Keanu Reeves has always had a limited range, but he’s solid when tapped for the right role, and he’s particularly good with action. “John Wick” plays to the actor’s strengths, giving him a part that requires both impressive athleticism and old-fashioned movie star charisma. The film focuses on its title character (Reeves), a former assassin who retired to a more peaceful existence after finding the love of his life.

Robert Duvall has again entered the Oscars race thanks to his portrayal of a grumpy-but-fair-minded legal professional in “The Judge.” The movie features Robert Downey Jr. as Hank Palmer, a flashy, big-city defense attorney who returns to his tiny, Indiana hometown for his mother’s funeral. Director David Dobkin wastes no time establishing that Hank and his father, Joseph (Duvall), have unresolved problems. The latter is a no-nonsense judge known for dispensing firm rulings.

Laika, the studio that brought us “ParaNorman” and “Coraline,” continues its outstanding theatrical work with “The Boxtrolls,” an animated feature based on the Alan Snow novel “Here Be Monsters!” The stop-motion project, which is nominated for best animated movie at the Academy Awards, is set in the fictionalized town of Cheesebridge during the Victorian era.

Few directors match David Fincher in terms of filmmaking prowess. He is known as a perfectionist, and his work ethic results in exciting films that drip with atmosphere and often take viewers by surprise. From that standpoint, “Gone Girl” is a quintessential Fincher project. Based on the bestselling 2012 novel by Gillian Flynn, the movie focuses on Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck), an average guy who is thrown into the spotlight when his semi-famous wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), goes missing. 

Look beyond the production hype, the five Golden Globe nominations and the appearances on numerous top-10 film lists, and one finds an intimate relationship drama that follows a boy and girl from childhood to young adulthood. The primary focus is on Mason (Ellar Coltrane), but the movie also looks at the most important people in Mason’s life. They include his sister, Samantha (Lerelei Linklater, the director’s daughter); their mother, Olivia (Patricia Arquette); and his father, Mason Sr. (Ethan Hawke). 

There’s nothing inventive about director Antoine Fuqua’s big-screen adaptation of the 1980s TV drama “The Equalizer,” but it is plenty entertaining. Most of the credit goes to Denzel Washington, an actor who can take any role to unexpected heights. In “The Equalizer,” he plays Robert McCall, a former special-forces officer who has retired to a quiet life working at a retail store. 

Canadian director Philippe Falardeau’s feature film about the Lost Boys of Sudan is a predictable yet thoroughly enjoyable tale about perseverance, love and humanity’s odd bilateral nature. The movie starts in Sudan where a number of youth are displaced after their parents are murdered during the second Sudanese civil war. Alone and desperate to survive, they begin a long and dangerous march to Kenya. 

Bateman, Fey, Fonda and Rose Byrne (in a supporting role) give the film energy and star power, and their lesser-known co-stars are just as solid. The primary failing of “This Is Where I Leave You” is the fact that there’s so much going on. While all families have drama, Levy’s film piles one unlikely scenario atop another until viewers are left with a teetering monster that strains all credibility. Viewers who can suspend disbelief and enjoy the craziness will have a good time, but those expecting subtlety will be disappointed.  

Altina, a film by Peter Sanders, is a documentary valentine to his artist grandmother.  It may not solve the riddle about the woman behind the cat’s eye frames she invented, but it’s a lively enough pastiche of the turbulent 20^th century she inhabited.  Through newsreels, archival home videos and close-up glimpses from some of the people whose lives she touched, we can enjoy the journey.  

Although “Guardians” is a Marvel Comics property, it lacks the name recognition of staple heroes, like “Spider-Man,” “Iron Man” and “Captain America.” It also relegates its most marketable stars (Bradley Cooper and Vin Diesel) to roles where their faces are hidden. Ultimately, the perceived marketing issues don’t matter because the movie – a wild mix of comedy and science-fiction – is a blast, and theatrical audiences figured that out right away.