “helped me get over the sadness of your grandmother.”

Spiritual Elements

Little Jennifer, as mentioned, loves Christmas—so much so that she is the subject of a Christmas-themed birthday party. But the Christmas we see here is almost entirely secular, filled with trees and Santas and snow, without an obvious mention of Jesus anywhere.

A funeral takes place at a church.

Sexual Content

Mia and her boyfriend, Russell, get caught twice making out by her disapproving mother. Once Mom walks in as they quickly separate themselves on the couch. (He’s not even supposed to be in the house without a chaperone, Sally reminds them.) The second time, the two steal off to Mia’s bedroom. They’re interrupted before things apparently go too far, but Russell’s shirt is unbuttoned down to his stomach.

Mia and Russell study together sometimes. “Studying means studying, right?” Arthur asks. “It’s not slang for something else?” Sally suspects that, when Mia claims to be going to someone else’s house to study, she’s actually secretly seeing Russell.

Danny, one of Grandpa Ed’s senior citizen friends, still considers himself quite the lady’s man. As he, Ed and another friend (Jerry) walk through a park, Danny ogles passing female joggers and confesses that yoga pants might eventually be the death of him. He brags that he’s quite the catch (given that he has a full pension and all), and at a funeral, he even hits on the grieving widow. (He suggests to her that, since she just lost her husband, she probably needs a ride home.)

Some of Peter’s friends are interested in the opposite sex, too. When one of them overhears that a chair might be booby-trapped, he excitedly says, “did someone say boobies?”

We hear about Ed’s longtime marriage, and we see that he still misses his dead wife dearly. But he seems ready to move on by the end of the movie, and he gives a date a quick kiss.

As a result of Peter’s hijinks, Ed repeatedly exposes himself to Arthur, leading to much screaming and embarrassment from the both of them. (In one instance, we see a bit of Grandpa Ed’s behind.)

Violent Content

You could think of The War With Grandpa as a sort of familial Home Alone movie. The story is filled with pranks and pratfalls and physical comedy aplenty—but sometimes, this war can still look pretty painful.

For instance: A prank backfires a bit, leading Peter to get beaten up by the school bully. (We don’t see the attack, but Peter comes home with a bloody nose and tells Grandpa that he was punched in the face.)

Combatants slide off rooftops, fall through doorways, collapse on floors (due to suddenly faulty furniture) and experience all manner of minor injuries. Someone’s shot high into the air via a tampered chair and thuds lifelessly to the ground. (Someone initially thinks he’s dead, but the victim is just dazed.) A guy goes to the hospital to be treated for some cuts and sprains caused by a falling tree. (The tree destroys a great deal of property, by the way.) A kid is dumped into a trash bin. Snakes are let loose, causing havoc. Someone gets a face full of coffee thrown at him. Sally tackles someone and is ready to punch him in the face when she reconsiders. A supermarket supervisor is attacked by a bevy of senior citizens throwing food. (One launches a yogurt container like a grenade.) Ed runs over his own mailbox. Someone slips on marbles that fall on the floor.

A vicious game of dodgeball culminates in several participants feeling a bit bruised and woozy. Several were hit in both the head and nether-regions—both expressly (and descriptively) said to be off-limits before the game. (Someone loses his false teeth in the scrum, and he spends a good part of the match chasing after them.) Peter tells his mother that if he sleeps outside, he could get eaten by a bear. We see a nature show with hungry insects, um, sating their appetites. A car window is broken. A virtual castle is destroyed. A tree catches on fire. Someone’s hit on the back of her head with a drone. A guy falls off a one-wheeled skateboard.

Peter worries that he might’ve taken the “war” too far, when Grandpa picks up Peter in a strange black car and tells the driver to take him to a place unknown. “You know I’m only 12, right?” Peter says. “That’s a lot of life left to live!”

Crude or Profane Language

Jennifer tell members of her family that “Shut up is a bad word.” But while we might want to sympathize with the little girl, we still hear this and a smattering of other swear words.

“A–,” “d–n,” “h—”, “crap” and “sucks” are all uttered. And while the film stays away from f- and s-words, a few words muttered under the breath can sound something like them. God’s name is also misused four times. We hear some crude slang referencing testicles.

Drug and Alcohol Content

Someone pours liquid from a flask into some eggnog. Wine is served.

Other Negative Elements

Most of Peter’s and Grandpa’s stunts would snugly fall into this category, from replacing creamy cookie filling with toothpaste to switching out shaving cream with foam sealant (which, by the way, leaves a rash). Grandpa, for instance, switches out Peter’s “What I Did This Summer” essay with one of his own creation—which included Peter supposedly smelling “like a monkey’s butt” and learning how to freeze his own flatulence. (We won’t detail everything here, but you get the idea.) A great deal of precious personal property is destroyed in the process.

We also hear about food fungus and dirty underwear, and one of Peter’s friends seem to want to talk about diarrhea more than you’d like. Peter says that his turtles like their incredibly filthy, algae-covered tank, because “it gives them privacy.” Peter’s friends speculate whether a suspicious mound of brown is a bit of leftover Snickers bar or something else.

Peter and Grandpa fish in a pond where it’s illegal to do so. Though they didn’t know they were breaking the law, they flee from the warden when he comes to try to cite them.

“That was so cool!” Peter exclaims when they get away.

“Yeah, it was,” Grandpa says. Then thinks better of it and says, “But breaking the law is wrong. You know that, right?”

The last time most cinephiles remember seeing Robert DeNiro and Christopher Walken in a movie together, they were playing Russian roulette in Michael Cimino’s grim, R-rated The Deer Hunter . Uma Thurman is perhaps most famous as Quentin Tarantino’s favorite muse, shedding buckets of blood in the Kill Bill movies.

It’s a little surreal to see all three together in a PG-rated family comedy.

Still, there they are (playing Grandpa Ed, Jerry and Sally respectively), and they all seem to be having a nice time without piling up cinematic corpses. The only blood we see is from a bloody nose. The only explosion we witness is from the workings of a throne-like ejector seat.

Certainly, if you compare The War With Grandpa to The Deer Hunter and Kill Bill , it’s really family friendly. But if you compare it with other, better PG comedies, the results are seedier than you’d like.

The War With Grandpa is filled with all the slapstick pratfalls you’d expect and with some other elements you might not: Some hints of sexual content. Some bad language. An unfortunate reliance on bathroom humor. Even many of the pranks can feel jarring and mean—even that’s what folks will be paying to see. Even the sweet finale is undercut by what appears to be setup for a sequel, leaving viewers left a bit unsettled.

The War With Grandpa seems, ironically, at war with its own rating. It wanted to be a sweet, inoffensive, funny family movie—and it almost made it. But like a character from a grim war movie, it took a couple of wrong turns in the jungle.

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

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‘The War With Grandpa’: What About Bob, The AARP Years

By David Fear

At this point in his career, Robert De Niro has nothing left to prove. If he were to retire tomorrow, the 77-year-old movie star would still have two Oscars, too many classic American movies on his resumé to count, a greatest-of-his-generation éminence grise status and a legion of pretenders to the Method-immersive throne. Give him a good director (David O. Russell), or a great one (Martin Scorsese), and the gent can still bring his A game well into his autumn years. No one would — well, ok, we won’t — judge him for deciding, somewhere around the beginning of the century, to simply go about the business of being a working actor. You take a lot of roles, some of them will be decent, some of them will be willing self-parody and some will be bad. A few may channel the old magic here and there. You embrace the batting-average odds. You stop being picky. You start making sure your restaurants and hotels can stay open.

Filmed in the early summer of 2017, shuffled around from various release dates in 2018, sold by its distributor in an everything-must-go fire sale and now unleashed on a beggars-can’t-be-choosers public in late 2020, The War With Grandpa isn’t going to dent De Niro’s legacy. No one is expecting Raging Bull here, or even The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle. (If you are anticipating that it’s a sequel to 2016’s Dirty Grandpa, however, you’ll be shit out of luck. Buyer beware.) A toothless, tiresome attempt at a family-friendly story of a grumpy old man engaged in guerilla warfare with his grandson, it’s only purpose seems to be giving the screen icon and his namebrand costars the chance to pay off a summer cottage or just get out of the house. Anyone involved in doing the kind of movie in which calling it “cute” is the highest payable compliment isn’t going to experience serious blowback. The only potential suffering will be happening on the viewer’s side of the equation.

