CHAPTER 27—Jared Leto gains 60 pounds so he can play Mark David Chapman, the pudgy lunatic who killed John Lennon. It’s hard to know whose reputation is more damaged: Robert DeNiro, for Leto not only apes his weight gain for Raging Bull, but he also mimics Travis Bickle’s “You talking to me?” routine in front of a hotel mirror; or J.D. Salinger, for the already-fading reputation of The Catcher in the Rye takes a further blow from its association with the moron who murdered Lennon (the title refers to the non-existent final chapter of that book, which Chapman vowed to write). On the bright side, Judah Friedlander and Lindsay Lohan make spirited supporting appearances as a paparazzo and a sane Lennon fan, respectively. Rated R. —DF

CHOP SHOP—North Carolina-born director Ramin Bahrani (Man Push Cart) again steeps his audience squarely in society’s impoverished underbelly, this time inside the tableau of Willet’s Point in Queens, New York, an insular netherworld of auto-repair shops and junkyards. Against this hardscrabble backdrop is the story of Alejandro (Alejandro Polanco), a 12-year-old Latino street orphan who, with his sister, Isamar (Isamar Gonzales), dreams of starting his own mobile vending business. Bahrani’s Neorealist filmmaking style is so authentic it could be mistaken at times for a vérité documentary. While perhaps too contemplative and unvarnished, the film lays bare a near-dystopian America that, like the titular scrap yard, treats its inhabitants like disassembled spare parts. Read our review. Rated PG-13. —NM

Iron Man, with Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, opens Friday. Photo by Zade Rosenthal/ Paramount Pictures

IRON MAN—Though its efforts to make a contemporary comic-book morality play out of the war in Afghanistan are predictably risible, the summer’s first would-be tentpole is several cuts above the norm, thanks to a witty script, Jon Favreau’s energetic yet light-handed direction and, especially, Robert Downey Jr.’s performance in the title role, which brings the irreverent savoir faire of James Bond to a conscience-stricken arms manufacturer-slash-playboy. Adapted from the Marvel comic, the special effects-laden action romp boasts a nifty titanium aerodynamic suit for its hero and stellar supporting work from Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeff Bridges, who brings elements of Daddy Warbucks, Dick Cheney and John Huston to the tale’s devious baddie. Rated PG-13. —GC

MADE OF HONOR—Yet another slack cut-and-paste rom com, Made of Honor is the reverse of My Best Friend’s Wedding. Or, does it aspire as high as It Happened One Night? Surely not. Tom (TV’s Patrick Dempsey, whose McDreaminess eludes me) doesn’t love Hannah (stick-thin Michelle Monaghan) until she falls for a burly Scotsman on a business trip. Naturally, Tom consents to be her maid of honor to sabotage the wedding from within. This cobwebby plot can work, but with every interesting idea, like having Tom decide to take his duties seriously, the film puts on the brakes. Obviously, the creative directors fell all over themselves to keep even a hint of gayness from tainting Dempsey in a potentially girly situation—he’s not MBFW’s Rupert Everett, he’s straight! As usual in the world of chick flicks, there is the unmotivated pratfall and the naughty word snicker. Why should we care about these dreary people, who are no more real than their cardboard cutouts in the theater lobby? Rated PG-13. —LB

THE RAPE OF EUROPA—If they hadn’t been genocidal criminals, one could be touched by the Nazi leaders’ enthusiasm for art. The Rape of Europa tells us that the art fanciers of the Third Reich managed to seize about one-fifth of the continent’s art works, and the work of repatriating them is still going on. Featuring excellent interviews and archival footage, the film sheds light on little-known figures who helped save Europe’s cultural heritage. While sweeping in its account of the war, one wishes for a broader perspective on the longstanding relationship between culture, civilization and violence. Read our review. Not rated. —DF

THE VISITOR—Not all of us were enamored of the 2003 indie hit The Station Agent, finding it just too pat in its feel-good quirkiness. Director Thomas McCarthy’s follow-up looks to be more hard-headed: A burned-out college professor makes an unexpected trip to an unused New York apartment he owns and finds an immigrant couple squatting there. What seems to follow is a tale of regenerationa and a disquisition on what it means to be American. Rated PG-13.

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