I couldn’t invest in Jeremy Irvine‘s lead performance in War Horse because of the giant-squid-like Spielberg factor, but I’m sensing he might be okay as a young gay kid in Roland Emmerich‘s Stonewall (Roadside, 9.25) I’m prepared to stow the cynicism and engage with this film on a serious basis. It’s Emmerich’s third U.S.-produced historical drama (the first two being The Patriot and Anonymous) but the first set in the 20th Century and the first in which Emmerich has a certain investment, being gay and old enough to remember. (He was 14 when the Stonewall riots occured.) Yes, it’s conceivable that Stonewall might seem too Hollywoodish to some but Emmerich is a pro who knows what goes. Plus the script is by respected playwright and West Wing writer Jon Robin Baitz. Costarring Joey King, Jonathan Rhys Meyers, Caleb Landry Jones, Ron Perlman, Jonny Beauchamp, Matt Craven, David Cubitt, Atticus Dean Mitchell, Joanne Vannicola, Mark Camacho. Roadside needs to start screening soon with everyone out of town for Venice, Telluride and Toronto less than four weeks hence.