Let’s get this over with, shall we? Ed (De Niro) used to be in construction. (I’ve heard you built houses.) Now this elderly widower is at the age when living on his own is becoming less of an option. His grown daughter, Sally ( Uma Thurman ) invites Pops to move in with the family, a perfect sitcom configuration which includes her bumbling husband (Rob Riggle in doofus dad mode), a boy-crazy teenage daughter (Laura Marano) and an adorable young moppet (Poppy Gagnon). Ed is assigned to the attic. The only problem? That’s the room of the middle kid, Peter (Oakes Fegley). He’s already having trouble adjusting to sixth grade, and now this?

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So Peter declares war on grandpa. The geriatric retaliates. Doors fall down, furniture is reassembled, shaving cream is replaced with foam sealant, things blow up in people’s faces. A snake gets involved, and Air Jordans are turned into abstract expressionist artworks. De Niro is rendered au naturel below the belt more than once. We dearly wish that was a euphemism, but no. Eventually, Peter brings his middle-school buddies into the mix, and Ed enlists a loose crew of AARP-aged miscreants whose membership includes Christopher Walken , Cheech Marin and Jane Seymour. By the time dodgeballs start knocking out dentures and hitting nuts, you’ll suddenly finding yourself feeling a lot more affection for Little Fockers .

Director Tim Hill was one of three folks credited with developing SpongeBob SquarePants, then proceeded to give the world Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties and the first Alvin and the Chipmunks movie. This officially squanders the last of his banked good will. Even the movie’s big set piece, a Christmas-themed birthday party that devolves into the life-sized equivalent of the board game Mousetrap, feels like its moving at half speed. After everything is wrapped up and its back to smiles and rainbows again, and a coda suggests — what, future Home Alone -lite scrimmages? A sequel? — the film doesn’t so much end as stop.

Look, this isn’t going to cause the last existing print of The Deer Hunter to burst into flames. It won’t make the “House of Blue Leaves” sequence in Kill Bill magically disappear, permanently erase side two of Cheech & Chong’s debut album, or force you to throw out your six-season box set of Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. De Niro has made better mediocrities; he will almost assuredly make worse ones. The War With Grandpa is just one more title on his IMDb page, one more chance for these actors to keep working, one more instantly forgettable combination of slapstick and platitudes that characterizes the bulk of so much of what we reluctantly call “entertainment.” It’s 94 minutes that you won’t remember seconds after its over. You could always just throw down the white flag before shots are fired and save yourself the trouble.

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Movie Review – The War with Grandpa (2020)

October 9, 2020 by Robert Kojder

The War with Grandpa , 2020.

Directed by Tim Hill. Starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour, Oakes Fegley, Laura Marano, Rob Riggle, Cheech Marin, T.J. McGibbon, Isaac Kragten, Juliocesar Chavez, and Lydia Styslinger.

Upset that he has to give the room he loves to his grandfather, Peter decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back.

On paper, there’s nothing wrong with the family-friendly concept of a sixth-grader getting into an extreme back and forth game of sabotage with his own grandpa for whatever reason. In Theory, The War with Grandpa is no different than something like Dennis the Menace , but the execution from director Tim Hill (creator of SpongeBob SquarePants working alongside writers Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember who both also have experience in animation, something one would presume would translate well enough to a live-action project such as this) is so unbelievably lazy and hot garbage that it’s torture to sit through. The movie eventually reaches some Christmas festivities, but even at only 94 minutes, getting through this felt so long that when the credits finally and mercifully rolled I half expected to turn around and see my Christmas tree up with snow outside as if months had passed.

Also depressing is the relatively big-name cast of veteran actors (Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken, and Uma Thurman) and rising child stars (Oakes Fegley) that either got roped into this project for the money or for some inexplicable reason genuinely wanted to be a part of it. Going all the way back to Meet the Parents , portraying cranky curmudgeons engaging in a war against family members has been something that Robert De Niro has excelled at when it comes to the comedic milestones of his illustrious career, but with raunchy R-rated trash like Dirty Grandpa and now this (which goes for complete opposite direction in terms of an MPAA content although still with a hint of sexual innuendo and mild language to earn a PG rating), it’s past the point of an embarrassing red mark on one of the most legendary talents of all time. Really, Robert De Niro, this is how you want to follow up The Irishman ? And now other beloved performers like The Bride are being dragged into this?

Anyway, Ed (Robert De Niro) lives alone and ends up robbing a grocery store in frustration because he doesn’t understand how to use the self-checkout machines (elderly people and technology make up at least 75% of the humor here, so that’s what you were getting into should you be forced against your will into renting this for your family) and subsequently arrested. Clearly also struggling with loneliness, his daughter Sally (Uma Thurman) insists he move in with her family and take her youngest son Peter’s (Oakes Fegley) room, relocating him to a cramped and dark dirty attic upstairs with mice lurking around. Initially, he’s okay with it until his classmates (they have no purpose to the movie aside from getting bullied and other lame jokes) encourage him to fight back and reclaim the bedroom. Peter slips a declaration of war letter to Ed under the door in the middle of the night, and the wargames are on.

What ensues is about an hour of pranks towards one another that goes on for what feels like 27 hours. By the (second) time there’s a visual gag of Sally’s husband Arthur (Rob Riggle) winding up seeing Ed naked as the result of some hijinks, it’s understandable to question if you are actually in hell. It’s also worth mentioning that Ed does not like Arthur or his corporate job, making for some more friction that basically goes nowhere. Other worthless subplots include teen family daughter Mia (Laura Marano) sneakily trying to find ways to make out with her boyfriend in private.

In what is essentially insult to injury, Ed recruits some of his friends to help take on Peter and his friends. This includes Christopher Walken (the only one who seems aware he is in a terrible movie) as a gamer with his own expansive fun time room, Cheech Marin as a pervy sleazeball ogling the ass of every female jogger he comes across (I thought this was a kids movie?), and Jane Seymour as a grocery store worker that takes a liking to Ed. This leads to a game of dodgeball inside a bouncy arena that this is as cringe as it sounds.

There are also small segments where everyone is on the same page, such as the old folks leveling the playing field against the school bullies. Even that’s not fun, as it just has Ed and friends dress like racist stereotypes of gangsters in what has to be one of the worst attempts at humor I’ve seen all year. Then again, that pretty much sums up The War with Grandpa and nothing more needs to be said about this abomination.

Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ / Movie: ★

Robert Kojder is a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association and the Flickering Myth Reviews Editor. Check here for new reviews, friend me on Facebook, follow my Twitter or Letterboxd , check out my personal non-Flickering Myth affiliated Patreon , or email me at [email protected]

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‘The War with Grandpa’ Review: Inane Kids’ Comedy Puts the Schtick in Slapstick

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If you were to assume that a movie starring Robert De Niro , Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, and Jane Seymour sounded like the next Quentin Tarantino epic, you would not be entirely remiss. But you would be sorely disappointed to discover, upon purchasing entry to “ The War with Grandpa ,” that the killer cast is sorely wasted on an utterly inane script about a spoiled kid who inexplicably decides he hates his very nice grandpa for moving into his room. Based on the popular kids’ book by Robert Kimmel Smith, “The War with Grandpa” is a sluggish hodgepodge of slapstick humor that barely holds together its illogically motivated plot.

The drama begins when Ed (De Niro as the titular Grandpa) is forced by his well-meaning daughter Sally (Uma Thurman) to move in with her family after an incident of grocery store rage ends with him assaulting a Black security guard. (One of the two Black people who speak in the film, both of whom are service workers.) Displaced from his very lovely room into the equally as private but somewhat leaky attic, his grandson Peter (Oakes Fegley) decides to make Grandpa’s life a living hell in order to convince him into switching rooms with him. Upon arrival, Ed cheerily greets his granddaughters, the adorable Jenny (Poppy Gagnon) and hormonal Mia (Laura Marano), making Peter’s coldness all the more bratty as he ices out the good-natured old man.

