Crisis

If you want to witness an exercise in hopelessness, take a gander at “Crisis,” an early frontrunner for 2021’s Feel-Bad Movie of the Year. A strong cast (Armie Hammer, Evangeline Lilly, Greg Kinnear, Gary Oldman) examines the opioid issue from multiple angles – junkies, overdosers, recoverers, dealers, law enforcement, researchers and Big Pharma. It’s not pretty. There’s suspense, however, as you see various storylines careening toward each other and you’re trying to guess which ones are going to make it to the intersection, which ones are (literally) going to die trying, and if it’s possible for anybody to get away clean.

Someone Like You

It’s kind of interesting watching a film try to do an autopsy on itself while the body’s still moving. That’s what you get with “Someone Like You” (2001), a rom-com starring Hugh Jackman, Ashley Judd and a strong supporting cast (including Marisa Tomei as the wacky BFF). Judd, perennially jilted, decides to take a scientific approach, deconstructing men’s romantic misbehavior (they’re cows with a hard-wired aversion to monogamy). Pre-Google mistaken identity hijinks ensue. Meanwhile, we’re all sitting there knowing she’s going to hook up with frenemy Jackman in the end (don’t act like I spoiled it – you knew it, too).

As Good as It Gets

“As Good as It Gets” is not. This strange 1997 romantic comedy is very 1990s (code for excruciatingly chatty and somewhat depressing) and therefore doesn’t stand the test of time very well, despite Oscar-winning performances by Jack Nicholson and Helen Hunt. Groans outweigh laughs. The theme: It’s not easy being someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder; it’s even harder when you are a total a-hole; that being said, if even obsessive-compulsive a-holes can be redeemed, then there is hope for all of us. Trivia: Lisa Edelstein and Peter Jacobson from “House” play “woman at table” and “man at table” in one scene.