At 134 minutes, though, the shenanigans -- entertaining as they may be -- take time finding focus or narrative thrust, and the ending becomes a bit convoluted. The movie shines brightest when it plays off of the standard bromance formula, lovingly rendering these rough, chauvinistic men as bickering buddies bent on realizing a shared dream (and the falling outs that happen along the way). As far as popcorn movies go, Nameless Gangster is smarter, better acted, and more exhilarating than most, so it's hard to complain too much.
Two Jacks, a film by Bernard Rose (who directed, among many other things, Candyman) was one such "slot-filler," and decent / intriguing / not horrible describes it quite succinctly. Divided into two halves, the movie tells the stories of Jack Hussar Sr., a pre-internet age old school Hollywood director (the wonderful Danny Huston) and later his Jr., also a director but a contemporary one, in our world of oppressively present iPhones, paparazzi, and short attention spans. Jack Sr.'s story is funnier, more approachable and boasts a great performance, but Jack Jr.'s strange, menacing and absurd night-in-L.A.-gone-wrong vignette is weirdly magnetic in its own way, too. Both would benefit from being their own full-length features, if it wouldn't negate the whole premise and the Tolstoy short story it's based on.
As she forms an unlikely friendship with a cantankerous, lonely old lady named Sadie, the movie's sense of meaningless drifting takes on a poignant, haunting quality, echoing the desire for meaningful human connection in both characters.
Thematically, Starlet calls to mind other excellent films like Ghost World, Young Adult, and Magic Mike -- but it's also its own entity, a quietly moving, funny, heartbreaking work and a great showcase for the promising lead actress.