Movie Reviews: Life of the Party, Breaking In, The Judge

Melissa McCarthy and Gabrielle Union star in two very different stories about moms for Mother's Day weekend, while art-house offerings include a Belgian romantic drama, a documentary about a pioneering jurist and a philosophically-minded science-fiction yarn.

Life of the Party (pictured) doesn't give much weight to its jokey "nice mom  + girls-gone-wild" premise, but at least offers several funny women a chance to show their chops. Two strong lead performances as star-crossed lovers in the Belgian drama Racer and the Jailbird  make up for an overstuffed narrative. The science-fiction thriller The Endless ends up asking too many big questions for all of them to make sense.

David Riedel finds the few effective moments in the home-invasion thriller Breaking In buried under dumb, derivative material

MaryAnn Johanson embraces the fascinating documentary character study of a pioneering female Palestinian jurist in The Judge.

In this week's cinema feature, check out a brief history of Marvel Cinematic Universe actors teamed up in other movies in sometimes unexpected ways.