What to Watch on TV and at the Movies This Week

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Wildcat, Unrated

Bless the intellectual side of Ethan Hawke, 53, movie star and novelist. As Wildcat’s director and cowriter, Hawke soft-focuses on Flannery O’Connor (1925-1964), casting his daughter Maya Hawke (Stranger Things) as the peacock-loving, lupus-plagued Southern fiction writer obsessed with the devil. Wildcat floats between biopic and dramatized snippets of O’Connor’s work, never achieving her ferocity or agile use of the English language. It’s a lot for the younger Hawke to carry in awkward wig, specs and saddle shoes as the brilliant writer whose short life spirals downward even as her peculiar genius soars. More sure-footed is supporting player Laura Linney, 60, as O’Connor’s mother. When she morphs on screen into fictional characters from her daughter’s pen, she conveys the grace and ferocity the movie badly needs. The literary love fest, though well-intentioned, ends up being more mild than wild. For a true taste of O’Connor’s magic, see Wise Blood (1979), in which her work was best realized onscreen. —T.M.A.

Watch it: Wildcat, May 3 in theaters

​Don’t miss this: ‘I Miss My Singing Very Much’: Julie Andrews on Writing Books, Retirement Plans, Go-To Movies and Voice Woes, on AARP Members Only Access

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Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story (Hulu)

Gather round, Jovi fans. This four-part docuseries takes us behind the spandex for an intimate history of the Jersey hair rock legends who gave us “You Give Love a Bad Name” and “Livin’ on a Prayer,” including candid interviews with the band members. Fellow Jerseyite Bruce Springsteen, 74, weighs in: “Jon’s choruses demand to be sung by 20,000 people in an arena.” As testimonials go, that isn’t too shabby.

Watch it: Thank You, Goodnight: The Bon Jovi Story on Hulu

​Don’t miss this: Jon Bon Jovi, 62, on New Documentary: ‘It’s Each of Our Individual Truths’

​Shardlake (Disney+)

In a Tudor whodunit directed by Justin Chadwick, 55 (The Other Boleyn Girl), Thomas Cromwell (Game of Thrones’ Sean Bean, 65) orders Matthew Shardlake (Arthur Hughes), a sheltered lawyer much mocked for his scoliosis, to hunt down a murderer at a remote monastery — or else face Henry VIII’s wrath on top of Cromwell’s.

Watch it: Shardlake on Disney+

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Challengers, R

Three beautiful bodies in search of a heart — that’s Challengers, a glossy tennis love triangle by Luca Guadagnino, 52. Tashi (charismatic Zendaya) was a Stanford tennis prodigy until her knee collapsed. Her career over, she becomes the coach, then wife, to Art (West Side Story breakout Mike Faist). Yet she still feels the burn with Art’s longtime frenemy and competitor Patrick (Josh O’Connor, The Crown). There’s smoke but little fire — an early three-way smooch while on tour plays more manipulative than sexy. But the sinewy trio exposes skin aplenty: boys in the shower or sauna, removing sweaty shirts and gripping tennis balls, and Zendaya’s gazellelike legs shined to a high gloss. Meanwhile, the script oscillates in time, from past to present and everything in between, whipsawing the audience as if watching a tennis match. While clever, that exhausting narrative strategy, shot with the stunning shallowness of a Nike ad, bounces along yet never quite lands. —T.M.A.

Watch it: Challengers, in theaters

Unlocked: A Jail Experiment, Season 1 (Netflix)

In a fascinating, controversial reality show, Sheriff Eric Higgins opened the cell doors of 46 inmates at a prison in Little Rock, Arkansas, and gave them unprecedented freedom to come and go (inside their still-guarded cellblock) and decide how the place should operate. “They stepped up,” says Higgins. “They recognized that they can improve their environment. And the majority of the people in the unit did the right thing from day one.” See what you think.

