Minions, getaway drivers and nuns are among what’s headed to theaters this weekend with Despicable Me 3 and Baby Driver. Also releasing this weekend is Will Ferrell’s and Amy Poehler’s comedy The House, and Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie, Dave Franco and Kate Micuci in The Little Hours along with Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Nick Offerman and Fred Armisen.
Read on to find out what The Hollywood Reporter‘s critics are saying about the weekend’s new offerings (as well as which film will likely top the weekend box office).
Gru and his minions are back, and this time not only facing his biggest nemesis but his long-lost twin brother, Dru. Steve Carell pulls double duty as the voices of Gru and Dru, along with the voice cast of Kristen Wiig, Trey Parker, Miranda Cosgrove and Julie Andrews complete with more Pharrell songs on the soundtrack. THR critic Jordan Mintzer says the film once again scores with its if-it-ain’t-broke-then-don’t-fix-it approach that made the previous version the most profitable in Universal history. He adds, “This rather clever, breakneck-paced cartoon gives fans exactly what they want: Like the new nemesis voiced by Trey Parker, it shoots multiple machine-gun bursts of bubblegum at the audience, asking them to chew and enjoy.” Read the full review here.
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The House
Will Ferrell and Amy Poehler star as a married couple who open an illegal casino in their home to pay for their kid’s college tuition. Jason Mantzoukas, Nick Kroll and Jeremy Renner also star in the comedy. Screenwriter Andrew Jay Cohen also co-wrote parents-gone-wild films Neighbors and Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates, but Defore writes, “the third time is anything but charmed for this luckless effort.”
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The Little Hours
Aubrey Plaza, Alison Brie and Kate Micucci play 14th-century Italian nuns attracted to Dave Franco’s character (a servant seeking refuge) in director Jeff Baena’s (also Plaza’s longtime boyfriend) adapation of Giovanni Boccaccio’s sex comedy Decameron. Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, Nick Offerman and Fred Armisen round out the cast of the Sundance film, co-produced by Plaza. The comedy was criticized by the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights; however, DeFore writes in his review that the film “works so well” and a “winning ensemble brings present-day attitude” to the 14th-century work.
