An old-school World War II drama, a quietly powerful Irish drama, a Christmas story and a fantasy anime arrive in movie theaters this week. Also in theaters this week is the Here’s our roundup. Award-winning filmmaker Steve McQueen goes old school, in a way, with his breathtakingly filmed World War II adventure story set around a 9-year-old boy, George (impressive newcomer Elliott Heffernan), who courts disaster one day during the blitz of London so he can reunite with his mom Rita (Saoirse Ronan) and grandfather (Paul Weller).
True to McQueen’s standards, “Blitz” is polished and crafted to perfection. It also richly evokes the ‘40s in Britain — the clothes, the streets, the homes, the hairstyles, the racism and the fallout of war — which is strikingly captured in the shadowy cinematography of Yorick Le Saux. “Blitz” isn’t revolutionary and tells an old-fashioned story of the sort that many of us have seen before.
But it does so differently and features another tremendous acting turn from Ronan, who conveys the love and panic a mother feels once she discovers that her son is not where he is supposed to be — in this case a country home where he can be out of harm’s way. Overly precocious George jumps from the train to the countryside and, in true Dickensian fashion, encounters some helpful people as well as some unsavory types on his treacherous trek back home. While fans might crave a more edgy McQueen, or “Hunger,” there’s no mistaking that the .