Watch it: Unlocked: A Jail Experiment on Netflix

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The Holdovers, R (Prime Video)

Da’Vine Joy Randolph picked up a well-deserved Oscar for her supporting role in a touching throwback drama by Alexander Payne, 63, set at a snooty New England boarding school in 1970. A lone student, abandoned by his family over the Christmas holiday, remains on campus with his cranky bachelor history teacher (Paul Giamatti, 56) and the school cook (Randolph), who is quietly grieving the loss of her son in Vietnam.

Watch it: The Holdovers on Prime Video

​The Jinx – Part Two (Max)

The 2015 documentary The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst was an astounding account of an eccentric zillionaire accused of murdering his wife, his oldest friend and a neighbor after he went on the run from authorities and disguised himself as a hearing-impaired, mute elderly woman. In the new six-episode follow-up from the same filmmaker, we delve deeper into the murders and meet the D.A.s and defense attorneys, plus experts and witnesses who’ve not come forward before.

Watch it: The Jinx – Part Two on Max

​Don’t miss this: What You Need to Know Before Watching ‘The Jinx — Part Two’

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Hard Miles, PG-13

Handsome Matthew Modine, 65, is an underrated star. Since his pivotal role in 1987’s Full Metal Jacket, the son of a California drive-in theater manager has consistently delivered performances with integrity, sly humor and self-awareness. As prison social worker Greg Townsend, convinced of the healing power of vigorous work and teamwork, he leads a motley group of teen convicts on a 1,000-mile cycling trip to the Grand Canyon. Based on the real story of Townsend and the Ridge View Academy team he launched, the tautly scripted sports rescue drama also features a genial Sean Astin, 53, as a bike vendor and part-time sponsor. Despite some sappy moments and predictable uphill-mountain struggles, Hard Miles is an inspiring movie that pushes away the soot and trauma of our overtaxed corrections system to find the inherent good in its young denizens, one pedal, one hard mile, at a time. —T.M.A.

Watch it: Hard Miles, in theaters

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ We Grown Now, PG

Soulmates can’t be faked. Best friends since birth, 12-year-old Malik and Eric (irresistibly, tenderly played by Blake Cameron James and Gian Knight Ramirez), inhabit Chicago’s notorious Cabrini Green housing projects in the ’90s. From making jumpy houses out of abandoned mattresses to ditching school for the Art Institute, their powerful connection is the film’s primary focus. Complications arise when police shoot a 7-year-old in the neighborhood, spreading terror among the residents. Should Malik’s single mother (an affecting Jurnee Smollett) move to Peoria to protect her kids and their grandmother (S. Epatha Merkerson, 71, the movie’s grounding rod)? And yet, that flight from Cabrini Green will all but sever a treasured friendship that cannot be replicated, which gives the movie its universal sense of melancholy. This earnest, observant and empathetic coming-of-age adventure presents a story of African American boyhood as iconic as Stand by Me. —T.M.A.

Watch it: We Grown Now, in theaters

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, Unrated

An abused child, armed robber, ex-prostitute, ex-jailbird and addict, Judee Sill was the first artist signed by mogul David Geffen in 1971. She went from living in her Cadillac to the cover of Rolling Stone, was compared to Laura Nyro and wrote minor hits (the Turtles’ “Lady-O” and her own “Jesus Was a Cross Maker,” possibly inspired by her affair with songwriter J.D. Souther, 78). Her God-haunted music, tormented life, improbable rise and tragic death are fascinatingly explained by Geffen, her producer Graham Nash, 82, Souther, Linda Ronstadt (who stole Souther back from her), 77, Jackson Browne, 75, David Crosby, more luminaries and critics plus Sill herself, whose voice still resonates. A must-see for fans of the ’70s singer-songwriter scene. —Tim Appelo (T.A.)

