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What stands out first about You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is the confidence with which Woody Allen establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger asks Anthony Hopkins and Naomi Watts to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger is established with useful clarity: Sally's parents' marriage breaks up when her father undergoes a mid life crisis and impulsively wed

What stands out first about Exit Through the Gift Shop is the confidence with which Banksy establishes its documentary identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Exit Through the Gift Shop asks Banksy and Mr. Brainwash to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Exit Through the Gift Shop is established with useful clarity: Following the style of some of the world's most prolific street artists, an amateur filmmaker makes a foray into the art world. Th

What stands out first about The Runaways is the confidence with which Floria Sigismondi establishes its biographical drama identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Runaways asks Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Runaways is established with useful clarity: A coming of age biographical film about the 1970s teenage all girl rock band The Runaways. That direct approach lets The Runaways use its 1h 46m

What stands out first about Of Gods and Men is the confidence with which Xavier Beauvois establishes its historical drama identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Of Gods and Men asks Lambert Wilson and Michael Lonsdale to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Of Gods and Men is established with useful clarity: Under threat by fundamentalist terrorists, a group of Trappist monks stationed with an impoverished Algerian community must decide whether

What stands out first about My Name Is Khan is the confidence with which Karan Johar establishes its romance identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, My Name Is Khan asks Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of My Name Is Khan is established with useful clarity: Rizwan Khan is a Muslim immigrant to the US with Asperger's syndrome. That direct approach lets My Name Is Khan use its 2h 45m running time for character, atmosph

What stands out first about Please Give is the confidence with which Nicole Holofcener establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Please Give asks Catherine Keener and Oliver Platt to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Please Give is established with useful clarity: In New York City, a husband and wife butt heads with the granddaughters of the elderly woman who lives in the apartment the couple owns. That direct approach le

What stands out first about Greenberg is the confidence with which Noah Baumbach establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Greenberg asks Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Greenberg is established with useful clarity: A man from Los Angeles, who moved to New York years ago, returns to L.A. to figure out his life while he house sits for his brother. That direct approach lets Greenberg use it

What stands out first about Inside Job is the confidence with which Charles Ferguson establishes its documentary identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Inside Job asks Matt Damon and Gylfi Zoega to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Inside Job is established with useful clarity: Takes a closer look at what brought about the 2008 financial meltdown. That direct approach lets Inside Job use its 1h 49m running time for character, atmosphere and

What stands out first about Barney's Version is the confidence with which Richard J. Lewis establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Barney's Version asks Paul Giamatti and Rosamund Pike to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Barney's Version is established with useful clarity: The picaresque and touching story of the politically incorrect, fully lived life of the impulsive, irascible and fearlessly blunt Barney Panofsky. T

What stands out first about The Company Men is the confidence with which John Wells establishes its drama identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Company Men asks Ben Affleck and Chris Cooper to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Company Men is established with useful clarity: The story centers on a year in the life of three men trying to survive a round of corporate downsizing at a major company and how that affects them, their famili

What stands out first about The Way is the confidence with which Emilio Estevez establishes its comedy identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, The Way asks Martin Sheen and Emilio Estevez to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of The Way is established with useful clarity: A father heads overseas to recover the body of his estranged son who died while traveling the "El camino de Santiago," and decides to take the pilgrimage himself. That direct ap

What stands out first about Biutiful is the confidence with which Alejandro G. Iñárritu establishes its romance identity. Rather than relying on premise alone, Biutiful asks Javier Bardem and Maricel Álvarez to supply personality from the opening stretch. The premise of Biutiful is established with useful clarity: A man dying of cancer tries his best to leave the world on his own terms. That direct approach lets Biutiful use its 2h 28m running time for character, atmosphere a