In Theaters: SERENITY, THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING, KING OF THIEVES and NEVER LOOK AWAY

This last January weekend gets a couple of smaller new wide releases. The first is the noirish mystery drama "Serenity" starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway. The film is written and directed by Steven Knight ("Peaky Blinders", "Eastern Promises"). However, despite the all the big talent involved, the film is becoming a huge disappointment as the critical and audience reception are largely negative.

The second is the family adventure film "The Kid Who Would Be King" from "Attack the Block" filmmaker Joe Cornish, starring Ashbourne Serkis (son of Andy Serkis), Patrick Stewart and Rebecca Ferguson. Critical reception mixed-to-positive.

In limited release it might be worth checking out the British heist film "King of Thieves" starring Michael Caine, which is based on a true story, and the German drama "Never Look Away", which just scored two Oscar nominations, including Best Foreign Language Film. Also, the biopic "Stan & Ollie" has expanded nationwide.

Synopses, details, critical/audience reception, trailers, and more after the jump.

SERENITY

Official Synopsis

From the creative mind of Oscar nominee Steven Knight comes a daringly original, sexy, stylized thriller. Baker Dill (Academy Award winner Matthew McConaughey) is a fishing boat captain leading tours off a tranquil, tropical enclave called Plymouth Island. His quiet life is shattered, however, when his ex-wife Karen (Academy Award winner Anne Hathaway) tracks him down with a desperate plea for help. She begs Dill to save her - and their young son - from her new, violent husband (Jason Clarke) by taking him out to sea on a fishing excursion, only to throw him to the sharks and leave him for dead. Karen's appearance thrusts Dill back into a life he'd tried to forget, and as he struggles between right and wrong, his world is plunged into a new reality that may not be all that it seems.

Film Details

• Director: Steven Knight
  
  
• Starring: Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Diane Lane, Jason Clarke, Djimon Hounsou, Jeremy Strong
  
  
• Genre: Drama, Thriller
  
  
• Running Time: 106 min.
  
  
• Rating: R for language throughout, sexual content, and some bloody images
  
  

Critical Reception

• Rottentomatoes: 22% (13 fresh, 45 rotten, score: 4.1/10)
  
• Metacritic: 38 out of 100 (5 positive, 10 mixed, 17 negative).

Audience Reception

• Rotten Tomatoes: 36% (2.5/5 rating from 393 users)
  
• Metacritic: 4.5/10 (2 positive, 0 mixed, 2 negative).
• IMDb: 5.3/10 (379 votes)
  

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THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING

Official Synopsis

Old school magic meets the modern world in the epic adventure THE KID WHO WOULD BE KING. Alex (Ashbourne Serkis) thinks he's just another nobody, until he stumbles upon the mythical Sword in the Stone, Excalibur. Now, he must unite his friends and enemies into a band of knights and, together with the legendary wizard Merlin (Patrick Stewart), take on the wicked enchantress Morgana (Rebecca Ferguson). With the future at stake, Alex must become the great leader he never dreamed he could be.

Film Details

• Director: Joe Cornish
  
  
• Starring: Louis Ashbourne Serkis, Patrick Stewart, Rebecca Ferguson, Tom Taylor, Dean Chaumoo, Rhianna Dorris
  
  
• Genre: Adventure, Family, Fantasy
  
  
• Running Time: 120 min.
  
  
• Rating: PG for fantasy action violence, scary images, thematic elements including some bullying, and language
  
  

Critical Reception

• Rottentomatoes: 85% (63 fresh, 11 rotten, score: 6.8/10)
  
• Metacritic: 66 out of 100 (21 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative).

Audience Reception

• Rotten Tomatoes: N/A
  
• Metacritic: N/A
• IMDb: 5.9/10 (287 votes)
  

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KING OF THIEVES

Official Synopsis

A true crime film about a crew of retired crooks who pull off a major heist in London's jewelry district. What starts off as their last criminal hurrah quickly turns into a brutal nightmare due to greed. Based on infamous true events.

Film Details

• Director: James Marsh
  
  
• Starring: Michael Caine, Charlie Cox, Michael Gambon, Ray Winstone, Jim Broadbent, Tom Courtenay
  
  
• Genre: Crime, Drama
  
  
• Running Time: 108 min.
  
  
• Rating: R for language throughout
  
  

Critical Reception

• Rottentomatoes: 29% (14 fresh, 35 rotten, score: 4.7/10)
  
• Metacritic: 45 out of 100 (0 positive, 13 mixed, 1 negative).

Audience Reception

• Rotten Tomatoes: 37% (2.9/5 rating from 251 users)
  
• Metacritic: N/A
• IMDb: 5.7/10 (3,279 votes)
  

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NEVER LOOK AWAY

Official Synopsis

A sweeping romantic historical drama, NEVER LOOK AWAY follows thirty years in the life of a great artist - loosely based on Gerhard Richter, one of the 20th century's most admired visual artists - played by Tom Schilling (Woman in Gold, Generation War). The film goes from a childhood witnessing Nazi Germany, to post-war East Berlin, where he falls in love with a young woman (Paula Beer, Frantz, The Dark Valley, Transit) whose father is an ex-Nazi murderer in hiding (Sebastian Koch, The Lives of Others, Homeland, Blackbook), to escaping to the West at the time of the Berlin Wall, and ultimately being part of the exciting new movement in contemporary art.

Film Details

• Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
  
  
• Starring: Tom Schilling, Sebastian Koch, Paula Beer, Saskia Rosendahl, Oliver Masucci
  
  
• Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
  
  
• Running Time: 188 min.
  
  
• Rating: R for graphic nudity, sexuality and brief violent images
  
  

Critical Reception

• Rottentomatoes: 77% (20 fresh, 6 rotten, score: 7.3/10)
  
• Metacritic: 67 out of 100 (8 positive, 5 mixed, 1 negative).

Audience Reception

• Rotten Tomatoes: 67% (3.6/5 rating from 108 users)
  
• Metacritic: N/A
• IMDb: 7.3/10 (1,051 votes)
  

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