‘Winter’s Tale’ requires too much of a leap

A horse is a horse, of course, of course. Except that in ‘Winter’s Tale,’ the evil Pearly, played with true darkness by Russell Crowe, calls it a dog. And so it goes in this fantasy that also stars Colin Farrell and Jessica Brown Findlay as fated lovers in chase of a miracle. The story jumps…

In ‘Labor Day,’ Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin fall quickly

Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin can look at each other and understand so much. In “Labor Day,” they play a mother and an escaped convict who meet under much duress. After a day of circling each other warily — but compassionately, considering the circumstances — the stars’ characters pack two lifetimes’ worth of drama into…

The cons cooked up by pros keeps ‘American Hustle’ hopping

Christian Bale makes sure con man Irving Rosenfeld keeps his cool. Bradley Cooper plays FBI agent Richie DiMaso as a hot mess. Throw in the split affections of Amy Adams’s Sydney Prosser, the manipulations of Jennifer Lawrence’s Rosalyn Rosenfeld and the big dreams of Jeremy Renner’s Mayor Carmen Polito, and you never quite know who…