I rarely watch movies. When I was in the private equity industry, I rarely had time to do so. Now, as an MBA student at Wharton, I still rarely have the time to do so.

Long-distance international flights are where I watch movies. Recently, on a trip to Dubai and Abu Dhabi, I watched five movies:

For reasons that remain a bit of a mystery to me, my friends seem to think that I have some insight into films and seem to want to know my opinion of these films. So, without further ado, here are my thoughts on the five films.

Sir Ian McKellen delivers a moving performance as an aging Sherlock Holmes, now retired to the countryside and struggling with the loss of his memory and the deterioration of his faculties. This is not the brash, bombastic Sherlock Holmes of Benedict Cumberbatch or Robert Downey, Jr. This is a Sherlock Holmes stripped to the bone, aware that the last case he took before his retirement is not exactly as Dr. Watson recorded, but unable to recall the precise details of the case, and why it drove him to cease being a “consulting detective”. It is a story that humanizes Sherlock Holmes and offers a quiet reflection on the human condition.

I recommend this film without reservation.

Without any doubt, this is one of the standout films of 2015. It is a deeply troubling film, the sort that leaves you wanting to turn away from the horror of the situation—kidnap, repeated rape, and grim hopelessness—and yet unable to. Yet, somehow, it is also a story of transcendence, survival, and healing against the odds. It deserves all the accolades that have been heaped on it by the critics. Brie Larson and Jacob Tremblay deliver performances that are riveting and deeply moving.

This is a film I recommend without reservation.

Russell Crowe both directed and starred in this film. That, in itself, should set off alarms in the minds of any afficionado of films. This film, about a grieving father who goes to Gallipoli in search of the bodies of his three sons, presumed killed in the ANZAC expedition to capture Gallipoli from the Ottoman Empire, is disjointed and uncertain of what it wants to be. The tone shifts abruptly and unexpectedly. There are far too many coincidences and an awkward romantic subplot that seems shoehorned into the story.

I wanted to like this film. I consider Russell Crowe a very talented actor and I was happy to see him return to the big screen after a long hiatus. As an “honorary” Australian after five years living and studying in Australia, I wanted a film that captured some of the experience of the ANZAC Gallipoli expedition.

Unfortunately, in the end, I had to admit that The Water Diviner is not the film I had hoped for.

This is a fascinating look at the Western genre, by a debut director. It is a subtle deconstruction of many of the common themes of the Western, and it feels foreign. There is macabre humor, absurdity, and finally, tragedy. It is not an easy film to like: there is a presumption that its viewers are familiar with the conventions of the Western genre and aware of how the film deconstructs those conventions. Yet, for all that, it is ambitious enough to be worth watching.

I would recommend this, but only to those who are familiar with the Western and who would be able to appreciate the ways in which this film plays with its conventions.

This is not a film for those who like large landscapes and significant events. This feels, almost quaintly, like an off-Broadway play translated to the screen. It works only because of the compelling performance by Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton, who portray an aging couple facing a fairly momentuous decision: to sell the apartment they have lived in for 40 years and move. It is an unprepossessing film, one that offers a slice of a life without much attempt to tie things into a coherent plot, and depends almost entirely on its actors to provide a compelling reason to watch the film.

I enjoyed it, but I suspect that I was in the mood for a small, intimate film about ordinary problems and ordinary lives when I watched it. I would, accordingly, give it a guarded recommendation.