Film critics Cynthia Haines and Steve Walker discuss the latest in art, independent, foreign and documentary films playing in area theaters.By Up to Date
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Favorite Art, Independent and Foreign
Films of the WeekCynthia Haines' Picks
Winter's Bone
Ondine
Mother and Child
Steve Walker's Picks
Exit Through the Gift Shop
Winter's Bone
Please Give
More from Steve Walker:
Ondine (PG13)
Director Neil Jordan ("The Crying Game") attempts to blend Irish mythology, drug crimes, and a disabled child and the results, while atmospheric, are three incompatible strains that ultimately dilute one another. But Colin Farrell reminds us he's quite a good actor, playing here a recovering alcoholic fisherman in a quaint Irish village who pulls in his net one morning to discover a barely breathing woman. The film keeps the audience guessing, but largely focuses on the possibility that she is a Selkie, a half-woman, half-seal creature that is a staple of Irish folk tales of the sea. Lovely to look at, but tough to completely sweep you away.