The reel deal: April movie releases

New movies being released in April 2017 include Going in Style, The Circle, Leap! and Gifted.

SMURFS: THE LOST VILLAGE

They were never alone.

Fantasy | Adventure

Director: Kelly Asbury

Starring: Demi Lovato, Katy Perry, Mandy Patinkin

In theaters: April 7

When the lone female living among a tribe of tiny, shirtless beings stumbles upon a map to an undiscovered civilization, she squads up with her blue besties and resolves to find the enclave before a sinister wizard beats her to it.

GOING IN STYLE

You’re never too old to get even.

Crime | Comedy

Director: Zach Braff

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Alan Arkin

In theaters: April 7

Struggling to makes ends meet during the twilight of their lives, a trio of fed-up oldsters quit playing by the rules and plan to rob the bank that stripped them of their pensions.

THEIR FINEST

The spirit of the nation is in her hands.

Drama | Romance

Director: Lone Scherfig

Starring: Gemma Arterton, Sam Claflin, Bill Nighy

In theater: April 7

Set during the height of World War II, a screenwriter and the married woman working with him develop feelings they can’t fight while producing a propaganda film.

GIFTED

Drama

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Chris Evans, Mckenna Grace, Lindsay Duncan

In theaters: April 12

After a single man solely responsible for raising his orphaned niece learns the young girl has an astonishing IQ, his own unpleasant mother intervenes and attempts to tear the two apart.

THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS

Family will be broken.

Crime | Thriller

Director: F. Gary Gray

Starring: Vin Diesel, Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham

In theaters: April 14

An enigmatic woman convinces a reluctant outlaw to return to crime and betray his family in the eighth installment of the high-speed Furious franchise.

SPARK: A SPACE TAIL

One hero can save the galaxy.

Animation

Director: Aaron Woodley

Starring: Jace Norman, Jessica Biel, Susan Sarandon

In theaters: April 14

Following a planetary invasion led by an evil general, an adolescent monkey and his fuzzy buddies attempt to oust the interloper and retake control of the kingdom.

UNFORGETTABLE

When love ends, madness begins.

Drama | Thriller

Director: Denise Di Novi

Starring: Rosario Dawson, Katherine Heigl, Geoff Stults

In theaters: April 21

An obsessed ex- goes nuts when her onetime hubby finds happiness with a new woman.

FREE FIRE

All guns. No control.

Crime | Drama

Director: Ben Wheatley

Starring: Sharlto Copley, Armie Hammer, Brie Larson

In theaters: April 21

Sh*t hits the fan fast after a sharpshooting woman brokers a sketchy gun deal in a deserted Boston warehouse.

LEAP!

Life’s greatest adventures begin with a single...

Action | Musical

Directors: Eric Summer, Éric Warin

Starring: Maddie Ziegler, Elle Fanning, Dane DeHaan

In theaters: April 21

An orphan girl and her inventive admirer abscond to Paris, whereupon the young lady pursues her dreams of becoming a celebrated dancer.

THE PROMISE

Drama | History

Director: Terry George

Starring: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon

In theaters: April 21

Based on actual events that took place during the final days of the Ottoman Empire, this film focuses on a gifted medical student and an accomplished journalist who are each smitten by the same woman.

NORMAN

The moderate rise and tragic fall of a New York Fixer.

Drama | Thriller

Director: Joseph Cedar

Starring: Richard Gere, Lior Ashkenazi, Hank Azaria

In theaters: April 21

An unorthodox optimist, who mysteriously manages to get by, winds up at the center of an epic scandal when he begins advising an important world leader.

THE CIRCLE

Knowing is good. Knowing everything is better.

Fantasy | Sci-Fi

Director: James Ponsoldt

Starring: Emma Watson, Tom Hanks, John Boyega

In theaters: April 28

A bright young woman working for the world’s most powerful company earns the opportunity to partake in a secret project, then quickly learns the corporation’s utopian goals aren’t as innocuous as they appear.

HOW TO BE A LATIN LOVER

Comedy

Director: Ken Marino

Starring: Eugenio Derbez, Salma Hayek, Rob Lowe

In theaters: April 28

While a past-his-prime casanova waits to inherit the fortune of his elderly, obscenely wealthy wife, she leaves him for far younger man, forcing the Don Juan to find a new lover to leach off.