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Capsule reviews of recent releases playing in area theaters. For older movies, see the Movie Directory. A star (*) denotes a movie recommended by our critics.

ANGELS & DEMONS

Praying for another $750 million absolution at the global box office, the fairly unholy trinity of Tom Hanks, director Ron Howard and "The Da Vinci Code" author Dan Brown reteam on Brown's earlier novel and manage to be more obscure than a Latin Mass. As Langdon, Hanks is recruited by a mysterious emissary of a mysterious biotech firm to help explain the mysterious death of a mysterious scientist whose chest was branded by his killer with the word "Illuminati," an ancient league of science-minded elites. What the killer was after was antimatter, which the killer promises will be used to level St. Peter's Basilica. As he embarks on a mission to save Roman Catholicism, Langdon encounters a young papal assistant (Ewan McGregor) a churlish Vatican policeman (Stellan Skarsgard) and an imperious cardinal (Armin Mueller-Stahl). The filmmakers may have faith, but they also know that God helps those who help themselves. (PG-13, 138 minutes) Contains violence and gore. At University Mall Theatres and AMC Hoffman Center.

-- John Anderson

AWAY WE GO

As the movie opens, Burt (John Krasinski) and Verona (Maya Rudolph) find out that Verona is pregnant. When they go to tell Burt's parents (Catherine O'Hara and Jeff Daniels), they discover that the expectant grandparents plan to move to Europe before the baby is born. That development sends Burt and Verona on a journey to find a new definition of themselves as an expanded family unit. Written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida and directed by Sam Mendes, the film, at least at first blush, feels like a welcome respite from the false happily-ever-afters of most mainstream movies. But mostly, Verona is a mirror to the people that she and Burt encounter on their road trip. And it's in these vignettes that the film begins to feel less like an authentic exploration of identity than a condemnation of the very community the couple pretends to crave. No one, it turns out, is good enough for Burt and Verona. (R, 98 minutes) Contains language and sexual content. Area theaters.

-- Ann Hornaday

* THE BROTHERS BLOOM

This screwball comedy for the New Depression, like most con-man movies, can't be trusted. Everything is almost what it seems, even the dialogue by writer-director Rian Johnson. "He writes life the way dead Russians write novels," says Bloom (Adrien Brody) of his brother, Stephen (Mark Ruffalo). Ricky Jay narrates the story, about brothers who are born con artists, booted from foster home to foster home as kids, no one noticing that they manage to dress like Franz Kafka circa 1893 Bohemia or that they're capable of conning an entire fifth grade. The highly stagy intro to the mini-Blooms is probably the best set piece in the film, which is all archness and set pieces, leading to the brothers working their game on an heiress named Penelope (Rachel Weisz). It's also a charmer, a witty sandbagging of one's resistance to fairy tale and a movie afflicted with a kind of comic Tourette's syndrome. (PG-13, 113 minutes) Contains adult content and violence. At AMC Loews Shirlington.