BOOGIE MAN: THE LEE ATWATER STORY

Unrated, 86 minutes

“Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story,” which opens Friday at Cinema Village, is a comprehensive look at its titular subject, the blues guitar-playing political rogue whose rambunctious rise from local elections in South Carolina to chairman of the Republican Party made him a household name. He mentored Karl Rove and President Bush and played a crucial role in the elections of presidents Reagan and George H.W. Bush. Before dying in 1991, at age 40, of a brain tumor, Atwater invented or augmented many of the techniques of modern electoral politics, including the dissemination of unflattering rumors and attempts to drive up opponents’ “negative” poll numbers.

In eye-opening interviews with Atwater’s closest friends and enemies, director Stefan Forbes re-examines Atwater’s crucial role in the remaking of the Republican Party. To Democrats offended by his cutthroat style (to say nothing of the 1988 Willie Horton controversy), Atwater was a political assassin dubbed by one congresswoman “the most evil man in America.” But to most Republicans, he remains a hero for his deep understanding of the American heartland, his expert manipulation of the press, and his unapologetic vision of politics as war.

SMOTHER

PG-13, 92 minutes

In this comedy from director Vince Di Meglio, Marilyn Cooper (Diane Keaton) is the kind of mother who will call at 6:30 a.m. or tell embarrassing stories about her son Noah (Dax Shepard) to complete strangers — the kind we rarely like to watch onscreen. (Remember Jane Fonda in “Monster in Law”?) When she suspects her husband is having an affair, Marilyn flees her home and shows up on Noah’s doorstep with bags and five foster dogs in tow. Noah is already unemployed and under pressure from his wife Clare (Liv Tyler) to start a family despite his fears of inadequacy. Before long, he realizes that if he wants to address problems in his life, he’ll have to stand up to his unbearable mother.

RIPPLE EFFECT

R, 87 minutes

In this powerful drama from writer-director Philippe Caland opening Saturday at the Two Boots Pioneer Theater, a hip, new-age clothing designer named Amer Atrash (Mr. Caland) always seems to fall just short of attaining the American dream. Now, with his new brand on the brink of success, Amer is again sabotaged at the last moment by circumstances beyond his control. Meanwhile, his wife Sherry (Virginia Madsen), feeling neglected, decides that she needs time to think, and requests that Amer move into his office.

Amer attempts to bury himself in his work, but is haunted by the memories of an event that transpired years ago. Finally, he divulges to Sherry the story of an unavoidable accident 15 years earlier that left Phillip Blackman (Forest Whitaker) in a wheelchair. Amer believes that all of the pitfalls he has encountered since that night are directly linked to the curse that follows him around, preventing him from achieving his dream. Amer sets out to find Phillip and right the wrong that has plagued him for years.