Capsule reviews for July 27

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry

The controversial and outspoken Chinese artist is the subject of this insightful if straightforward documentary that manages to not only give the details of its subject, but also serves as a broader glimpse into the contemporary Chinese cultural and sociopolitical landscape. The film follows Ai, whose modern art served as an inspiration for the stadium built for the Beijing Olympics in 2008, as he begins to use his art as a method of political activism against the Chinese government. When he is censored, he becomes a sensation on social media. Rookie director Alison Klayman compiles a complex and sympathetic portrait of a man and his cause. (Rated R, 91 minutes).

Burning Man

Matthew Goode (Brideshead Revisited) gives a powerful performance at the center of this uneven Australian drama about a single father, who works as a chef at a high-end restaurant, struggling to put his demons and sexual vices in his past in order to reconnect with his young son. It’s never boring, but the disjointed script by director Jonathan Teplitzky has some intriguing characters and provocative ideas that remain mostly unrealized, in part because the film is so manipulative and chronologically jumbled. The result is only sporadically compelling. Among the actresses playing the women in his life are Kerry Fox, Rachel Griffiths and Gia Carides. (Not rated, 110 minutes).

Nuit #1

The messy details of a one-night stand are insightfully dissected in this intimate two-character French Canadian drama about Clara (Catherine de Lean), who meets Nikolai (Dimitri Storoge) at a club before spending the night at his apartment. What starts out as a quest for impulsive sex turns into a night filled with verbal sparks as the couple reveals details about one another and helps determine their long-term compatibility. The script by rookie director Anne Emond is contrived in spots and might have worked better as a short subject. Yet her concept works because of two actors who are willing to bare their bodies and souls. (Not rated, 91 minutes).

Sacrifice

There’s an old-fashioned quality to the latest historical epic from Chinese filmmaker Chen Kaige (Farewell My Concubine) that seems appropriate for this saga of an infant who survives a massacre of his family by a corrupt general (Wang Xueqi), before the orphan is raised by his doctor (Ge You) in order to exact revenge. It features both intimate family drama and sequences of action-packed spectacle, weaved together by Chen into a slick package that might lack historical context yet remains compelling. The melodramatic script (adapted from an opera) lacks subtlety but generates raw emotion, and the visuals from Chen and his crew are striking. (Rated R, 122 minutes).

Searching for Sugar Man

The search is only the beginning in this compelling documentary about the strange career of the 1970s folk singer known as Rodriguez, whose music was largely acclaimed by critics but ignored by audiences. The Detroit native toiled in obscurity in the United States, with rumors swirling about his untimely death, before his albums became an unexpected hit in South Africa, where his songs served as anti-Apartheid anthems. The overzealous structure of the film is disjointed, but its subject is fascinating. Hopefully, it will have the benefit of giving a second chance to the music of Rodriguez, which would be fitting given his story. (Rated PG-13, 86 minutes).