New in Theaters August 31, 2018 "God Bless the Broken Road," "Kin" and "Operation Finale"

God Bless the Broken Road

Starring: Lindsey Pulsipher and Andrew W. Walker
Rated PG   

In this faith-based film a grieving widow, whose husband died in Afghanistan, struggles with a loss of faith while raising her daughter in a small rural town. Her life turns around when she meets a race car driver who has come to town.

“God Bless the Broken Road” is a manipulative film that replaces spirituality with hackneyed plot devices and predictable writing. The script stumbles along and never seems to get into any kind of pace that the audience can enjoy.

Badly edited and written, the film never really comes to a point or becomes, for that matter, a film about faith. Yes, all the words are there and spiritual phrases are said with a great deal of emphasis, but the film is tasteless and bland from beginning to end.

“God Bless the Broken Road” should have been so much better, but the producers decided to do the easy thing and just hope that by calling it 'faith based' someone will watch it.

It gets a D and is rated PG.

Operation Finale

Starring: Oscar Isaac and Ben Kingsley

Rated PG-13   

In the film a team of undercover Mossad agents track down the Nazi officer who masterminded the Holocaust.

“Operation Finale” is a well written and solidly acted historical drama centering on the discovery and capture of Adolph Eichmann, Hitler's right hand man. Although there are some historical inaccuracies in the film, the movie is a compelling spy story from beginning to end.

Ben Kingsley portrays Eichmann in a frighteningly cold way, although he allows his character some small slices of humanity here and there.

Oscar Isaac's performance as the Nazi hunter captivates the audience as his character is motivated by the pain of his personal losses and the devastation he witnessed.

All in all “Operation Finale” is well worth your time. It gets a B and is rated PG-13.

Kin

Starring: Miles Truitt, James France and Jack Reynor
Rated PG-13   

In “Kin” a young boy discovers an alien weapon of great power and is being hunted by those who lost it.

I was pleasantly surprised that “Kin” wasn't one of those 'kid saves the universe' films, which the promotional ads seem to lead you to believe.

The film offers some exciting action and solid acting, especially James Franco's relentless bad guy. And, although the film has its problems with pacing and flushing out some characters, the film ends up being a 'guys on the run' film with some thrills and spills.

“Kin” gets a B and is rated PG-13.