Watch it: Lost Angel: The Genius of Judee Sill, in theaters and on demand

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Civil War, R

Set in the near future, Civil War follows four disparate war correspondents (Wagner Moura, Cailee Spaeny and Stephen McKinley Henderson, 74, galvanized by the pitch-perfect Kirsten Dunst). They leave Manhattan via press van, picking across the ravaged countryside to the endangered White House. Their objective: the ultimate scoop, a photo and quote from the president (Nick Offerman, 53) while he’s still occupying the Oval Office. On the road, the quartet makes a series of horror pit stops, climaxing when they catch Jesse Plemons (Dunst’s real-life husband and Fargo costar) red-handed, ditching corpses – and seeking more. In a one-scene role, the actor shatters as a violent, xenophobic, red state militia man. The film, never as daring or nuanced as it needs to be, rests uneasily between Oliver Stone’s provocative war correspondent movie Salvador and Gerard Butler’s ballistic blockbuster Olympus Has Fallen. It’s part political critique, part isn’t-it-cool-when-things-explode — a dystopia at war with itself. —T.M.A.

Watch it: Civil War, in theaters​​

Franklin (Apple TV+)

The writers of Boardwalk Empire and the hit Paul Giamatti miniseries John Adams bring you Michael Douglas, 79, as founding father Benjamin Franklin in an adaptation of Stacy Schiff’s dazzling 2005 book, A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France and the Birth of America. The eight-part miniseries revisits when America was losing the Revolutionary War — until its greatest scientist-statesman hit France like a lightning bolt, charming them into helping us change the course of history.

Watch it: Franklin on Apple TV+

​Don’t miss this: Michael Douglas on Playing Franklin: “I Wanted to See How I’d Look in Tights” on AARP Members Only Access

And don’t miss this: How Accurate is ‘Franklin’?

​The Sympathizer (Max)

Hoa Xuande, Sandra Oh, 52, and Robert Downey Jr., 59 (in multiple roles), star in an adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a half-Vietnamese, half-French communist agent who joins the South Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War, then moves to California.

Watch it: The Sympathizer on Max

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And don’t miss this: The 25 Best True Crime Stories of All Time (Shows, Books, Podcasts), on AARP Members Only Access

3 Body Problem (Netflix)

In Netflix’s No. 1 hit show, the makers of Game of Thrones and True Blood bring you a sci-fi show about an astrophysicist (Rosalind Chao, 66) whose hunt for aliens in the 1960s causes big trouble for humanity years later.

Watch it: 3 Body Problem on Netflix

Don’t miss this: What You Need to Know Before Watching ‘3 Body Problem’

Fallout, Season 1 (Prime Video)

After apocalyptic bombs devastate the world, it’s overrun with mutant creatures and pragmatic bounty hunters such as The Ghoul (Justified’s Walton Goggins, 52). Kyle MacLachlan, 65 (Twin Peaks), plays Hank, the overseer of a vault where folks hide from calamity.

​​Watch it: Fallout on Prime Video

​Don’t miss this: Kyle MacLachlan Reveals How Prime Video’s ‘Fallout’ Blends Drama With Dark Humor, on AARP Members Only Access

Ripley (Netflix)

Remember Matt Damon in the 1999 hit film The Talented Mr. Ripley, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel about Tom Ripley, a talented impostor and killer? Now see Andrew Scott, 47, who shot to fame as the “hot priest” on TV’s Fleabag, as slippery Ripley in a new series adaptation by Steven Zaillian, 71, writer of Schindler’s List.

Watch it: Ripley on Netflix

​Don’t miss this: The Best ‘Talented Mr. Ripley’ Adaptations, Ranked

Road House, R (Prime Video)

​The 1989 Patrick Swayze action film gets a 21st-century update, with Jake Gyllenhaal playing a world-weary former UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys dive bar that seems to attract a very aggro clientele. Brace yourself for bare-knuckle brawling. Many doubted the wisdom of rebooting this much-razzed cult classic — but it broke a record with 50 million viewers, the biggest debut of any Amazon/MGM Studios original in history.

​Watch it: Road House on Prime Video

Palm Royale (Apple TV+)

Kristen Wiig, 50, plays a divorcée trying to break into 1969 Palm Beach high society in a highly promising miniseries with the most illustrious comedy cast of the year: Carol Burnett, 90, Laura Dern, 57, Allison Janney, 64, Julia Duffy, 72, Josh Lucas, 52, and Ricky Martin, 52.