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Peter writes an official declaration of war, egged on by his friends at school, but Ed is initially unperturbed. That is until his shaving cream hardens onto his face, he slips on his favorite jar of marbles, and he wakes up to a live snake in his bed. He consults his own Greek chorus of incorrigible retirees Jerry (Walken) and Danny (Marin), who insist he retaliate with requisite gusto in order to prove his manhood. Sporting a cubavera colorful enough to catch Pedro Almodóvar’s eye, wacky Walken (and his blatant stunt double) is introduced riding and crashing an electric Onewheel skateboard. Meanwhile, Marin’s Danny earns his personality hollering at younger women, because obviously kids need to learn that harassing women is hilarious.

For her part, Thurman appears to be in an entirely different film, playing a game of solitaire as she sees exactly how far over the top she can push the disgruntled mother caricature. Whether she’s dipping into her guttural chest voice to admonish her children or smiling emptily over her embroidery, Thurman seems to have made her own fun on set. De Niro is more at ease with the ridiculous dialogue and acting opposite children, having already sold his soul on obvious payday projects like “The Intern,” “Dirty Grandpa,” and “Little Fockers.” While Thurman has certainly played her fair share of romantic comedies better left forgotten, she’s also appeared in Lars Von Trier’s last three movies. She hasn’t had to dumb it down quite this much in awhile, and it shows.

After a series of pranks that escalates at once too slowly while becoming potentially lethal out of nowhere, Grandpa and Peter bond during a fishing expedition that appears to spell truce. But all the good will built up flies out the window when Ed falls through the doorway to his room, and the game is back on. When the sworn enemies decide to call an armistice during little Jenny’s elaborate Christmas-themed birthday, even the sight of Walken in a Santa suit can’t save the shenanigans that have to ensue for the movie to make good on the promise of its title. A few electric shocks, a falling ladder, and one deflated bouncy castle later, and the jig is finally, mercifully, up.

After ruining his little sister’s birthday and nearly destroying his entire house, Peter sees the error of his ways and finally raises the white flag on his war with Grandpa. That is, until Grandpa’s newfound love interest (Seymour) threatens their weekly fishing trips, teasing a sequel. “The War with Grandpa” may be over, but Hollywood’s war on taste slogs tirelessly on.

101 Studios will release “The War with Grandpa” in select theaters on Friday, October 9.

As new movies open in theaters during the COVID-19 pandemic, IndieWire will continue to review them whenever possible. We encourage readers to follow the safety precautions provided by CDC and health authorities. Additionally, our coverage will provide alternative viewing options whenever they are available.

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The War with Grandpa (2020)

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THE WAR WITH GRANDPA

October 8, 2020 By Leave a Comment

Amid the stale jokes and flat direction to be found in THE WAR WITH GRANDPA, one is subjected to cartoonish takes on elder abuse, child abuse, and I’m pretty sure that the bass didn’t enjoy its time during the fishing sequence. Based on the book of the same name by Robert Kimmel Smith, the film has been on the shelf for over three years, which is almost never a good sign. Still, there is a stroke of sheer genius to be found in casting Robert De Niro as the titular relative. Sure, the part could have been entirely cringeworthy, but De Niro avoids the worst of the schmaltz as a grieving widower, while showing little of gift for the slapstick the role requires. Let me sum it up this way: dodgeball on trampolines. Yet, when he faces off with his character’s aggrieved 5 th -grader of a grandson, played with surprising gravitas by Oakes Fegley, there are intimations of what could have been. This isn’t De Niro mugging at the camera, this is a wise guy defending his turf against a worthy opponent, which makes the rest of the proceedings all the more irksome.

Oakes Fegley, Robert De Niro

Fegley is Peter, a good kid entering a world of hurt when he starts the 5 th grade and attracts the school bully’s special attention, and a world of resentment when he’s forced to give up his room when his otherwise beloved grandfather moves in. Not that Grandpa is any too pleased with the situation that his daughter (Uma Thurman) has pressured him into after an unfortunate run-in with the self-checkout at his local grocery store. In the name of familial concern and filial duty, Grandpa relocates, and Peter takes up residence in the attic with a malicious bat and a teething mouse. Egged on by his ragtag gang of friends, he makes a formal declaration of war (slipped under the older gentleman’s door), and the two of them set about making life miserable for each other using a series of escalating pranks and practical jokes, but with the solemn promise that they not will not cause any collateral damage, nor give the game away to the rest of the family. Why they think said family won’t notice bumps in the night and various abrasions and bruises on our protagonists is never adequately explained.

The ensuing mayhem feels painfully forced, with Thurman overplaying her part so egregiously that it becomes parody. Add such hackneyed tropes as Peter’s teenage sister Mia (Laura Marano) getting too chummy with her boyfriend, much to Mom’s distress, and Peter’s kid sister, Jennifer (Poppy Gagnon) being unbearably cute, not to mention fixated on Christmas as a way of life, and there are long stretches of the film that are all but unwatchable. Oh, and grandpa never liked his son-in-law (Rob Riggle), a non-entity that not even the elf-apron at Jennifer’s predictably catastrophic birthday party can enliven.

Cheech Marin, De Niro, Jane Seymour, Christopher Walken

Thank the beneficent gods of cinema that there is another stroke of genius in casting Cheech Marin and Christopher Walken as grandpa’s buddies. Sure, they’re playing versions of their well-defined movie personas, but these are actors who have finely honed those personas, and, more importantly, they provide the comic relief this effort so badly needs. It’s almost worth enduring for the sight of Walken in full Santa regalia trying to put the little girl oh his knee at ease. Whatever you are imagining, it’s even better. Almost. As for why Jane Seymour is there as the fourth member of grandpa’s gang, it’s more trouble than it’s worth to spend any real time in pondering.

THE WAR WITH GRANDPA aims at some moral lessons about family, conflict, and the dangers of obsessing over any one particular holiday, but fails to find the target, much less hit it. One comes away wishing that more screen time could have been given to Walken. Maybe all of it.

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The War With Grandpa

2020, pg, 94 min. directed by tim hill. starring robert de niro, oakes fegley, uma thurman, rob riggle, christopher walken, cheech marin, jane seymour, laura marano., reviewed by steve davis , fri., oct. 9, 2020.

The intergenerational pranksters in this family comedy based on Robert Kimmel Smith’s award-winning book wage a turf war over a bedroom, laying tit-for-tat traps for each other in a bid for Hallmark household supremacy. You could winkingly call them domestic terrorists, but that might intimate this zingless movie is more interesting than it is.

Once again in grampster mode – remember his respectively uptight and lecherous grandads in the embarrassing Little Fockers and atrocious Dirty Grandpa ? – De Niro significantly softens here as a recently widowed septuagenarian suffering the undignified slings and arrows of old age, cluelessly driving around without a license (revoked) and helplessly flailing at the grocery store self-checkout. When Ed’s concerned daughter (Thurman) demands that he move in with her family for his own well-being, the grumpy old man displaces his sixth-grader grandson Peter from his tween cave and into the attic, prompting the latter to formally declare war on the paterfamilias to rightfully regain his room. Pratfalls inevitably ensue. Foam sealant cans are disguised as shaving cream (De Niro as Papa Smurf!). Jordan tennis shoes are glue gun-decorated in pink. Golf clubs are rigged to dismantle, and so on. The ho-hum practical jokes the two inflict upon the other can be described as Home Alone lite: No concussion-inducing swinging paint cans or burn-inducing doorknobs inspired by Looney Tunes violence here. Which, of course, takes all the fun out of it.

