The One Movie You Should See This Week

Rainn Wilson wields a wrench, the creators of Saw return, and Jake Gyllenhaal time travels again. Who gets your ticket money?

By Andrew Osborne

On paper, my pick for the One Movie You Should See This Week seems like a no-brainer. Hell, just the publicity shots of Ellen Page in a yellow and green superhero suit oughta be enough to seal the deal for Super. Plus, the film (about wannabe superheroes) is the brainchild of James Gunn, the writer and co-star of the charming, low-key superhero comedy The Specials (one of my all-time cult faves). And yet I skipped a chance to see this one at SXSW, and I'll be skipping it again this week. Why? Because much as I enjoy small doses of star Rainn Wilson on The Office (and look forward to catching up with his seemingly understated performance in Peep World), feature-length exposure to the actor in full-on creepy psycho mode sounds more headache-inducing than Sucker Punch. (Plus, you know... enough with the superhero movies already. I mean, seriously.)

So what are my alternatives if I don't feel like watching Rainn Wilson bash people upside the head with a plumber's wrench? Well, IMDb has recently experienced a healthy 1621% uptick of interest in Cat Run, starring Paz Vega as a call girl on the lam from the latest in a long line of ruthless action-movie assassins. Yet, for me, spooky youngsters possessed by evil spirits are typically a more reliable source of B-movie entertainment than gun-toting hookers. Insidious scores bonus points for giving the smart, sultry Rose Byrne something to do between seasons of Damages and offering Black Swan's Barbara Hershey yet another chance to battle for the soul of a child (and, of course, to chew some scenery).

The big scandal at this year's SXSW Film Festival involved some inappropriate fan-on-star bathroom photography during a screening of Duncan Jones' time-travel thriller, which makes it difficult for me to discuss Source Code without instantly thinking of Jake Gyllenhaal's penis. That may be a pleasant enough thought for some, but the real question is: would I rather see Source Code, a movie about a soldier trying to prevent a train disaster in quantum-leaping eight-minute increments, or Rubber, the far more plausible tale of an evil car tire with telepathic powers? Having generated great cult buzz, Quentin Dupieux's hipster horror comedy would probably win this week's battle for my ticket money if it weren't currently in the limbo of limited release. But since it'll be easier for most people to grab a little quality time with Gyllenhaal this weekend, I hereby declare it this week's Top One Movie, at least until I time travel back to change my mind.

The One Movie You Should See This Week: Source Code