Diary of a Wimpy Kid

DRIVEWAYS (B+) - Three wonderful performances ground this small, lived-in drama about a mom and her son befriending an elderly neighbor, in a story that seems too often told but comes off as fresh and emotionally potent. Hong Chau is Kathy, who has arrived in an unnamed suburb (it was shot in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) to clear out the cluttered home of her estranged sister who has died. Kathy has her 8-year-old son Cody with her, and Cody (Lucas Jay) starts chatting up next-door neighbor Del (Brian Dennehy), a Korean War veteran and widower.

This quiet slice of life gets a lot of little things right and never overplays its hand. Little Cody is impossibly sensitive and shy. Just the thought of having to roughhouse with a pair of lunkheaded neighbor brothers makes him throw up. He'd rather read on Del's porch. Meantime, Kathy works through her family dynamics by reconciling the life of her sister, 12 years older, who left behind a house full of junk and mysteries (and a dead cat).

The mother-son dynamic is touching without being cloying. (Her nickname for the clever little boy is Professor.) Dennehy, who died last month, brings gravitas while dodging potentially maudlin potholes. His big social practice is playing bingo with some old buddies, including one (Jerry Adler from "The Sopranos") who is exhibiting signs of dementia.

Kathy and Cody, as Asian Americans, can be made to feel like outsiders in this former bastion of whitebread suburbia -- especially by subtly racist neighbor Linda (Christine Ebersole) -- though Cody is drawn to other kids of color, including a much friendlier pair of siblings closer to his age. Andrew Ahn gently directs a script by Hannah Bos and Paul Thureen, actors who have written a few TV episodes recently.

All three lead actors bring depth and nuance to their roles. Chau is particularly soulful as the glue holding this together. Dennehy gets the final word -- in a poignant soliloquy about life (sniff!) -- while young Jaye gets the final gesture.

POLTERGEIST (2015) (D) - I was collateral damage of my partner's burning desire to submit to the this pointless remake of the 1980s horror classic ("They're heeerrre"), not to mention the two sequels that decade. Poor Sam Rockwell and Rosemarie DeWitt have to pretend to be scared while leaning heavily on their Gen X shield of irony, winking to the audience as modern hipster parents. (And poor indie queen Jane Adams and character actor Jared Harris are trapped in this as goofy ghost hunters.)

But there's no saving this particularly stupid saga, and CGI  and drone technology can't gloss over the fact that we as a culture were more easily amused three decades earlier. Here, again, we get the cute little girl sucked into the TV (what kids watch TV these days?!), and she's got a frail, scaredy-cat brother who is just too sensitive for this crazy world.

Even for a slapped-together shocker film, the (idiot) plot devices are rickety and some just make no sense. If this movie shows up in your home against your will, be afraid. Be very afraid.

(Partner's Grade: B-minus)

BONUS TRACK
From the closing credits of "Poltergeist," it's Spoon covering the Cramps' "TV Set":