Here’s a rundown of the most notable titles making their debuts this week.
Despite crushing business reversals and the collapse of his marriage, ever-persevering tech salesman Alan Clay (Tom Hanks) makes a last-ditch foray to Saudi Arabia, in a bid to convince the Sheiks that his holographic conferencing system would be essential to their development plans. His revelatory culture-clash conundrums in navigating the local customs and bureaucracies fuel Tom Twyker’s wistful and observant take on the Dave Eggers novel; Sarita Choudhury, Alexander Black, Ben Whishaw, Tom Skerritt also star. 98 min.
With her sex-addicted big sister Shannon (Judy Greer) fresh out of rehab, Martha (Natasha Lyonne) tries to help out by getting her a job…working alongside her as maids at a dumpy Fresno motel. It isn’t long before Shannon’s relapsing─with one of the guests─and when the tryst ends with his accidental death, the siblings have the clean-up job of their lives ahead of them. Dark farce co-stars Ron Livingston, Aubrey Plaza, Fred Armisen, Molly Shannon. 85 min.
In the late ‘80s, celebrated novelist Jake Davis (Russell Crowe) got into a car accident that killed his wife, left him physically and mentally broken, and steeped him in a bitter custody battle with his in-laws over his young daughter Kate. Today, social worker Kate (Amanda Seyfried) carries the emotional scars of her upbringing, and while the courtship of a young writer (Aaron Paul) may pull her from her shell, she may not forgive the agenda behind his attentions. Tender tale co-stars Diane Kruger, Bruce Greenwood, Octavia Spencer, and Jane Fonda. 116 min.