New on DVD and Blu-ray, March 22

ALERT VIEWER

Bachelorette

Three skinny, self-absorbed, drug-snorting snots (Kirsten Dunst, Lizzy Caplan and Isla Fisher) accidentally tear the wedding dress of an overweight friend (Rebel Wilson) and set off on a wee-hours crusade to fix it. Ugly behavior and gross-out humor hide a marshmallowy sweetness at the middle. Written and directed by Leslye Headland in her feature debut. Rated R. 91 minutes. - A. Biancolli

POLITE APPLAUSE

The Big Picture

Based on Douglas Kennedy's 1997 novel, this ambitious French thriller focuses on a Parisian lawyer (Romain Duris) who kills his wife's lover, assumes the man's identity and goes on the lam. It's like one of Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley novels, but with a more humane hero. The film is pretty good until the ending, something of a letdown. Not rated. 114 minutes. - W. Addiego

SNOOZING VIEWER

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

One of the big disappointments of the year, this first in a projected trilogy - all taken from one modest 300-page book - is a massive, overblown, under-plotted bore, despite the ideal casting of Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Too many CGI battle scenes and not enough hobbit. Rated PG-13. 169 minutes. - M. LaSalle

POLITE APPLAUSE

Rust and Bone

Marion Cotillard is remarkable in this thoroughly unconventional French love story about a killer-whale trainer who loses her legs in an accident and the bouncer/street fighter who becomes her friend. Here and there, the movie slows to a French crawl, but no one who sees it will forget it or its people. Directed by Jacques Audiard ("A Prophet"). Rated R. 122 minutes. - M. LaSalle

POLITE APPLAUSE

Starlet

The plotline is unpromising - a young porn actress (Dree Hemingway) befriends crotchety old lady (Besedka Johnson) - and the set-up is underwhelming. But stick with the film and you'll reap unexpected rewards. Director Sean Baker sidesteps simplistic answers as to what the two women see in each other - what stays with you is the genuineness and complexity of their! relation! ship. (Explicit sexual content.) Not rated. 107 minutes. - W. Addiego

WILD APPLAUSE

Zero Dark Thirty

Jessica Chastain gives on Oscar-nominated performance in this story, supposedly based on facts, about the CIA agent who devised a way to find Osama bin Laden. Riveting and well-acted, one of the best films of 2012. Directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Rated R. 155 minutes. - M. LaSalle


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