Friday’s openings: Presenting Harley Quinn

Of the several movies the national release schedule reports will open on Friday, only one is expected to open wide across the country. And that movie is:

"Birds of Prey": After being one of the featured characters in the DC Comics production "Suicide Squad," Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) steps into the spotlight. After splitting with her boyfriend The Joker, she joins the likes of Black Canary, Huntress and Renee Montoya and all go to the rescue of a young girl — all while having some criminally insane fun in the process, of course.

Early reviews of the film are pretty good. It's "delightfully unassuming and unconcerned with its place in a larger context. It’s a bonkers, bananas crime comedy and a genuine party movie,” wrote Forbes’ Scott Mendelson. While Los Angeles Times critic Katie Walsh wrote,“The film is a totally campy and brutal carnival ride; a colorful, chaotic and cheeky blast.”

Robbie, meanwhile, is on a career high. Starring as Sharon Tate in Quentin Tarantino's "Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood," she's up for a Best Supporting Oscar for her role in "Bombshell." (She'll obviously lose out to Laura Dern, who was nominated for her role as a divorce attorney in "Marriage Story"). Robbie was previously nominated for Best Actress for 2018's "I, Tonya."

As usual, I'll update as the area theaters finalize their bookings.