Arguably, De Niro gives the blandest performance of his career in a movie better suited for the Disney streaming service, rather than for what passes as a theatrical release today. Then again, there’s little opportunity for anyone to bite into any juicy comic or dramatic meat here, except for (perhaps) the throwaway homily about the futility of war that is followed by an odd ending suggesting the truce between Ed and Peter is only temporary. Thankfully, the movie doesn’t infantilize Ed and his two running buddies played by Walken and Marin too much, falling just short of lovable old coot Going In Style camaraderie. Walken’s line readings, however, have only gotten weirder with age. Even weirder? Ed’s inadvertent exposure of his unseen nether regions to his son-in-law (Riggle) not once, but twice, during the movie. Good luck in explaining the humor in that to the kids.

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Being a fan of the Christian pop duo for KING & COUNTRY or having even the slightest interest in the musical genre probably goes a long way toward making the drama “Unsung Hero” more meaningful. For everyone else, it plays like a blandly well-intentioned tale of triumph over adversity and an earnest celebration of the importance of family.

And what a family it is. The massive Aussie brood at the film’s center provides both the inspiration for the story and the behind-the-scenes machinery to tell it. Joel Smallbone , half of the singing group with brother Luke, co-wrote and co-directed the film with Richard L. Ramsey. He also stars as his own father, David Smallbone, a music promoter who moved his pregnant wife and their six kids from Sydney to Nashville in the early 1990s with dreams of making it big in the United States. (A younger actor, Diesel La Torraca , plays Joel as a child with a natural yearning to perform.) Stick around for the credits, and you’ll discover how various members of the clan appear in minor supporting roles throughout.

But this isn’t a music biopic or even an origin story, even though much of the plot centers on whether older sister Rebecca can secure a record contract with her pure, clear voice, which could rescue the family financially. (Spoiler: she does and goes on to become Grammy winner Rebecca St. James; for KING & COUNTRY has won multiple Grammys, as well.) This is, as the title suggests, a tribute to the person who held the family together when everything was falling apart: matriarch Helen Smallbone, played with optimism and authenticity by Daisy Betts . “Unsung Hero” follows the highs and lows of the Smallbones' efforts to stay afloat in a foreign land, but Helen’s resiliency—as well as her faith—provides a consistent through-line. The casting of Kirrilee Berger as Rebecca is particularly effective since she so closely resembles Betts, adding believability to their mother-daughter bond.

We know these attractive and talented people will be fine even before they set foot in their local church and meet the big-hearted neighbors who will rally around them in times of need. It’s all very affirming to the Christian audience it’s geared toward and somewhat predictable from a narrative standpoint.

What is surprising, though, is that there are actual moments of raw emotion within the workmanlike direction and episodic script. Things get ugly. Pride takes over. Having dragged his family halfway around the world to an empty rental home, and with job prospects falling through left and right, David feels depressed and resentful. He lashes out at the friendly fellow churchgoer ( Lucas Black ), whom he feels has been too generous alongside his perky wife, played by Hallmark Channel and Great American Family mainstay Candace Cameron Bure . Helen, in a rare show of anger, even explodes at David at one point.

“Unsung Hero” could have used more of such emotional honesty. But it ultimately must deliver a broad uplift that’s palatable for the whole family, so it tends to skim the surface. And aside from the parents and Rebecca, the characterization is woefully lacking; the other kids are all kind of a perky blur. Joel Smallbone has a solid screen presence in what must have been a challenging role, but his choices behind the camera with Ramsey feel mostly pedestrian.

The ‘90s costume design is on point, though—so many bad sweaters on display—and the soundtrack of secular pop songs, including Jesus Jones and Seal, is period-specific if a little on-the-nose lyrically. For the most part, “Unsung Hero” does what David Smallbone himself didn’t do: It shies away from taking risks.

Christy Lemire

Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor. Read her answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film credits.

Unsung Hero (2024)

112 minutes

Joel Smallbone as David Smallbone

Daisy Betts as Helen Smallbone

Kirrilee Berger as Rebecca Smallbone

Jonathan Jackson as Eddie Degarmo

Candace Cameron Bure as Kay Albright

Terry O'Quinn as Grandpa James

Lucas Black as Jed Albright

Joel Smallbone

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ISS review – Ariana DeBose is ace as third world war sparks space station survival race

DeBose’s brilliant rookie astronaut navigates this moderately tense thriller about US and Russian crew fighting as Earth blazes below

A t first, the crew on board the International Space Station (ISS) mistake the tiny dot of fire on Earth for a volcano. But look: there’s another, and another. In fact, these astronauts have got a bird’s eye view of a nuclear tit-for-tat between the Russian and American governments that by the end of the movie turns the planet into a great glowing ball of fire. But for the six-person crew – three Americans and three Russians – nuclear Armageddon is only the start of their problems.

A lowish-budget, slightly muted survival thriller – moderately tense, with too few ideas to qualify as actively cerebral – what the movie does have is a brilliant performance by West Side Story ’s Ariana DeBose as biologist and rookie astronaut Kira. Like all the characters here, she’s a bit too thinly sketched, but DeBose brings real warmth and likability to the part, making Kira easy to root for. And there are some interesting moments as she adjusts to zero gravity.

The film’s director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, made her name with the killer whale documentary Blackfish , and brings her documentary-maker’s curiosity to the mechanics of living in space. Sleep is the trickiest thing to acclimatise to, Kira quickly learns; one of the Russians, Nika (Masha Mashkova), shows her how to strap in to a harness at night. (Warning: some scenes are not suitable for claustrophobics.)

There’s a “no politics” rule on board the ISS – and the vibe is chummy and collegiate. But within minutes of the third world war breaking out, both the American and Russian crews get orders to seize control of the station “by any means necessary”. (Naturally, the villainous Russkies stick the knife in first.) And here’s where it gets implausible. Earth is burning below, but mostly these astronauts act as if there is something to play for: a government to report to, or a life to return to. No one seems to have an existential freakout about what awaits them if they survive: starvation, thirst, anarchy and a slow death.

Of course, the carnage on board is meant to be a microcosm of the mutual destruction below. One killing leads to another; it just doesn’t make much sense. Still, ISS does deliver one knock-out terrific death in space: a screwdriver to the neck, perfect little bubbles of blood floating prettily away in zero gravity.

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‘Civil War’ review: Alex Garland’s dystopian vision of America horrifies

Movie review.

Alex Garland’s “Civil War” is essentially a horror movie, one in which the horrors feel uncomfortably close to home. In this vision of America, the country is divided into two violent factions: one led by a fascist three-term president (Nick Offerman, in a small but vivid role), the other an armed rebellion against the government. Four journalists — photographer Lee (Kirsten Dunst), her reporting partner Joel (Wagner Moura), veteran writer Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson) and young aspiring photographer Jessie (Cailee Spaeny) — travel across hundreds of miles of this war zone to reach Washington, D.C., in the hopes of getting one last interview with the president.

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It’s a strange, terrifying journey, punctuated by bodies and blood and an eerily deafening soundscape. They drive past empty streets, abandoned cars, urban buildings with curls of smoke rising. They bargain, at a remote gas station manned by hostile men toting guns, for fuel (their offer of $300 is scoffed at, until Lee clarifies that it’s $300 Canadian ). They witness a firing squad, a bloody riot on a city street, a load of bodies in a dump truck, snipers on the roof of an idyllic-looking small-town street. And they run toward all of it — taking pictures, asking questions, documenting, remembering. If “Civil War” wasn’t so utterly horrifying, it could be a superhero movie, with journalists wearing the capes.

But in its quieter moments — you wish there were more of them — the film becomes the story of an impromptu family: four people united by a common goal. No one is saintly here: Lee, hardened and weary from years of war reporting, bickers with Joel about not wanting to take responsibility for the inexperienced Jessie, and makes it clear that Sammy is a burden; he’s old, she says, and can’t run. But ultimately they take care of each other, in sometimes surprising ways, and the actors let us see that bond. Dunst, whose Lee seems hard-wired to expect danger at every turn, beautifully lets us see the faintest of meltings as she becomes a reluctant mentor to Jessie. And Henderson shows us an aging man full of stories, even those he didn’t want to tell; he’s still seeking one last byline, somehow.

