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Good Boys is sort of good. [MOVIE REVIEW]

Twelve-year-old, Max (Jacob Tremblay) has a lot to worry about. He’s invited to his first kissing party and panics because he doesn't know how to kiss. His friend Thor (Brady Noon) convinces him to spy on a teenage neighbor and her boyfriend, to get lessons on how to smooch. So Max, Thor and another friend Lucas (Keith L. Williams) decide to use Max's dad's drone -- which Max is forbidden to touch -- to spy on the couple. Their plan goes awry and the drone gets destroyed. Leading the kids on an arduous adventure to replace the device before Max’s father gets home - while also learning how to kiss.

Good Boys, directed by Gene Stupnitsky, combines coming of age humor with a bunch of crazy events happening in a short period – in this case, one day. A filmmaking style made famous in 1983 by Tom Cruise’s Risky Business. Most of the laughs center on the boys’ swearing and trying to figure out what the purposes of the devices Thor finds in his parents’ bedroom.

The film also touches on serious topics like parental divorce.

But ultimately, Good Boys is just a series of funny screens, but nothing filmgoers need to see right away. It gets a Rent It rating.

Good Boys scores an “A” for cast diversity. This is a highly diverse group in this film. Max’s dream girl is an adorable teen of color. Good Boys is also diverse in character roles. Max’s friend Lucas, the black kid, is not the stereotypical thug. Rather he’s a nerd. A rule follower. The nice guy in the group. Additionally, the Alpha Male, the coolest dude at their school is a petite, Asian American (Izaac Wang).

While Keith L. Williams is a head taller than his two Good Boys co-stars, he’s actually the youngest of the three.

Good Boys is rated “R” for strong crude sexual content, drug, and alcohol material, and language throughout and is 95 minutes in length. Again, no need to take the time and spend the money to see this at the theater. Wait and Rent It.

American Made is Made Just Right [MOVIE REVIEW]

Barry Seal (Tom Cruise), an unassuming TWA pilot, is married with kids when the CIA comes a knocking. He’s got the right stuff to fly arms to support Ronald Reagan’s attempt to thwart a growing communist threat in Central America. Seal also gains the attention of what will become the Medellin drug cartel. They figure that while the pilot flies guns surreptitiously from the U.S. to Central America and back, he could add some cocaine to his cargo. Seal eventually agrees. However, as the Bible warns, you can’t serve two masters. Ultimately, Seal’s double-dealing comes crashing down around him.

American Made is a convoluted but never boring film. And it works because Tom Cruise single-handedly makes it work. Barry Seals is actually a sleazy guy but Tom Cruise makes him an appealing character that viewers root for. On the other hand, Tom Cruise’s wife, Lucy, played by Sarah Wright, is supposed to be a small town girl who worked at the KFC when they met, the 5’9” blond, comes across just like what she actually is: a former model.

The movie shows just how government agencies are often at odds with each other. Here the CIA and the Drug Enforcement Agency are in constant conflict.

American Made gets an “A” for cast diversity. The film has a large number of Hispanic actors, as it should, with other performers of color included as well.

American Made is rated R for language and some sexuality/nudity including Tom Cruise mooning his family. It’s 115 minutes in length and Cruise makes American Made a See It!

The Mummy should have stayed in her tomb [MOVIE REVIEW]

Ahmanet (Sofia Boutella), an ancient and ruthless Egyptian queen, lays entombed deep in the earth’s recesses until an evacuation crew led by Nick Morton (Tom Cruise) awakes her. Ahmanet is determined to dominate in the new world, the way she attempted to in her previous life. In addition to his ongoing battle with Ahmanet, Morton has recurring “exchanges” with the ghost of a comrade he had killed earlier in the film. Annabelle Wallis plays Morton’s partner in this adventure and is the stereotypical blonde eye candy.

The Mummy, whose production price tag was reported to be $125,000,000, is a visually stimulating 3-D extravaganza. However, The Mummy stumbles because of the filmmakers, as is too often the case in movies today, try to show how smart and creative they can be. The creativity is evident in the special effects, however, the story itself is not entertaining and there is no mystery. And, a plot like this one, that flops around like a fish on deck, soon like that fish, begins to smell.

There are no complaints about the performers. Tom Cruise has now passed the half-century mark, age wise, and remains very credible as the leading man in an action-adventure film. Cruise is fit and to prove it, he has scenes shirtless and at one point, he’s almost nude.

The Mummy gets a “B” for cast diversity. I especially liked Sofia Boutella, who is Algerian, in the role of the Egyptian queen. Courtney B. Vance costars as Colonel Greenway, along with other actors of color in smaller parts to round out a diverse cast.

Save yourself from buyer’s remorse and don’t get wrapped up in all the hype around The Mummy, this is a film you should wait to Rent It.

The Mummy is rated PG-13 for violence, action and scary images, suggestive content and partial nudity. It's 110 minutes in length.

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