Indie Picks: At The Movies This Weekend

Two very different films with unique teenage characters hit Austin this weekend, and they're both worth a visit to the theater. In fact, these are two movies that are easy to give strong recommendations to as they're among the best that we've seen so far this year.

Win Win (Regal Arbor, Alamo South Lamar)
Win Win is the third feature film from Tom McCarthy (The Station Agent, The Visitor) and it handily meets the definition of "feel good film." Paul Giamatti plays a struggling attorney in New Jersey who sees an opportunity to make some extra money for his family. As these things often do, a situation that he thought could be easily exploited becomes quickly complicated when he becomes responsible for a client's grandson who has hopped a bus from Ohio to escape his mother's stint in rehab.

Alex Shaffer, a former high school wrestling star who was just 16 when the movie was filmed, holds his own against co-stars Giamatti, Amy Ryan and Melanie Lynskey (who plays his mother who eventually comes after him when she gets out of the clinic). Giamatti does a remarkable job with this character, who is incredibly sympathetic even though he does things that we may not understand or agree with.

This well-acted movie makes you laugh while tugging at your heartstrings. After receiving rave reviews at Sundance and SXSW this year (where we had the pleasure of catching the film for the first time), Fox Searchlight has another crowd-pleasing hit on their hands.

Hanna (Alamo Village, Alamo Lake Creek, many area multiplexes)
It's a little stunning that Hanna was made by the same man who directed Atonement and the 2005 adaptation of Pride & Prejudice (not to mention the oft-maligned The Soloist). Armed with a blistering score from The Chemical Brothers (their first foray into film work), Joe Wright has crafted an exhilarating thriller that plays a bit like a thinking man's Kick-Ass.

Hanna (played brilliantly by Saoirse Ronan) has been isolated her whole life, raised to become a strong assassin in the remote wilderness by her ex-CIA agent father (Eric Bana), who has removed himself completely from the grid. The movie quickly transitions into full-on chase mode and doesn't let up until an almost entirely too clever showdown that occurs in an abandoned "fairy tales" theme park.

We didn't know if the movie itself could live up to the film's trailer, which is one of the best edited previews that we've seen in ages. Hanna is a relentlessly smart and expertly lensed action film that should entertain the art-house crowd while appealing to a wider audience in the process.