United States, 109 min.

After the death of his beloved mother, middle-aged Brooklyn lifer Joe Scarvella (Vince Vaughn) copes by cooking her Italian recipes. Warm memories of delicious food and living room bonhomie spur Joe to buy a shabby, vacant restaurant in Staten Island and hire nonnas—Italian grandmothers—to cook and summon those familial vibes. Yes, there’s a makeover scene. Yes, there’s a food fight in the kitchen. Despite its predictable emotional maneuvers, Nonnas shines in its depiction of four women (Brenda Vaccaro, Talia Shire, Lorraine Bracco and Susan Sarandon) (re)discovering their place in the world. “He’s not using me,” Vaccaro’s feisty character protests to an opponent of Joe’s restaurant. “He’s celebrating me.” The performances and camaraderie of the nonnas is the best part of this uplifting, well-intentioned drama-comedy. Based on a true story.

United States, 112 min.

This warm, bittersweet documentary examines the fifty-plus–year relationship between Robert A. Caro and Robert Gottlieb. Caro is a titan of American nonfiction, thanks to his exhaustive, beloved biographies of Robert Moses (The Power Broker, 1974) and Lyndon B. Johnson. Gottlieb is his former New Yorker editor. Their frequently contentious relationship has endured the tumultuous world of book publishing and debates over semicolon usage. The heart of this winning film from Lizzie Gottlieb (Robert Gottlieb’s daughter) is its portrayal of two different but passionate craftsmen—Caro pounds away on a typewriter; Gottlieb edits in pencil—looking for a final triumph as Caro completes the final volume of his LBJ masterwork. In an environment where information is nonstop, Turn Every Page reminds us that someone exists behind every word. In some cases, it’s their life’s work. 

United States, 99 min.

To many younger Americans, Yogi Berra (1925-2015) wasn’t a Hall of Fame baseball player and a cog in the New York Yankees’ endless dynasty, but a lovable old font of folksy wisdom (“When you get to a fork in the road—take it!”) with a funny name and a teddy-bear physique. In this heartwarming documentary, director Sean Mullin—relying on interviews with the baseball legend’s friends, teammates and family members—examines Berra’s accomplishments as a baseball player and explores his personal life. Berra was a devoted family man who stormed Normandy in World War II. He happily bonded with younger ballplayers in his later years, instead of living in the curdled past. This is the rare sports documentary that hits a personal note, reminding us that a life lies behind every older person we dismiss or thoughtlessly categorize. Berra becomes a proxy for the older relative and neighbor we choose to know in a limited way.

United States/China, 100 min.

Billi (Awkafina) is an independent, Chinese-American woman who receives two pieces of shocking news. First, her beloved grandmother in China, Nai Nai (Shuzen Zhao), has a terminal cancer diagnosis—and that is hidden from her by her sister. Then, instead of dealing with the grim news directly, her family is heading back to say goodbye via a hastily arranged wedding for her grandson. The arrangement enrages Billi, but she plays along and discovers that there’s no one definition of love. For a movie focused on an elaborate ruse, director-writer Lulu Wang (working from an event in her own life) eschews the broad and obvious. Her characters are regular people, struggling with their life choices, whether it’s Billi realizing that her grandmother is the last remnant of her childhood in China or a dinner conversation on American education that turns into a thinly veiled debate on opportunity abroad versus domestic loyalty. But this winning, finely crafted movie runs through Zhao’s sly, winning performance, which reveals that tradition, coupled with flexibility and self-awareness, is a balm for life’s onslaught.

United States, miniseries

Prickly and curt, lifelong Mainer Olive Kitteridge (Frances McDormand) revels in control. She maintains the upper hand in her marriage to kindly Henry (Richard Jenkins), the beloved town pharmacist, and their sensitive son, Christopher (John Gallagher Jr.). Olive exists in a disgruntled, self-satisfied equilibrium, but over 25 years, crises force emotions to surface. Henry’s endless patience and health wobble; Christopher grows up and cannot comprehend his mother’s indifference toward his churning turmoil. The world Olive spent her life cultivating is eroding. Can she regain her footing? Working from Elizabeth Strout’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 2008 novel, director Lisa Cholodenko has crafted a gut-punch to our souls. One woman’s inability to compromise forces everyone in her orbit to recalibrate their lives. Olive Kitteridge feels both grand and intimate, painful and joyous, because we can all relate to what unfolds. 

United States, 83 min.

The death of his wife is hard enough for Max Rose (Jerry Lewis), a former jazz pianist. Then, in the middle of discarding her belongings, Max makes a discovery that casts grave doubts on their sixty-five-year marriage. Max’s emotional turmoil further erodes his already rickety health. His meek, kind, adult granddaughter (Kerry Bishé) and his frustrated son (Kevin Pollak) serve as his support system. They’re also emotional punching bags—you can see the heaviness of that role in every gesture and interaction. Max’s attempt to confirm his past happiness allows him to soothe those relationships and to form new ones. That’s great, but is it enough? What Max Rose lacks in subtlety—Lewis, even in a tortured, dramatic role like this, cannot stop mugging — it makes up for in the title character’s poignant quest to quell the aching of his soul.