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Al Alexander

Tomatometer-approved critic
Biography:

Al has been a film critic for The Patriot Ledger in suburban Boston since 1988, and the senior film critic there since 2001. His reviews also appear in newspapers associated with the nationwide Gannett chain. He is a member of the North Carolina Film Critics Association.

Reviews

Movies TV Shows
Silent Friend (2025) 100% B+ EDIT “Enyedi engenders in us a greater respect for the plant kingdom and a wild new curiosity about its potential to communicate love and eroticism. ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum May 7, 2026 Full Review Affection (2025) 92% B- EDIT “Meza reveals his hand much too soon, spoiling the intrigue he so successfully generates in his film’s opening scenes. But that does little to diminish the excellent work by Jessica Rothe as the perplexed heroine, who can no longer believe her own mind.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum May 7, 2026 Full Review Blue Heron (2025) 97% C EDIT “It’s basically a filmmaker working out her guilt on our dime without reward.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum May 7, 2026 Full Review Omaha (2025) 91% A- EDIT “ It builds and builds and builds, but nothing prepares you for the reveal. And when it comes, expect to be reaching for the Kleenex. This film absolutely wrecks you.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum May 1, 2026 Full Review RZA's One Spoon of Chocolate (2025) 38% D EDIT “When your film opens with the notation "Quentin Tarantino presents …," you’d like to think the folks behind the camera would strive to earn that lofty endorsement. But not the RZA. His insipid "One Spoon of Chocolate" does anything but that. ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 30, 2026 Full Review Power to the People: John & Yoko Live in NYC (2026) B- EDIT “ "Power to the People" stands alone as a towering time capsule whisking you back to an era when young people truly believed, to quote Lennon, "all you need is love." ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 29, 2026 Full Review Fuze (2025) 73% B EDIT “ I saw the film days ago, and I’m still parsing its flaws. But I’m also still wearing a wide grin, confirming that even though "Fuze" might not be da bomb, it’s definitely a blast.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 24, 2026 Full Review I Swear (2025) 97% B+ EDIT “A film that is simple in structure, but profound in its mission and intent.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 24, 2026 Full Review Normal (2025) 76% B- EDIT “It almost works thanks to Bob Odenkirk, the somebody who was Derek Kolstad’s "Nobody." And he’s really something, more Jimmy McGill than Saul Goodman in his engaging portrayal of a nomadic sheriff for hire.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 17, 2026 Full Review Ballistic (2025) 69% D EDIT “     I can’t think of a more worthy target for Faust to draw his sights on than scummy war profiteers. But did he need to turn his surrogate crusader into a mentally deranged Mama Bear with a death wish? It’s as wrong-headed as his film is dull. ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 15, 2026 Full Review Faces of Death (2026) 68% C+ EDIT “Yes, the beheadings and the sight of ghouls dining on fresh cerebrum are shocking, but they’re also mindless, thus undercutting Goldhaber’s core mission to admonish the doomschrollers who, excuse the expression, eat this stuff up.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 10, 2026 Full Review Exit 8 (2025) 93% B EDIT “The ending is a little too pat, but it does take us full circle and compels us to contemplate how to find an exit from our own monotonous ruts. In that respect, "Exit 8" serves as a perfect analogy for the ennui of the day-to-day.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 10, 2026 Full Review Heads or Tails? (2025) 89% C EDIT “ De Righi and Zoppis commit the fatal mistake of not sticking with Reilly’s charismatic Buffalo Bill in favor of centering on the fugitive lovers, who are about as exciting as watching Italian sausage being processed. ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 9, 2026 Full Review The Stranger (2025) 90% B+ EDIT “What it does is call attention to the dangers of groupthink and how it can make life for the marginalized even more isolating. In that respect, "The Stranger" succeeds, allowing autism to not just speak, but to yell at the top of its lungs.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 3, 2026 Full Review A Great Awakening (2026) 73% C- EDIT “ Faith-based movies are inherently didactic. But rarely are they as shamelessly corny as "A Great Awakening," the fire and brimstone version of how Benjamin Franklin befriended and carried the water for evangelist George Whitefield.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 2, 2026 Full Review Their Town (2026) 90% C EDIT “It’s a tonal mess that calls into question Aselton’s skills behind the camera. A concern intensified by an utterly unsatisfying conclusion that would try Job’s patience.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Apr 1, 2026 Full Review She Dances (2025) 89% C- EDIT “Real-life dance moms and gals may get a leg kick out of it, but all others might want to sit this one out.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Fantasy Life (2025) 81% C- EDIT “ "Fantasy Life" isn’t a terrible film (it won the audience award at the 2025 SXSW fest), but it’s also not a very good one. It just sorta exists without purpose or meaning, rendering it less a fantasy and more a mind-numbing hallucination.   ” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 27, 2026 Full Review Forbidden Fruits (2026) 74% C- EDIT “It might make sense to some, but to my ASD-geared brain, it merely left me ruing having acquired an awful tummy ache from consuming way too many overripe Fruits. Or, as Pumpkin is wont to say, it made me "vom."” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 27, 2026 Full Review André Is an Idiot (2025) 97% A- EDIT “Director Tony Benna wisely spares us the gory details of how André died in favor of showing us how André lived, both before and after cancer. And what a life it was, void of convention and rife with creativity,” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 26, 2026 Full Review Late Shift (2025) 96% B+ EDIT “ What Volpe delivers is jaw-dropping, while drawing on every ounce of empathy for an idealistic young nurse possessing incredible patience for a host of patients, most of them either battling or about to succumb to cancer.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 20, 2026 Full Review Tow (2025) 77% B EDIT “ My only complaint, besides the wispily drawn supporting characters, is that the second half of the movie feels rushed and ham-handedly edited, with characters and incidents lacking sufficient context or explanation. Not Byrne, though. She's fabulous.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 20, 2026 Full Review Mr. Nobody Against Putin (2025) 100% A EDIT “The Oscar-winning "Mr. Nobody Against Putin" is everything a documentary should be: timely, informative, entertaining and most of all relatable. Oh, yeah, and fronted by a hugely likeable narrator in Pavel ''Sasha' Talankin.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 20, 2026 Full Review Slanted (2025) 68% B- EDIT “The bones of what’s here have been recycled from "Mean Girls," "Watermelon Man," "Black Like Me," and, of course, "The Substance." But there’s just enough originality to stand on its own.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 13, 2026 Full Review The Optimist: The Bravest Act Is Truth (2023) 95% B EDIT “As their bond deepens, so does your investment in the duo, as they discover that communication is not just a release but a solid foundation for an unbreakable friendship.” – Movies Thru the Spectrum Mar 10, 2026 Full Review
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