A PLACE AT
THE TABLE
⋆⋆⋆ out of four stars
Rating: PG for thematic elements and brief mild language
Theater: Uptown
"A Place at the Table" is a well-reported and devastating look at hunger in rural America. Deftly combining portraits of families lacking food security, expert interviews and infographics, the film by co-directors Kristi Jacobson and Lori Silverbush opens eyes, minds and hearts. Raj Patel, author of "Stuffed and Starved," addresses the paradoxical link between malnutrition and obesity, both signs that poor people can't afford food they need to stay healthy. Experts detail the problem's connection to agricultural policy, what we subsidize (commodity crop ingredients in processed foods) and what we don't (whole grains, fruits and vegetables).
The film also digs deep into the stories of dignified, persevering, often hardworking but underpaid people dependent on charity food banks for their next meal. It evenhandedly addresses America's emotional and ideological tug of war between wishing to help the less fortunate and worrying that someone might be getting a free ride. Throughout, it offers resonant landscape images of a country so fertile it could easily feed its own population abundantly if national priorities favored that outcome.
21 & over
⋆⋆⋆ out of four stars
Rating: R for crude and sexual content, pervasive language, some graphic nudity, drugs and drinking.
Here is a youth comedy that is leering, offensive, politically incorrect, at times even disgusting, and yet not a bummer. In fact, those who stick with it to the end may find "21 & Over" one of the more appealing movies of the season. Written and directed by "The Hangover" co-writers Jon Lucas and Scott Moore, it's brought off with a crazed, chaotic energy that absolves most of its sins.