“Civil War” creates the sort of dystopian world in which little flashes of normality seem startling: water bottles, newspaper vending boxes, a dress shop open for business, a quiet hotel room. They’re tiny islands of calm for these characters, racing through a war zone, not knowing how long they can stay alive. Lee, at one point, muses on her career documenting violence around the world. “I thought I was sending a warning home: Don’t do this,” she says. The words hang in the quiet for moment, soon drowned out by gunfire.

With Kirsten Dunst, Cailee Spaeny, Wagner Moura, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Nick Offerman. Written and directed by Alex Garland. 109 minutes. Rated R for strong violent content, bloody/disturbing images, and language throughout. Opens April 11 at multiple theaters.

The best movies of 2024 so far, according to critics

‘perfect days,’ ‘sasquatch sunset,’ ‘love lies bleeding’ and ‘civil war’ all make our evolving list of 2024’s best films.

When it comes to movies, why wait for the end-of-year best-of lists? A number of movies have already garnered three stars or more from The Washington Post’s critics and contributors (Ann Hornaday, Ty Burr, Amy Nicholson, Jen Yamato, Jessica Kiang, Michael O’Sullivan, Mark Jenkins and Michael Brodeur — identified by their initials below).

Throughout the year, we’ll update this list — bookmark it! — with the films that we loved and where to watch them. (Note that all movies reviewed by The Post in 2024 are eligible for inclusion.)

Writer-director Alex Garland doesn’t investigate how this war started or how long it’s been going on or whether it’s worth fighting. His lean, cruel film is about the ethics of photographing violence, and those blinders make it charge forward with gusto. The film feels poetically, deeply true, even when it’s suggesting that humans are more apt to tear one another apart for petty grievances than over a sincere defense of some kind of principles. Starring Kristen Dunst, Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny. (R, 109 minutes) — Amy Nicholson

Where to watch: In theaters

Challengers

A slick, sexy, hugely entertaining, tennis-themed romantic triangle that offers three young performers at the top of their games under the guidance of Luca Guadagnino, a director who gives them room to swing in all senses of the word. The movie’s a paean to hard work and hedonism, and if its pleasures are mostly surface — grass, clay, emotional — it’s still been too long since we’ve had an intelligent frolic like this. Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor play rising tennis stars; Zendaya is their coach, holding down the center with her furiously knitted brow. (R, 131 minutes) — Ty Burr

Wicked Little Letters

An art-house audience pleaser , based on an actual historical incident, that slaps a veneer of tea-cozy classiness over cartoonish characters and changing social values. In a dingy English seaside town in 1920, someone has been sending anonymous poison-pen letters to church lady Edith (Olivia Colman) — written in language so obscene that it’s practically an art form — and suspicion quickly falls on the foul-mouthed Rose (Jessie Buckley), a single mother freshly arrived from Ireland. The movie is good fun and surprisingly obvious — a slapstick comedy of manners that only hints at darker human urges. (R, 100 minutes) — T.B.

Sasquatch Sunset

Either the silliest movie you’ll see in 2024 or one of the most unexpectedly affecting, but, like the meme says, why not both ? A year in the life of a family of Bigfoots — Bigfeet? — it functions simultaneously as slow-motion slapstick, a very hairy nature documentary and a melancholy portrait of creatures not unlike us as they confront their own disappearance from the Earth. With no narration and no dialogue beside grunts, hoots and warbles, the movie effectively puts an audience on the same (big) footing as the characters. Starring Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough and Nathan Zellner. (R, 89 minutes) — T.B.

Two-time Oscar winner Ennio Morricone , who died in 202o at the age of 91, was a composer and arranger of music that helped define what it sounds like to go to the movies. Now, director Giuseppe Tornatore — who worked with Morricone for nearly all his films, including 1988’s “Cinema Paradiso” — turns an overdue spotlight on the composer behind the legendary scores of “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly,” “The Thing” and more than 500 others. At nearly three hours, “Ennio” is a long haul, exhaustive without ever becoming exhausting. Though it could definitely survive edits, its length feels like the product of genuine ardor and care. (Unrated, 156 minutes) — Michael Brodeur

Where to watch: In theaters and on demand

The People’s Joker

Hollywood’s superhero blockbuster business has grown creatively stale, but Vera Drew’s irreverent renegade opus is just the antidote the genre desperately needs. Both a tough-love letter to the commodified IP it satirizes and a scathing takedown of mainstream comedy institutions, this defiantly personal low-budget marvel is also a genuinely affecting queer coming-of-age tale in which Drew stars as Joker, a closeted trans woman and aspiring comedian who leaves her Smallville hometown for a dystopian Gotham City. Her film is the cinematic coup of the year, finally delivering the boundary-obliterating antiheroine Hollywood deserves. (Unrated, 92 minutes) — Jen Yamato

The Iranian French actress Zar Amir Ebrahimi has the eyes of a silent film heroine and the face of a Modigliani. In repose, she can convey a sense of sorrow that feels both elegant and timeless, but in “ Shayda ,” that stillness is fraught with specific threat: the anguish of a woman fleeing an abusive husband. Made with a striking sensitivity to mood and moment, the film marks a strong debut for Iranian Australian writer-director Noora Niasari, who mines her own experience and that of her mother for a gripping yet tender suspense drama. (PG-13, 117 minutes) — T.B.

Antiquity and the modern day sit side by side in the films of Italy’s Alice Rohrwacher, permeating each other with the timelessness of a folk tale passed around a campfire. The writer-director’s latest concerns a raffish band of working-class tombaroli — grave robbers — who dig up ancient Etruscan artifacts and sell them on the black market, but the movie’s also a meditation on the tension between romanticizing the past and profiting from it. Wise, funny and mysterious, it’s a one-of-a-kind charmer. (Unrated, 132 minutes) — T.B.

Where to watch: Not yet streaming

Love Lies Bleeding

Rose Glass’s gorgeously pulpy film is a grisly delirium of female rage and romance in which queerness is neither a liability nor a simple fact of life that deserves respect: It’s a goddamn superpower. Kristen Stewart, in a skeevy mullet and a sleeveless tee, plays a gym manager who falls in crazy, scuzzy love with a bodybuilding drifter (Katy O’Brian). There are pyrotechnics and sucked toes and a jaw beaten clean off a skull. In terms of graphic gore, the head-stomping scene in “American History X” and the corpse-splitting moment in “Bone Tomahawk” need to scooch over on the podium. (R, 104 minutes) — Jessica Kiang

Where to watch: In theaters, available for streaming later this year on Max

They Shot the Piano Player

Spanish filmmaker Fernando Trueba (“Belle Époque”) and artist/co-director Javier Mariscal celebrate the spirit of Brazilian bossa nova and the ghosts of artists who live on only in recordings and archival interviews. But this animated documentary ’s central ghost remains touchingly and frustratingly unknowable: Francisco Tenório Júnior, a gifted pianist, considered by his peers as one of the best of their generation, who disappeared in 1976 while on tour in Argentina. “They Shot the Piano Player” doesn’t unravel a mystery so much as confirm a tragedy. (PG-13, 103 minutes) — T.B.

Four Daughters

Film as family therapy and family therapy as film. This gripping and format-stretching documentary by writer-director Kaouther Ben Hania brings actors into the household of a Tunisian mother named Olfa and her two youngest daughters, both teenagers. The three women play themselves alongside two professional actors filling in for the girls’ two missing siblings — what happened to them will unfurl, one twist at a time. (Unrated, 110 minutes) — A.N.