​Watch it: Palm Royale on Apple TV+

​Don’t miss this: 10 Quick Questions for Carol Burnett on AARP Members Only Access​

Grey’s Anatomy (ABC)

In the 20th season of the steamy hospital drama, we’ll see the aftermath of multiple cliff-hangers featuring two crucial smooches and two near-death experiences, by a patient (Sam Page) and his surgeon (Kim Raver, 54). The titular Dr. Grey (Ellen Pompeo, 54), won’t be a regular anymore, but she’ll do voice-overs and maybe even appear on screen. “It’s not a complete goodbye,” Pompeo says.

Watch it: Grey’s Anatomy, Thursdays, 9 p.m. ET on ABC

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And don't miss this: 9 Quick Questions for Chandra Wilson of ‘Grey's Anatomy’ on AARP Members Only Access

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Arthur the King, PG-13

Spoiler alert: The dog lives! If you’re like me, the prospect of a movie costarring a heroic animal can invoke PTSD from childhood classics like Old Yeller, Bambi or Marley & Me. You still might still need some Kleenex for Arthur the King, but they’ll be happy tears. Scrappy Arthur, the wounded street dog that endurance athlete Michael Light (Mark Wahlberg, 52) meets on the streets of the Dominican Republic and feeds a meatball, winds up tailing Light’s team of adventure racers through a brutal 10-day, 435-mile trek, kayak and climb through the jungle. Arthur becomes part of the squad in its last-ditch bid to win the Adventure Racing World Championship. The setup can be formulaic and heartwarming with a capital H at times. But Wahlberg is so unaffected and authentic as the obsessive racer who wants to win at any cost – until he meets Arthur – that many of his scenes with the dog ring remarkably true. (The film is based on the true story of Swedish adventure racer Mikael Lindnord, who met the real-life Arthur in an Ecuador race and brought him back to Sweden to live with his family.) A modest film that says a lot about what winning really means. —Dana Kennedy (D.K.)

Watch it: Arthur the King, in theaters

⭐⭐⭐⭐☆ Dune: Part Two, PG-13

Oppenheimer director Christopher Nolan compares this incredibly epic film of Frank Herbert’s SF classic to The Empire Strikes Back, which outdid the original Star Wars. He’s got a point. It’s an eye-popping, sonically stunning, highly original story with massively more action, character and plot than the 2021 Dune: Part One. Timothée Chalamet is more vibrant as Paul, the hero battling the Nazi-esque Harkonnens, and the grownups are great: Javier Bardem, 54, and Josh Brolin, 56, as his friends and mentors, Christopher Walken, 80, as the evil Emperor and Stellan Skarsgård, 72, as the Jabba the Hutt-like Baron Harkonnen. The amazingly confusing plot mostly holds your interest, but it’s the images that stick with you: Paul riding the giant sand worm, warriors erupting from the ground like skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts, rallies straight out of Triumph of the Will, fabulous battles. It’s like a trip to other planets. —T.A.

Watch it: Dune: Part Two, in theaters

​Don’t miss this: Everything You Need to Know Before You Watch Dune: Part 2

⭐⭐⭐☆☆ Bob Marley: One Love, PG-13

Kingsley Ben-Adir, who played Malcolm X in the Oscar-nominated 2020 One Night in Miami ..., delivers a smartly focused performance as reggae legend Bob Marley. He nails the late star’s Jamaican patois (you sometimes wish the film had subtitles), but what’s missing is the Soul Rebel who brought stadiums of fans to their feet. You can feel director Reinaldo Marcus Green straining against the family-approved biopic format, in which less attractive episodes such as infidelities and arrests get only a glancing mention. When the focus stays on Marley’s singular talent — for example, a lingering scene in which he and the band piece together the classic tune “Exodus” — One Love succeeds in getting things together so you can feel all right. —Thom Geier (T.G.)

Watch it: Bob Marley: One Love, in theaters

Don't miss this: Ziggy Marley reveals his father’s final words to him on AARP Members Only Access​​