In theaters

KANDAHAR. Written and directed by Mosen Makhmalbaf. 85 minutes. Not rated. In English and Farsi with English subtitles. Starts tonight, The Grand, Ellsworth.

In what’s easily the most timely and controversial film to hit theaters in years, Mosen Makhmalbaf’s “Kandahar” follows one woman’s journey across the deserts of Iran to the border of Afghanistan.

There, in the now infamous city of Kandahar, Nafas (Nelofer Pazira), an Afghan journalist from Canada, hopes to save her sister’s life before she commits suicide during a pending solar eclipse.

Hindered at every turn by circumstance, bad luck and especially by Taliban rule, which prohibits women from traveling anywhere unescorted by men, Nafas’ three-day quest to beat the clock and rescue her sister is just as harrowing and as dangerous as you might expect.

Inspired by Pazira’s own true story (in her case, she was trying to save her best friend) and shot before the events of Sept. 11, “Kandahar” feels more like a documentary than it does a dramatic feature, which is intentional.

Its substantial power comes not so much from its characters, who are thinly realized by Makhmalbaf’s spare script and sometimes awkwardly portrayed by the film’s nonprofessional actors, but from the unforgettable images of oppression, famine, fear and suffering that underscore everything.

From its opening shot of legless and one-legged men racing on crutches to the clouds of prosthetic limbs parachuting to the desert floor to the striking image of anonymous Afghan women defiantly applying lipstick and makeup beneath their burqas, “Kandahar” is filled with chilling moments – the most notable of which comes when Nafas’ young guide, Khak, pulls a ring from a skeleton’s finger and bullies Nafas into buying it so he can have money for food.

As poorly dubbed and as crudely edited as “Kandahar” sometimes is, those qualities don’t harm the film as much they help to lift it.

Indeed, “Kandahar” consistently feels as if it were shot on the fly, which fuels its sense of urgency, deepens its emotional weight and strengthens just how important it is that Makhmalbaf was able to capture any of this hell at all.

Grade: A-

On video and DVD

RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS. Directed by Penny Marshall, written by Morgan Upton Ward, based on the memoir by Beverly D’Onofrio. 132 minutes. Rated PG-13

Penny Marshall’s “Riding in Cars with Boys” stars Drew Barrymore as Beverly D’Onofrio, a bright, hormonal 15-year-old who gets pregnant after a wild night of fun in the front seat of a boy’s car.

Based on D’Onofrio’s acclaimed 1990 memoir, the film spans 24 years, from 1961 to 1985. It follows the derailment of Beverly’s life, the postponement of her dreams and the gradual realization that it’s she – not anyone else – who’s responsible for the life-altering events that lead to her never-ending series of problems.

Coming to terms with that is Beverly’s biggest challenge. With her dreams of attending college and becoming a successful writer now on hold, she finds herself facing motherhood, a disappointed family that nearly ostracizes her, and a shotgun wedding to Ray (Steve Zahn) that falls apart when he turns to drugs and booze.

All of this is just a mild precursor of what’s to come. As Beverly struggles to accept that her life will never be as she planned it, the resentment and bitterness of her situation overcomes her, turning her once likable character into an ill-tempered, brooding shrew.

With James Woods, Adam Garcia, Lorraine Bracco and Brittany Murphy in supporting roles, “Riding in Cars with Boys” is too long at 132 minutes and it’s about as subtle as a cannon when it delivers its preachy messages about single motherhood. But Barrymore is nevertheless appealing and manages to make a great deal of it work.

She carries the movie, leaning hard on her comedic gifts in the film’s funny first half before trying her best to ground the melodramatic final hour with maturity and poise.

It’s a strong, complex performance that easily stands as the best work the 26-year-old actress has delivered to date.

Grade: B-

Christopher Smith’s reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, occasionally on Fridays on E! Entertainment’s “E! News Weekend,” Tuesdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5” and Thursdays on “NEWS CENTER at 5:30” on WLBZ-2 and WCSH-6. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.