Only if ...

Here are several recent films I would commend to your attention only under special circumstances:

Letters to Juliet.  Watch this utterly predictable romantic comedy only if:  you’re in love with the Tuscan countryside bathed in a golden glow; or, you’re in awe of Vanessa Redgrave’s beauty, grace, and depth, and more than ready to see Guinevere reunited with Lancelot in old age, reenacting her real life reunion with Franco Nero; or, you can lose yourself in the limpid pools of Amanda Seyfreid’s saucer-sized eyes; or, you value the energy that Gael Garcia Bernal brings to any size role; or, you can forgive the formulaic writing and directing of Gary Winick to appreciate the light literary wit that pervades this otherwise ordinary entertainment.  (2010, MC-50)

Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist.  Watch this inoffensive -- try as it might – teen comedy of Jersey kids in the Big City for a long night’s journey to sunrise only if:  you have been thoroughly charmed and continuously amused by Michael Cera in the sitcom series Arrested Development or movies like Juno; or, you have some idea of, or taste for, the downtown music scene herein celebrated; or, you are eager to see the fairly appealing Kat Dennings trade her sports bra for a push-up and have her first orgasm, and to see her ditsy, drunken blond girlfriend Ari Graynor make it safely back across the river to home; or, you don’t choke on the thoroughly chewed piece of gum that makes its way through sticky moments of the film; or, Peter Sollett’s direction sends you back to the master, Marty Scorsese, and After Hours.  (2008, MC-64)

Blind Side.  Watch this surprisingly bad -- and surprisingly successful -- family soap opera with would-be wit and heart only if:  you have never watched an episode of Friday Night Lights to realize just how truthful and involving a story one can weave around high school football in the South; or, you are like Stephen Colbert and “don’t see color” and thus won’t mind the sanitized portrayal of race relations in this film; or, you’re not worried about having your esteem for source writer Michael Lewis called into question; or, you can believe that Sandra Bullock was named “Best Actress” for this adequately charming performance in a role without a lot of nuance; or, you are just in love with the whole Red State fantasy of “mama grizzlies.”  (2009, MC-53)