Where to watch: Netflix

Perfect Days

The premise is perfectly simple: Hirayama (Kôji Yakusho) lives in Tokyo, where he cleans bathrooms, approaching his job with the same care and detail he gives to the tree seedlings he’s nurturing in his modest, sparsely furnished apartment. The fact that writer-director Wim Wenders has called a movie about cleaning toilets “Perfect Days” might strike some viewers as the height of absurdity, even perverse humor (the film bears more than a whiff of Jim Jarmusch at his most wryly absurdist). But once they get a glimpse of Hirayama in action, the dreams behind the drudgery reveal themselves. (PG, 123 minutes) — Ann Hornaday

Where to watch: On demand

Directed by Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville (“Twenty Feet from Stardom”), this documentary take on comic Steve Martin is broken into two feature-length installments, titled “Then” (94 minutes) and “Now” (97 minutes). The first and lesser half is pretty standard stuff, covering in enjoyable but repetitive detail the period of Martin’s gradual stand-up ascendancy to selling out stadiums. The much more engaging “Now” dips in and out of Martin’s movie career, includes interviews (Jerry Seinfeld, Tina Fey, Lorne Michaels) and delivers candid moments with Martin’s bestie, Martin Short. (TV-MA, 191 minutes in two parts) — J.K.

Where to watch: Apple TV Plus

The Zone of Interest

Jonathan Glazer’s quietly shattering, Oscar-winning portrait of a family living next door to Auschwitz is really two movies in one: the film that audiences see on-screen — a bucolic domestic drama, filled with children, gardens and daily rituals — and the movie we conjure in our minds, with images of emaciated bodies, shaved heads and screams barely audible above the clinking teacups and cooing babies. Adapted from Martin Amis’s novel, the film is about denial and Hannah Arendt’s banality of evil. But the mental contortions Rudolf Höss (Christian Friedel) and his wife Hedwig (Sandra Hüller) go through to justify their own monstrosity go beyond obliviousness into something far more insidious and timeless. (PG-13, 106 minutes) — A.H.

Where to watch: Max

Ava DuVernay’s audacious, ambitious adaptation of the equally audacious and ambitious book “Caste,” operates on so many levels at once that the effect is often dizzyingly disorienting. But hang in there: Viewers who allow themselves to be taken on this wide-ranging, occasionally digressive journey will emerge not just edified but emotionally wrung out and, somehow, cleansed. (PG-13, 135 minutes) — A.H.

The Taste of Things

A radiant Juliette Binoche plays Eugénie, a gifted cook who for the past 20 years has been running the kitchen of a 19th-century epicurean named Dodin Bouffant (Benoît Magimel). No one breaks a sweat in “ The Taste of Things ” — they glow. No one swears or yells “Corner!” or “Yes, chef!” — they whisper, or simply deliver an approving glance of gustatory satisfaction. This is the anti-“Bear,” a sensuous fantasia of gastronomical pleasure less redolent of the Beef than “Babette’s Feast.” (PG-13, 134 minutes) — A.H.

Born two months before the Nazis surrendered, celebrated German artist Anselm Kiefer grew up amid his homeland’s rubble. Destruction still compels and even delights him, as Wim Wenders demonstrates in his epic 3D documentary. The colossal spaces Kiefer inhabits and transforms are ideal for Wenders’s approach, which conveys the physicality of the artist’s work and places the viewer virtually within the maelstrom of creation. It’s a fascinating, if somewhat unnerving, place to be. (Unrated, 93 minutes) — Mark Jenkins

How to Have Sex

The title of this promising writing-directing debut from Molly Manning Walker is something of a misdirect. Her startlingly intimate portrait of teenage girls in search of the endless party while on summer holiday in Greece is more accurately described as a tutorial in how not to have sex, i.e., when you’re young, inebriated, feeling pressured or vulnerable to manipulation. In its frankness and often frightening candor, it’s of a piece with coming-of-age dramas like “Thirteen” and “The Diary of a Teenage Girl,” with a dash of “Spring Breakers.” (Unrated, 90 minutes) — A.H.

Io Capitano

Matteo Garrone’s Oscar-nominated, migrant-themed drama fashions a hero’s journey that feels utterly of the moment: inspired by the true stories of African immigrants , but told in a way that features episodes of both harrowing verisimilitude and hallucinatory magic realism. It’s a film that is gorgeous at times yet also tough to watch. (Unrated, 121 minutes) — Michael O’Sullivan

The Teachers’ Lounge

Despite the title of Germany’s Oscar submission , the primary setting is a sixth-grade classroom, where things have gone missing lately. As school officials attempt to get to the bottom of the thefts, that classroom becomes a mirror of the outside world, with all its diversity, divisions and discontents. The film is far more than a conventional whodunit, though it does build a nice head of suspense as it grapples with themes of justice, doubt and bias. Its larger message is also one worth hearing, if not exactly news: In an age of cancel culture, the classroom is a battlefield. (PG-13, 98 minutes) — M.O.

Sometimes I Think About Dying

As subdued in tone and emotion as the neutral beige and brown ensembles favored by its mousy, office-worker protagonist (Daisy Ridley), this film offers an unconventional love story : one less about the thrill of romance than about the terror — and ultimate release — of connection. Director Rachel Lambert delivers its story with a reserve that is made up for by a genuinely affecting tenderness for its flawed yet searching characters. It’s kind of a downer, yes, but also stimulating as hell. (PG-13, 91 minutes) — M.O.

The Monk and the Gun

This sweet, off-kilter comedy offers a sly satire of today’s polarized world. Written and directed by Pawo Choyning Dorji, and focusing on Bhutan’s preparations for the democratic elections first held in 2008, it shares the same wry spirit and gentle tension between tradition and modernity that characterized the Bhutanese-born, American-trained filmmaker’s heartwarming Oscar-nominated 2019 film, “Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom,” but with some added bite. (PG-13, 112 minutes) — M.O.

This rebooted hybrid of the hit 2004 movie “ Mean Girls ” and the Broadway stage musical it spawned wisely doesn’t try to simply adapt for the screen something that worked onstage and wouldn’t translate to film. Yes, it’s got songs (by Jeff Richmond and Nell Benjamin), but they feel abridged and ever so slightly diminished, delivered more in the context of the original narrative of viral shaming, which has been tweaked for our TikTok times. The remake is sharp, well-acted and funny, and there are a few surprises for “Mean Girls” cultists. (PG-13, 105 minutes) — M.O.

Where to watch: Paramount Plus

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Critic’s Notebook: ‘Civil War’ and the elusiveness of the of-the-moment movie

This image released by Mubi shows a scene from the film “Do Not Expect Too Much from the End of the World” (Mubi via AP)

This image released by Sideshow/Janus shows a scene from the film “The Beast” (Carole Bethuel/ Sideshow/Janus via AP)

This image released by A24 shows Kirsten Dunst in a scene from “Civil War.” (A24 via AP)

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NEW YORK (AP) — The movies are good at resurrecting the past and imagining the future, but pinning down the present can be tricky. Movies take a long time to make. Once you’ve gone from idea to script to production to edit and, finally, to audiences, several years might have passed.

Take “Civil War,” Alex Garland’s seemingly very of-the-moment, election-year release that led the box office over last weekend. Garland wrote it in 2020 as the pandemic was unfolding and a presidential election was approaching. “Civil War” arrived in theaters four years later, loaded with the anxieties of societal breakdown and concern for the endgame to our current political extremism.

But it also very consciously stepped away from the bitter partisanship of today. “Civil War” sparked a lot of discussion by pairing California and Texas together in battle, but that’s far from the only gesture Garland made to avoid channeling the current, highly charged fissures of American society.

The movie, perhaps out of fear of being too contemporary, is set in a near-future dystopia. Scant mention is made of race, income inequality or climate change. It has connective tissue with many current issues, particularly the plight of journalists. But it’s telling that even a provocative movie that imagines America in all-out warfare is timid about today.

Mexican director Miguel Salgado poses with his the Golden Saint George trophy for a photo after the closing ceremony of the 46th Moscow International Film Festival in Moscow, Russia, on Friday, April 26, 2024. A Mexican film has won the top prize at the Moscow International Film Festival which took place as major Western studios boycott the Russian market and as Russia's war in Ukraine grinds into its third year. "Shame," a film by director Miguel Salgado and co-produced by Mexico and Qatar, was the most highly awarded film at the festival which began in 1935 and which has been held annually since 1999. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko)

Yet even if “Civil War” was bracingly current, would that have been appropriate in an election year? More importantly, would we even want to see it?

