Friday Flicks: Peter Jackson, Bilbo Baggins, Gandalf the Grey and Gollum Return for The Hobbit

TIME breaks down which films to see and which to avoid this weekend.

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Warner Bros. Pictures

Any Day Now

Tagline: They made him a promise. He made them a family.

We could tell you that Any Day Now is like Citizen Kane crossed with Casablanca and it wouldn’t matter a jot this weekend, as you’ll surely be at The Hobbit instead. As it turns out, this low-budget indie starring Alan Cumming is inspired by a true story and set in the late 1970s. Marco (Isaac Leyva) is a teenager with down syndrome who has been abandoned. His saviors come in the form of gay couple Rudy (Cumming) and Paul (Garret Dillahunt), who want to adopt him — but, considering this is the 1970s, the authorities aren’t too keen on their unorthodox living arrangements. Will Rudy and Paul be able to take on the legal system, with the considerable odds stacked against them, to adopt the child they love as their own?

In the eyes of reviewers, Any Day Now is Cumming’s film. “Acting from beneath the least flattering haircut this side of the Bee Gees, Cumming delivers what is possibly his best performance to date,” notes Variety. “Alan Cumming has never been nominated for an Oscar, but director Travis Fine’s powerful, fact-based movie could be the breakthrough role that makes it happen,” asserts the Seattle Times. And The Hollywood Reporter isn’t only a fan of the lead (“Cumming, who also gets to show off his vocal abilities, delivers Rudy’s hilariously bitchy wisecracks with estimable comic flair while also revealing his underlying vulnerability”) but the film itself: “Depictions of custody battles have become a cinematic staple, but few register with the heartfelt emotion of Any Day Now.”

Q&A: Alan Cumming on Speaking His Mind, Making His Own Hats and Getting In Touch With His Inner Elf

NewsFeed’s Flicks Pick: The Hobbit is clearly worth checking out, so you can find out whether the fuss is worth it. But we wouldn’t want you to ignore Any Day Now either, even if you do wait for it to become available on home video.
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