Water for Elephants and African Cats In a Better World

• David James 20th Century Fox Film
• Jacob (Robert Pattinson) and Marlena (Reese Witherspoon)

OPENING FRIDAY
AFRICAN CATS (G) The makers of the Earth documentary narrow their focus on young lions and cheetahs. Narrated by Samuel L. Jackson, who probably never says “I’m sick of these m.f. cats on this m.f. continent!”

CRACKS (NR) Eva Green, Imogen Poots and Juno Temple star in this English drama about the fraught relationship between the students and teachers at a 1930s girls’ boarding school.

IN A BETTER WORLD 3 stars (R ) Danish director Susanne Bier won this year’s Oscar for Best Foreign Language film for this downbeat drama that wrestles with the issue of how civilized people deal with violence. In a small Danish town, a Swedish outcast (Markus Rygaard) finds a defender in a transfer student (William Jøhnk Nielsen), only to discover that his new friend has a disturbing violent streak. Meanwhile, the Swedish boy’s father (Mikael Persbrandt), a surgeon at an African refugee camp, finds his own ideals tested by a brutal warlord. The film takes an overly paternalistic view of the African characters and softens its themes with an 11th-hour plot point, but argues against the concept of revenge at a time when most action movies seem to celebrate it. — Holman

TYLER PERRY’S MADEA’S BIG HAPPY FAMILY (PG-13) Based on the musical play of the same name, Madea’s Big Happy Family depicts a dysfunctional family brought together by their mother’s illness, who needs the tough love of Madea (Tyler Perry) to knock some sense into them. Bow Wow (formerly “Lil Bow Bow”) stars with Perry, David Mann, Loretta Devine and “Old Spice Guy” Isaiah Mustafa.

WATER FOR ELEPHANTS (PG-13) Not the sequel to Like Water for Chocolate, this adaptation of the popular novel stars Twilight’s Robert Pattinson as a Depression-era veterinary student who takes a job with a traveling circus and falls for one of the performers (Reese Witherspoon). Filmed in Georgia.

WRECKED (R ) Oscar-winning actor Adrien Brody plays a man who awakens in a mangled car wreck in the middle of nowhere with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce De Leon Ave., 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com

DULY NOTED
THE BIG UNEASY (NR) Harry Shearer, a mainstay of “The Simpsons” and Christopher Guest movies, presents a documentary profile of his native New Orleans and the dislocations the city has suffered since Hurricane Katrina. Shearer will attend for a Q&A at 7 p.m. April 25. Subsequent screenings are at 11 a.m. weekdays. Lefont Film Society, Lefont Sandy Springs, 5920 Roswell Rd. www.lefonttheaters.com/lfs.asp

THE ROOM (2003) 1 star (R ) This hilariously incompetent, sub-Skinemax-level romantic triangle has become a wildly entertaining monthly viewing party, a la The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Writer-director-star Tommy Wiseau strikes a freaky presence as a long-haired, heavy-lidded, thick-accented bank employee cuckolded by his vicious fiancée (Juliette Danielle). The film’s bizarre touches, like framed photographs of spoons, inspire audiences to throw plastic spoons at the screen, and more. Not to be missed. Tue., April 26, 9:30 p.m. $8. Plaza Theatre, 1049 Ponce de Leon Ave. 404-873-1939. www.plazaatlanta.com.

SWITCHBLADE SISTERS (1975) (R ) A girl gang called the “Dagger Debs” faces off against drug pushers in this beloved 1970s exploitation film. On a double bill with Pam Grier’s first film, Coffy. April 25-May 1. Cinefest Film Theatre, Georgia State University, 66 Courtland St., Suite 240. 404-413-1798. www2.gsu.edu/~wwwcft.