With many exceptions, the movie year in multiplexes can seem forever toggling between the period dramas of Oscar season and the sequels of summer, a seemingly willful dance to forever avoid the here and now. To a large degree, Hollywood runs on intellectual property, which, by its definition, is old. That didn’t stop “Barbie” from being highly relevant 64 years after the doll’s creation, or a 70-year-old Godzilla from showing some new moves , or 62-year-old Spider-Man proving surprisingly adept at reflecting our chaotic digital lives.

But finding movies free of decades-old baggage or loads of CGI that masks the real world can take some effort. That dearth has made a pair of spring releases — Radu Jude’s “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World” and Bertrand Bonello’s “The Beast” — all the more thrilling for their eagerness to confront our present reality.

“Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the World,” the latest from the 47-year-old Romanian writer and director Jude, begins with an iPhone alarm clock going off. On the disheveled nightstand of Angela Răducanu (Ilinca Manolache) is a wine glass, paperback Proust and a clock with no hands, beneath which it reads “It’s later than you think.”

Angela’s life is a discombobulated swirl of GPS-navigated traffic, boorish men and work errands. Everything from the war in Ukraine to gun violence to Pornhub is filtered into her daily experience while she drives to appointments to make workplace-safety videos for a production company.

Angela occasionally boils over, though she mostly vents through TikTok, spouting misogynist incel rants with a filter that cloaks her identity. The persona is modeled after the online influencer Andrew Tate, who is charged in Bucharest with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He’s denied the allegations.

Interspersed with Angela’s story are excerpts from Lucian Bratu’s 1981 film “Angela Goes On.” That Angela (played by Dorina Lazăr) spends her days driving, too, as a taxi driver, and the juxtaposition between the two Angelas invites a comparison between that era and now. Today, filming in a harsh monochrome, doesn’t come off looking so good — even next to the communist Romania of the 1981 film.

Bonello’s “The Beast,” which expands this Friday in theaters, also uses separate timelines to illuminate present reality while pondering if we aren’t just doomed to repeat the past.

The movie, inspired by the Henry James novella “The Beast in the Jungle,” follows two lovers — Gabrielle (Léa Seydoux) and Louis (George MacKay) —through three time periods: 1910 Paris, 2014 Los Angeles and 2044 Paris.

In the first chapter, Gabrielle and Louis are brought together — not for the first time, Louis reminds her — in belle époque Paris just before the Great Flood of 1910. Their connection is palpable but the encounter ends in tragedy, in an underwater sequence of haunting power in the doll factory of Gabrielle’s husband.

The switch, then, from costume drama to more-or-less contemporary Los Angeles is jarring. But our characters are still some distant versions of their prior selves. Gabrielle, previously a pianist, is now an actor. Louis is a misogynistic vlogger whose incel delusions — along with some strange force drawing them back together — bring him again into Gabrielle’s orbit.

The echoes of their past lives are even more acute in 2044, by which time artificial intelligence has spread into all corners of life and Gabrielle is considering undergoing a procedure to “purify” her DNA. She’s told she won’t lose her emotions but will feel more “serenely.” The bookends of past and present in “The Beast” put dehumanization — from doll-making to A.I. — in disquieting context.

It’s not a coincidence that both “The Beast” and “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the Earth” wrestle with incel culture. To do so may be a necessary ingredient for making sense of our present reality. Sean Price Williams’ “The Sweet East,” a scuzzy, vital picaresque from last year, glibly but perceptively surveyed a ridiculous America of worlds-apart subcultures, conspiracy-addled shooters and bookish white supremacists. With a cast including Simon Rex, Jeremy O. Harris, Ayo Edebiri and Jacob Elordi, but a central heroine in Lillian (Talia Ryder), “The Sweet East” played like an “Alice in Wonderland” for now – an absurd odyssey for absurd times.

None of these films — “The Beast,” “Do Not Expect Too Much From the End of the Earth,” “The Sweet East” — are perfect, or even trying to be. But, unlike “Civil War,” they aren’t dodging anything. The present may be messy and muddled but these films, in very distinct and outlandish ways, are at least trying to pin it down.

Follow AP Film Writer Jake Coyle at: http://twitter.com/jakecoyleAP

‘Civil War’: What you need to know about A24’s dystopian action movie

Kirsten Dunst holds a camera in her lowered hand while another hangs off her backpack in "Civil War."

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A24’s “Civil War,” the latest film from “Ex Machina” and “Men” director Alex Garland , imagines a third-term president ruling over a divided America and follows the journalists driving through the war-torn countryside on a mission to land his final interview. The movie is pulse-pounding and contemplative, as the characters tumble from one tense encounter to the next and ruminate on the nature of journalism and wartime photography.

In his review of the film, The Times’ Joshua Rothkopf wrote, “‘Civil War’ will remind you of the great combat films , the nauseating artillery ping of ‘Saving Private Ryan,’ the surreal up-is-down journey of ‘Apocalypse Now.’ It also bears a pronounced connection to the 2002 zombie road movie scripted by its writer-director Alex Garland, ‘28 Days Later.’”

Starring Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny as photojournalists, alongside Wagner Moura and Stephen McKinley Henderson (and a scene-stealing, nerve-racking Jesse Plemons ), the film carries a reported production budget of $50 million and has already started to recoup the costs at the box office, earning $25.7 million in ticket sales in its first weekend in North America.

“Civil War” has also been a discourse juggernaut. Conversation on social media has focused on the lack of context given for the conflict at the heart of the film. In a recent column, The Times’ Mary McNamara wrote that “forcing the very real political divisions that plague this nation into vague subtext doesn’t even serve the purported pro-journalism nature of ‘Civil War.’”

Catch up on our coverage of the film below.

Review: ‘Civil War’ shows an America long past unraveling, which makes it necessary

Starring Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny as journalists chronicling a war at home, writer-director Alex Garland’s action film provokes a shudder of recognition.

April 11, 2024

Los Angeles, CA - April 02: Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny pose for a portrait as they promote their new film, "Civil War," at Four Seasons Beverly Hills on Tuesday, April 2, 2024 in Los Angeles, CA. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times)

Kirsten Dunst and Cailee Spaeny on the nightmarish ‘Civil War’: ‘No nation is immune’

Writer-director Alex Garland’s controversy-courting political fable about a violently divided America brings together two generation-defining actors.

April 4, 2024

Kirsten Dunst, left, and Cailee Spaeny in 'Civil War'

What ‘Civil War’ gets right and wrong about photojournalism, according to a Pulitzer Prize winner

Carolyn Cole, a veteran L.A. Times photographer who won a Pulitzer Prize for her coverage of civil war in Liberia, breaks down the depiction of her profession in A24’s ‘Civil War.’

April 16, 2024

Actors Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons arrive for "Civil War" special screening

Inside the most unnerving scene in ‘Civil War’: ‘It was a stunning bit of good luck’

With a deeply disturbing turn by Jesse Plemons, one scene in “Civil War” encapsulates the film’s combustible political balancing act. It almost didn’t happen.

April 12, 2024

In trying to hedge its politics, ‘Civil War’ betrays its characters — and the audience

Alex Garland’s powerful war drama is ostensibly a tribute to the fourth estate. But the film is absent the examination of causes and consequences central to great journalism.

April 15, 2024

Two women with press helmets and vests crouch to take a photo in a scene from "Civil War."

Company Town

After ‘Civil War’ and mainstream success, can indie darling A24 keep its cool?

‘Civil War’s’ overperformance at the box office proves that A24’s brand is strong enough to open a divisive $50-million about a dystopian America.

This image released by A24 shows Kirsten Dunst in a scene from "Civil War." (Murray Close/A24 via AP)

Entertainment & Arts

‘Civil War’ unites moviegoers at box office

Alex Garland’s ‘Civil War,’ about a strife-torn, near-future America, knocked ‘Godzilla x Kong’ from the top spot at the weekend box office.

