Mass. ties in Oscar-buzzy documentary 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'

So many movies, so little time. If I can’t keep up, and this is my profession, I doubt you can either. So, to help you cut through all the confusion over what to see, here are my takes on five films currently in theaters or streaming. See or skip? You decide:

'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed'

The Boston area plays a prominent role in the early stages of Laura Poitras’ scattershot profile of Swampscott native Nan Goldin. The acclaimed photographer has no doubt led an eventful life, one brimming with sex, drugs and an endless thirst for rebellion. But Poitras (the Oscar-winning “Citizenfour”) insists on limiting the scope by over-emphasizing Goldin’s activism in P.A.I.N. (Prescription Addiction Intervention Now), a protest group dedicated to condemning the Sackler family, the disgraced clan primarily blamed for igniting our nation’s deadly opioid epidemic. The result is a documentary telling two stories at once and adding up to almost nothing. The film is at its best when focusing on Goldin’s fascinating life lived in the thick of the artistic counterculture during the late 20th century. But each time Poitras draws you into Goldin’s world of addiction, sex work, shattered affairs, physical abuse and dysfunctional parents, she jarringly disrupts the flow with asides to P.A.I.N.’s radical attempts to persuade prominent museums and universities to, first, stop accepting Sackler money, and, second, remove the family’s name from dozens of institutions at home and abroad. If Poitras had only chosen one or the other to concentrate on, “All the Beauty” might have coalesced into a satisfying whole. As is, it’s a disjointed mess. Skip it in theaters. Grade: C

'Emancipation'

The Oscar smack felt round the world inescapably looms over Will Smith’s latest endeavor. In it, he plays a runaway slave encountering bloodhounds, alligators and redneck bounty hunters, while slogging through dangerous swampland in hopes of finding refuge among Union soldiers in Louisiana. The fact-based film directed by Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) and written by Bill Collage plays like a discombobulated version of “The Revenant” meets “Glory,” but nowhere near as compelling. On its own, the movie is predictable and much too episodic, with Smith’s Peter narrowly escaping a succession of near-death scrapes with man, nature and beast. It also doesn’t help that you can’t watch Smith ‒ no matter how much blood and mud he’s caked in ‒ without recalling his sucker-slapping Chris Rock at this year’s Oscars. If you can get past that, and it’s a big “if,” it’s tough not to marvel at the level of abuse Smith subjects his body to in a role eschewing dialogue in favor of intense physicality. If this were an obstacle course, Smith would win hands down. But as an attempt to affectingly depict the horrors of slavery, it falters, largely because Fuqua and Collage endow Peter with only a semblance of an inner life. He’s basically a hunky Black man sloshing through swamps with no time to stop and reveal his thought process. Adding to the film’s woes is Boston native Ben Foster as a relentless overseer determined to bring Peter back to the plantation ‒ dead or alive.  It’s work Foster could perform in his sleep. And at times, that’s exactly what he and Smith appear to be doing ‒ sleeping. Alas, so are we. Skip it in theaters, or on Apple TV+ Grade: C

'Nanny'

First-time writer-director Nikyatu Jusu coaxes a scintillating performance from Anna Diop as a Senegalese immigrant desperate to earn enough cash to enable her young son to join her in New York City. To that end, Diop’s Aisha hires on with a pseudo-liberal white couple (Michelle Monaghan and Morgan Spector) seeking a nanny to raise their precocious 5-year-old daughter, Rose (Rose Decker). From the get-go, Jusu creates a foreboding mood that reaches a crescendo when Aisha realizes she’s being a much better mother to Rose than to her own son, Lamine (Jaleel Kamara), whose weekly Zooms with Mom are no longer cutting it. It’s a situation made worse by Monaghan’s Amy withholding a portion of Aisha's salary, perhaps as a means of exerting control. And the longer Amy holds out, the longer Lamine waits in limbo. As a social commentary on the immigrant experience, “Nanny” is deep and insightful in its examination of “outsiders,” particularly those being treated condescendingly by “woke” white ladies incapable of half the parenting skills of women as smart and resourceful as Aisha. No wonder Rose imprints on Aisha more than Amy. As for Rose’s sleazy, photojournalist daddy, he seems to prefer Aisha too. While this is all great stuff, Jusu ultimately stumbles by awkwardly shifting midstream into a thrill-free horror story, complete with waterlogged nightmares and visits by the Mami Wata. Sorry, not buying it. The only thing truly fearsome is Diop’s incredible talent. See it in select theaters now and on Amazon Prime beginning Dec. 16. Grade: B- 

'Something from Tiffany’s'

Proving that Hallmark hasn’t completely cornered the market on soft-serve Yuletide romance movies, Amazon offers up this contrived comedy about fate and witless men who buy their lovers gems from a certain New York City jeweler (gosh, I wish I could recall the store’s name) and don’t bother to make sure they brought home what they bought. For this film’s particular purposes, the two males would be hunky novelist Ethan (charismatic Kendrick Sampson), and clueless tattoo specialist Gary (Ray Nicholson). Each walks into that jewelry store ‒ the name of which I fail to remember (wink, wink) – at the same time searching for the perfect Christmas gift for their ladies. But via a clunky plot twist, their purchases get switched. So, Gary’s gal, restaurateur Rachel (Zoey Deutch), gets the engagement ring, and Ethan’s squeeze, Vanessa (Shane Mitchell), the earrings. Rather than explain the mix-up to their mates, both men lie and deceive. This should not be cool, but in this alternative universe created by director Daryl Wein and writer Tamara Chestna, it’s the means to stretching a simple foul-up into a 90-minute farce in which jewelry isn’t the only thing switched. Rest assured, everything works out in the end, as you likely predicted from the start. What keeps you sticking around for this Reese Witherspoon production, besides the glossy cinematography by Brice Fortner, are the central performances by Deutch and Sampson. They are great together; and the film, based on Melissa Hill’s novel, is just enticing enough to hold your gaze. Kudos also go to Jojo T. Gibbs as Rachel’s cynical, wisecracking BFF, Terri, and Leah Jeffries as Ethan’s scene-stealing young daughter, Daisy. It’s not the perfect holiday gift, but it sure beats a stocking full of coal. See it on Amazon Prime. Grade: B- 

Coming soon to Loring Hall Hingham: Olivia Colman, Micheal Ward shine in Sam Mendes' 'Empire of Light'

This article originally appeared on The Patriot Ledger: See or Skip: 'All the Beauty and the Bloodshed' 'Emancipation' 'Nanny'