MOVIE TIP

Mission Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One

There’s something about that iconic “Mission Impossible” theme music that gets a viewer revved up for an action movie. And the latest release from Tom Cruise and company is worthy of that anticipation. Granted, it takes a bit to get going. After a crackerjack sequence in a Russian sub, we are treated to a long discussion among government officials about a seemingly sentient AI that is a threat to the world. Necessary for plot purposes, but a bit of a yawn. Cruise (who OF COURSE accepts his latest mission) is out to find a key that would unlock something or other that is vital to the AI situation. The important part is, it all leads to car crashes and motorcycle cliff jumps and action scenes galore. The two-hours-and-45-minute movie should have been trimmed; some of the chases mid-film drag on too long. But, oh, that last sequence where Cruise and co-star Hayley Atwell scamper upward through train cars as the train slowly drags over the edge of a blasted bridge! It’s pulse-pounding and inventive. All of this only leads to “Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning, Part 2,” which will come out next year.

– Kristina Dorsey

STREAMING TIP

Jury Duty

USA Network

Billed as an “American reality hoax sitcom television series,” “Jury Duty” purports to document the workings of a Los Angeles civil courtroom trial through the perspective of one of the jurors, Ronald Gladden. But it turns out everyone besides Gladden is an actual actor in on the joke. I was reluctant at first — enough of the “Candid Camera,” “Joe Schmo Show,” “The Truman Show” constructs — and I still don’t believe this was pulled off without Gladden’s knowledge. And yet ... it’s funny as hell. The weird developments are inspired but sufficiently reined in to sustain at least some semblance of believability. All the stereotype folks from a jury pool are slightly skewed to provide fresh possibilities, and an archly brilliant touch is that actor James Madsen gleefully plays himself as a faux-modest star whose celebrity can’t get him out of his civic duty.

— Rick Koster

BOOK TIP

The Guest

Emma Cline

Emma Cline had a break-out hit with her 2016 debut “The Girls.” In her new novel, “The Guest,” Cline’s writing is once again clean and spare but also quite evocative. The central character here is Alex, a 22-year-old escort who has been brought to Long Island by her latest wealthy, older paramour, this one named Simon. We see her morphing into the person Simon wants her to be; she has become adept at acting a role that best suits her current circumstance. When Simon kicks her out, Alex shuttles from one situation to another, trying to find somewhere to stay. She has the misplaced hope that he will eventually come to his senses and welcome her back. Oh, and she’s being threatened via texts and calls by a man from her past. Cline shows grace toward her main character, who could be viewed as just a user … because, well, that’s what she is. But Cline makes her interesting and almost sympathetic. Alex gets kicked out of places for very good reasons (like lying and stealing) but you still feel for her as she wanders and grifts her way around Long Island.

– Kristina Dorsey