April 14, 2024

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COMMENTS

The War with Grandpa movie review (2020)
That's the question I asked myself over and over again while watching "The War with Grandpa," a straining comedy featuring the wildly overqualified Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin and Jane Seymour. No one needs a paycheck this badly. This goes far beyond the one-for-me, one-for-them theory of role choices.
The War With Grandpa
Oct 9, 2020. Rated: C • Aug 19, 2023. Rated: 1.5/5 • Sep 3, 2022. Rated: 4/10 • May 20, 2022. Peter and his grandpa used to be very close, but when Grandpa Jack moves in with the family ...
The War with Grandpa Movie Review
Parents need to know that The War with Grandpa is a family comedy based on Robert Kimmel Smith's 1984 book about a resentful boy named Peter (Oakes Fegley) who pranks his grandfather (Robert De Niro) in hopes that he'll move out of his room.Eventually, Grandpa engages, and the two start a "war" that actually ends up creating a bond between them. If you can suspend your disbelief, it's funny ...
'The War With Grandpa' review: Robert De Niro stars in a ...
Adapted from Robert Kimmel Smith's book, and directed by Tim Hill (an animation veteran, including "The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run"), the film quickly turns into a domestic war, with ...
'The War with Grandpa' Review
'The War with Grandpa': Film Review. Robert De Niro plays a widower battling with his grandson in 'The War with Grandpa,' also featuring Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken and Cheech Marin.
The War with Grandpa (2020)
The War with Grandpa: Directed by Tim Hill. With Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Oakes Fegley. Upset that he has to share the room he loves with his grandfather, Peter decides to declare war in an attempt to get it back.
The War with Grandpa review
F or a film as cursed as family comedy The War with Grandpa, shot back in 2017 then sidelined and sold as a result of Harvey Weinstein's downfall, it's a very minor victory to report that ...
'The War With Grandpa' Review: Robert De Niro Gets Juvenile
Here he appears in "The War With Grandpa" — which is not a sequel to his coarse 2016 "Dirty Grandpa .". "War" is, rather, a family comedy. Directed by Tim Hill, from a novel by the ...
'The War with Grandpa' review: Despite De Niro, this is hell
Robert De Niro finds himself at odds with his grandson in the broad family comedy, "The War with Grandpa.". Despite the film's wave at a soft center, nothing lands emotionally. It's ...
The War With Grandpa
Full Review | Original Score: 1.5/5 | Sep 3, 2022. So much of The War with Grandpa feels utterly cheap. It plays more like a Disney Channel Original Movie that somehow got Robert De Niro and Uma ...
Movie Review: The War With Grandpa, starring Robert De Niro
Movie review: In the bland family comedy The War with Grandpa, Robert De Niro plays an aging widower who moves in with his family, much to the consternation of his grandson (Oakes Fegley), whose ...
The War With Grandpa
A virtual castle is destroyed. A tree catches on fire. Someone's hit on the back of her head with a drone. A guy falls off a one-wheeled skateboard. Peter worries that he might've taken the "war" too far, when Grandpa picks up Peter in a strange black car and tells the driver to take him to a place unknown.
'The War With Grandpa' Movie Review (2020): Tough Guy Robert ...
Read Parade's review of the 2020 movie "The War With Grandpa." Tough guy Robert De Niro shows his silly side in this comedy about a 10-year-old boy forced to give up his bedroom when his ...
The War with Grandpa
The War with Grandpa is a 2020 American family comedy film directed by Tim Hill, from a screenplay by Tom J. Astle and Matt Ember, based upon the novel of the same name by Robert Kimmel Smith.The film is about a young boy named Peter (Oakes Fegley) who fights in a prank war with his grandfather (Robert De Niro) to get his grandfather to move out of his room after he moves in with his family.
'The War With Grandpa': What About Bob, The AARP Years
Robert De Niro's comedy about an elderly man and his grandkid engaged in escalating prank battle will make you miss the glory days of 'Little Fockers'. Cheech Marin, Robert De Niro, Jane Seymour ...
The War with Grandpa
Sixth-grader Peter (Oakes Fegley) is pretty much your average kid—he likes gaming, hanging with his friends and his beloved pair of Air Jordans. But when his recently widowed grandfather Ed (Robert De Niro) moves in with Peter's family, the boy is forced to give up his most prized possession of all, his bedroom. Unwilling to let such an injustice stand, Peter devises a series of ...
Movie Review
The War with Grandpa, 2020. Directed by Tim Hill. Starring Robert De Niro, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, Jane Seymour, Oakes Fegley, Laura Marano, Rob Riggle ...
'The War With Grandpa' Review: Robert De Niro Leads Inane Kids' Movie
Based on the popular kids' book by Robert Kimmel Smith, "The War with Grandpa" is a sluggish hodgepodge of slapstick humor that barely holds together its illogically motivated plot. The ...
The War with Grandpa (2020)
The War with Grandpa tells the story of Peter(Oakes Fegley), who all of a sudden has to vacate his room, when his grandfather Ed(Robert De Niro), starts living with the family. Giving his grandfather his room, irks Peter to no end. So, he declares a war to get his room back from Ed, his grandfather. The War with Grandpa is a hilarious movie.
The War With Grandpa
The War With Grandpa movie rating review for parents - Find out if The War With Grandpa is okay for kids with our complete listing of the sex, profanity, violence and more in the movie. Home; Artistic Reviews; Testimonials; ... I've found the "Our Take" reviews and ratings for each movie to be right on the money every single time. I've ...
THE WAR WITH GRANDPA
Fegley is Peter, a good kid entering a world of hurt when he starts the 5 th grade and attracts the school bully's special attention, and a world of resentment when he's forced to give up his room when his otherwise beloved grandfather moves in. Not that Grandpa is any too pleased with the situation that his daughter (Uma Thurman) has pressured him into after an unfortunate run-in with the ...
The War With Grandpa
The War With Grandpa 2020, PG, 94 min. Directed by Tim Hill. Starring Robert De Niro, Oakes Fegley, Uma Thurman, Rob Riggle, Christopher Walken, Cheech Marin, Jane Seymour, Laura Marano.
The War with Grandpa (2020)
Even so, The War with Grandpa is impressively terrible. The warning signs were all front and center: it's not just a comedy, it's a children's comedy, which is an even more appalling graveyard for gone-to-seed actors; it was directed by Tim Hill, the can't-win auteur behind such gems as Alvin and the Chipmunks and Hop; and perhaps worst of all ...
Unsung Hero movie review & film summary (2024)
Christy Lemire. Christy Lemire is a longtime film critic who has written for RogerEbert.com since 2013. Before that, she was the film critic for The Associated Press for nearly 15 years and co-hosted the public television series "Ebert Presents At the Movies" opposite Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, with Roger Ebert serving as managing editor.
Civil War film review
Civil War is the stuff of nightmares in the new film of the same name. American carnage has come to pass in Manhattan, Pittsburgh and beyond. It also looks naggingly sexy. In a slick slab of ...
ISS review
The film's director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, made her name with the killer whale documentary Blackfish, and brings her documentary-maker's curiosity to the mechanics of living in space.Sleep ...
'Civil War' review: Alex Garland's dystopian vision of America
Movie review. Alex Garland's "Civil War" is essentially a horror movie, one in which the horrors feel uncomfortably close to home. In this vision of America, the country is divided into two ...
Review
'Perfect Days,' 'Sasquatch Sunset,' 'Love Lies Bleeding' and 'Civil War' all make our evolving list of 2024's best movies.
Critic's Notebook: 'Civil War' and the elusiveness of the of-the-moment
Movies take a long time to make. Once you've gone from idea to script to production to edit and, finally, to audiences, several years might have passed. Take "Civil War," Alex Garland's seemingly very of-the-moment, election-year release that led the box office over last weekend. Garland wrote it in 2020 as the pandemic was unfolding ...
'Civil War' explained: Inside Alex Garland's new A24 movie
In his review of the film, The Times' Joshua Rothkopf wrote, "'Civil War' will remind you of the great combat films, the nauseating artillery ping of 'Saving Private Ryan,' the surreal ...

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