Lauren (Amy Landecker) divorces her husband, Chase (Paul Adelstein), and takes an acting class where she befriends a classmate, Maria (Kiersey Clemons), and has a fling with another classmate, Sean (Nico Hiraga), who's much younger than her, in For Worse, Writer/director Amy Landecker has made a mildly engaging and intermittently funny, but tonally uneven, sugar-coated and uncooked romantic comedy. After her divorce, Lauren seems like a hot mess. She seems insecure and emotionally immature. Does she truly feel better about herself by dating a younger guy? It doesn't seem that way because they don't seem compatible. There's a scene where she accidentally pees on his bed while they're about to have sex which is played for laughs when Sean's roommate walks in on them and assumes it's cum. Then it's played for laughs again when Lauren tells her friend about the incident. What does she see in him other than a physical attraction? She's hesitant at first to kiss him, but then she caves into her desire even though she knows that it's wrong. In a cringe-inducing scene, she shows him off to her ex-husband and his new girlfriend, Sara (Angelique Cabra). who's jealous of her. If they were teenagers, that scene would make more sense, but these people are adults. If only they behaved more like grown ups.

      The third act has a new character introduced too late: Dave (Bradley Whitford), Maria's father who becomes Lauren's new love interest. Their relationship feels underdeveloped, though, and even a bit cheesy. The best scenes are the brief ones with Gabby Hoffmann playing an caricature of an acting teacher. Ultimately, For Worse, which feels more like a sitcom, doesn't have enough heartfelt moments nor enough to say about love, marriage, loneliness, self worth or self discovery. It would be the inferior B-movie in a double feature with An Unmarried Woman. At a running time of 1 hour and 30 minutes  For Worse opens at Quad Cinema via Brainstorm Media.

 

       In Gunfighter Paradise, Stoner (Braz Cubas), returns to his home in North Carolina after the death of his mother (voice of Jessica Hecht) and experiences strange hallucinations. Writer/director Jethro Waters has made a surreal, experimental, poetic and provocative psychological journey with shades of Lynch and Buñuel. The stone, who remains nameless, reads riddles that his late mother left behind. He also hallucinates strange visitors like Civil War reenactors, a cable guy and a killer. What does it all mean? What's the film trying to say? Waters doesn't spoon-feed the audience the answers to those questions nor does he provide much exposition. There are no flashbacks either. He trusts the audience's imagination, intelligence and emotions to guide them through Stoner's psychological and emotional breakdown without asking them to judge him.  Yes, it's confusing at times, but what's wrong with being confused? Stoner also feels confused and a bit lost, so you'll be able to easily relate to him in that sense. The cinematography gets pretty trippy with poetic visuals that compliment the film's tone very effectively while adding some substance concurrently. Poetry is often a form of protest for or against something. So, what is this film a protest for or against? That's up to you to decide and to debate. If you're open to unconventional, un-Hollywood psychological mindfucks that leave a lot of room for interpretation, Gunfighter Paradise will be just your cup of tea. Everyone else will most likely feel frustrated and exhausted. At a running time of 1 hour and 33 minutes  Gunfighter Paradise opens at AMC Lincoln Square.

Number of times I checked my watch: 2




 

      Miles Jr. (Armen Weitzman), Jack Jr. (Corirossi) and Puck (Sarah Ramos) have a series of adventures as they journey through California's wine country and participate in a wine competition in The Napa Boys, Writer/director Nick Corirossi and co-writer Armen Weitzman have made an unfunny and witless satire that mostly aims for low brow humor. That would've been fine if the jokes and sight gags landed or if any of the actors and actresses on screen had good comedic timing. No one gets the chance to shine their comedic talent here, though, and the cameos by David Wain, Kevin Smith and Jason Mewes, among others, aren't funny either. The humor often feels forced and falls flat. Beyond that, there's not enough bite to the film's satire while the plot remains very dull with little to no narrative momentum. It's no help that all of the characters are either annoying or bland. If The Napa Boys were campier, funnier, more witty and audacious, it would've become a mindlessly entertaining guilty pleasure rather than such a painfully unfunny bore. It makes Netflix's mediocre satire, Wine Country, look like a masterpiece. At a running time of 1 hour and 32 minutes, which feels more like 3 hours, The Napa Boys opens at Landmark Sunset and AMC The Americana at Brand 18 in LA before expanding to Angelika Film Center in NYC on March 6th, 2026 via Magnolia Pictures.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4




 

      Luke (Dustin Mulligan) drives his brother, Danny (Simon Rex), across the country to move to a new place where he found a new job in  Operation Taco Gary's. They stop for a detour at Taco Gary's, a fast food restaurant where aliens hide. Writer/director Michael Kvamme has made a sci-fi comedy that's consistently zany, but unimaginative, witless, meandering and unfunny. It has a concept that makes it sounds like could be a hilarious, bold and fun adventure. Unfortunately, Luke and Danny are both annoying characters who are like nails on a chalkboard. They don't have even remotely the same rapport as Cheech & Chong or Harold & Kumar. On top of that, the  plot takes too long to get to the meat of the story: alien society living under Taco Gary's. By then, there's not enough world-building or exposition. Too many scenes, like those involving Jason Biggs playing himself, feel like vignettes in a dark comedy sketch that fall flat. For a funnier, smarter, more witty and imaginative sci-fi adventure, see Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. Everything that that film gets right, Operation Taco Gary's gets wrong. It's just as much of a comedic misfire as the upcoming satire The Napa Boys. At a running time of 1 hour and 27 minutes  Operation Taco Gary's opens in select theaters via Chroma.

Number of times I checked my watch: 4

      Cheryl 'No Mercy' Stewart (Wanda Sykes), a boxing coach and recovering alcoholic, convinces her estranged son, Keith (Bentley Green), to train him for a boxing match against Kordell (Xavier Mills), a boxer she used to train in Undercard. Writer/director Tamika Miller and co-writer Anita M. Cal have made a gripping, tender and engrossing sports drama with heartfelt, career-best performance by Wanda Sykes. Cheryl has been a bad role model for her estranged son until she sobered up. She's aware of her mistakes and shows signs of introspection through her remorse without denying the pain that she caused Keith. Fortunately, she's not a malignant narcissist because she demonstrates her capability of changing and becoming a better role model who's emotionally mature. The scenes with her and Keith feel true-to-life without any contrivances, clunkiness or schmaltz. Kudos to the filmmakers for treating both of them as complex human beings, warts-and-all. It's inspirational and moving to watch them heal, grow and learn to love themselves in the process.

      Keith forgives her, but does Cheryl forgive herself? That's a more complicated question with an answer that's open to interpretation, but the possibility for that forgiveness is there. It's fundamentally about two broken people who try to fix their relationship and to heal their emotional pain. Bravo to Wanda Sykes for choosing a role that's against type. She's the film's MVP. Like many great boxing films, it's not really about boxing. You don't have to be a fan of boxing to enjoy it. At a running time of 1 hour and 45 minutes, Undercard is a triumph. It opens in select theaters via Seismic Releasing.

Number of times I checked my watch: 1