Review: It’s a Boy/Girl Thing

UK release date: 26th December

In this likeable addition to the body-swap comedy genre, rising young stars Kevin Zegers (Transamerica, the Air Bud franchise) and Samaire Armstrong (TV’s The OC) play chalk-and-cheese next-door neighbours and sworn enemies, who get an unexpected taste of each other’s lives when a magical Aztec statue causes them to exchange bodies. They then set out to destroy each other’s high-school reputations — he’s the star quarterback with the cheerleader girlfriend, she’s the bookworm heading for a top college.

This role-reverse romantic comedy may not be original, but it’s engagingly done and there are charming performances from the two leads. Watch out, too, for the feature film debut of X Factor judge Sharon Osbourne as Zegers’s mum.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 94mins

Review by David Aldridge

Review: The Holiday

UK release date: 8th December

Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet headline this romantic comedy for the festive season. Watching it is like unwrapping an attractively packed gift only to discover it’s socks again.

Writer/director Nancy Meyers should have observed the advice of her previous film, Something’s Gotta Give, and let a few scenes go. She spends far too much time lingering on humdrum episodes such as Diaz and Winslet emailing each other to arrange a house swap for the holidays. They’re both fleeing the fallout of broken relationships, but inevitably hopping across the pond leads both of them to unexpected romance.

Diaz and Jude Law make a fairly engaging couple, although sadly the early stages of their relationship are clumsily knitted together, while Winslet and Jack Black remain an awkward pairing throughout. But the film’s funny moments are as thinly scattered as the English snow, which mysteriously keeps appearing and disappearing throughout the movie.

Radio Times rating:

**

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 135mins

Review by Stella Papamichael

Review: Starter for Ten

UK release date: 10th November

TV’s University Challenge provides a hilarious framing device for debut director Tom Vaughan’s spirited coming-of-age comedy. Adapted by David Nicholls from his own bestselling novel, it stars a charismatic James McAvoy as a gawky, working-class student navigating through his chaotic fresher year at Bristol University in the mid-1980s.

Bittersweet lessons about life and love follow, precipitated by two headstrong girls (a chalk-and-cheese Alice Eve and Rebecca Hall) and a dream opportunity to compete in his favourite academic telly quiz (whose opening phrase gives the film its title).

With its smart, pop culture-infused dialogue and evocative period soundtrack, this campus charmer has all the buoyancy of a John Hughes teen caper. But it’s the sharp, distinctly British humour and nostalgic warmth that have most appeal. Adroitly combined, they enhance an otherwise conventional plot and bring out the best in a collectively fine cast — especially in the delicious, climactic recreation of University Challenge.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 96mins

Review by Sloan Freer

Review: Scenes of a Sexual Nature

UK Release: 3rd November 2006

Ewan McGregor and Sophie Okonedo are part of an ensemble cast in this multi-stranded tale of Londoners indulging in relationship angst (and a bit of something else) on Hampstead Heath. Sexually-charged interactions add to the heat of a summer afternoon, but first-time director Ed Blum spares us the graphic details and instead focuses on the characters’ emotional dysfunctions.

Scenes work best when aiming for laughs, like Tom Hardy striving to be a cockney Casanova or Gina McKee in stilted conversation with Hugh Bonneville during a blind date. At other times, Blum shoots for a melancholy tone but given that he’s juggling over ten minor intrigues, there isn’t enough time to really feel for any of the characters.

That said, the performances are glowing all round and enhanced by lots of casually amusing dialogue. Overall there’s a free and easy ambience about the film that proves quite seductive.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 91mins

Review by Stella Papamichael