Review: The Last King of Scotland

UK release date: 12th January

Forest Whitaker delivers an electrifying career-best performance as 1970s Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in this powerful, true story-inspired thriller. Based on the novel by Giles Foden, the movie portrays the relationship between one of the 20th century’s most notorious despots and fictional Scottish doctor Nicholas Garrigan (James McAvoy).

Switching effortlessly from eccentric charmer to brutal megalomaniac, Amin plunges his young protégé into an escalating nightmare after persuading him to become his personal physician. It’s a morally ambiguous turn that gives a daringly human face to Amin, but “Touching the Void” director Kevin Macdonald paints his entire picture in shades of grey, drawing on his documentary-making past to raise disturbing and deeply resonant questions about ethics and the corruption of the soul. Also, McAvoy’s naive yet self-centred Nicholas is not always sympathetically portrayed, which makes the horrific disintegration of his initially idyllic lifestyle all the more fascinating.

While some of the plot developments do stretch credibility, there’s a subtle tonal shift from vibrant excitement to claustrophobic terror that intensifies the overall emotional impact.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate 18
Running time 138mins

Review by Sloan Freer

Review: The Pursuit of Happyness

UK release date: 12th January

Will Smith reins in his customary exuberance to deliver a beautifully understated performance as real-life San Francisco father Chris Gardner, who, in the 1980s, battled against astonishing adversity to achieve his American dream. When his wife Linda (Thandie Newton) leaves him, Gardner takes custody of their five-year-old child (played by Smith’s delightful real-life son, Jaden) and then faces a catalogue of disasters as they become homeless and he tries to pursue a new career.

Smith’s restraint works wonderfully here and he makes every facial flicker count. Yet while Gardner’s spirits surprisingly never droop despite his tribulations, the same cannot be said for those watching this noble rags-to-riches drama. The overall message may be a positive one, but it’s agonising to watch such a decent man suffer, with Italian director Gabriele Muccino (The Last Kiss) seemingly determined to keep his English language debut as unsentimental as possible. Ultimately the film is expertly constructed with faultless central turns, but it would have benefited from being more uplifting.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 117mins

Review by Sloan Freer

Review: Smokin’ Aces

UK release date: 12th January

After his thoughtful and engaging cop thriller Narc (2001), writer/director Joe Carnahan wildly misses the mark here with this Tarantino-style black comedy.

When Las Vegas showman Buddy “Aces” Israel (Entourage’s Jeremy Piven) agrees to turn FBI informant, his former Mob cronies put out a hit on him. Enter a motley assortment of assassins ranging from Ben Affleck to singer Alicia Keys (who should stick to the day job), with Ray Liotta and Ryan Reynolds thrown into the mix as Federal agents out to protect their asset.

However, instead of crafting characters to laugh with (or even at), Carnahan indulges in a sniggering schoolboy obsession with casual mutilation and silly wigs. It’s safe to say the director has played his joker here — and lost.

Radio Times rating:

*

UK cinema certificate 18
Running time 108mins

Review by Stella Papamichael

Review: Apocalypto

UK release date: 5th January

At first sight, writer/director Mel Gibson’s Mayan epic seems intimidating. It’s 140 minutes long, has subtitled Yucatan dialogue and is set in pre-Spanish Mexico. Yet despite appearances it’s no pretentious arthouse film but a thrilling chase movie in which Mayan warrior Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is pursued through the jungle by a vicious rival tribe eager to use him as a blood sacrifice.

Stocking up on sadistic violence, Gibson matches The Passion of the Christ‘s bloodsoaked tableaux with a catalogue of astonishingly gory beheadings and impalements, all set against the forbidding backdrop of Mayan pyramids and lush tropical undergrowth. He directs the set pieces with style, creating an exciting, exhausting action adventure that’s like a strangely compelling hybrid of Mayan mythology, 1980s video nasty Cannibal Holocaust and Tarzan.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate 18
Running time 138mins

Review by Jamie Russell

Review: Miss Potter

UK release date: 5th January

Beatrix Potter (Renée Zellweger) didn’t just write and illustrate world-famous children’s books, she was a protofeminist — making a fortune in a man’s world — and an early environmentalist — saving her beloved Lake District from property development. That’s the spin of Babe director Chris Noonan’s heart-warming but overly sentimental costume drama, in which Zellweger gurns a lot through her portrayal of the creative Victorian free spirit.

What makes the film work is Ewan McGregor’s effortless charm as the timid publisher who shares her vision of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and becomes her first romance in the bestselling process, and a sparkling Emily Watson as his spinster sister, who eventually befriends Beatrix.

Directed in picture-postcard style, with occasional flashes of cartoon animation depicting Potter’s creations and inner emotions, this is a sweet and lightweight treat.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 92mins

Review by Alan Jones

Review: A Prairie Home Companion

UK release date: 5th January

The final film from one of Hollywood’s best-loved mavericks, the late Robert Altman, is a gentle, affectionate salute to Garrison Keillor’s equally gentle and affectionate radio show of the same name.

Keillor plays himself, the genial, unflustered host of a long-running live public radio show that is about to be closed down. Ruthless Texan millionaire Tommy Lee Jones has bought the theatre, and it will be demolished after the final performance. The film shows the action on and off stage, although not a lot actually happens and a sub-plot involving a mysterious woman (Virginia Madsen) is just daft.

However, the joy comes from the relaxed interplay between the show’s troupe of regulars and some great country music performances from the likes of Meryl Streep, Woody Harrelson, Lily Tomlin and John C Reilly. A fine way for Altman to bow out.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 105mins

Review by John Ferguson

Review: Night at the Museum

UK release date: 26th December

Ben Stiller heads a cast of A-list comedy actors that ranges from the likes of Mickey Rooney and Dick Van Dyke to Robin Williams in this raucous romp through history. Stiller plays the patsy once again as night watchman Larry Daley, who has to run for his life when an ancient curse causes the exhibits in a museum of natural history to come to life at sundown.

Stiller does a sterling job here and there’s a witty use of visual effects such as when Larry is terrorised by a T rex skeleton or when he tries to negotiate peace between a miniature Old West gunslinger (an uncredited Owen Wilson) and an equally tiny Roman general (Steve Coogan). Meanwhile, Ricky Gervais pops up as an officious museum director who’s not a million miles away from David Brent.

Director Shawn Levy is not always in control of his storyline as he desperately tries to string various subplots together through Larry’s faltering relationship with his son (Jake Cherry). Fortunately, there are enough exciting stunts and larger-than-life performances to provide entertainment for kids and old relics alike.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 108mins

Review by Stella Papamichael

Review: Perfume: The Story of a Murderer

UK release date: 26th December

Novelist Patrick Süskind’s so-called “unfilmable” story of obsession and murder in 18th-century France gets a ravishing big-screen adaptation courtesy of Run Lola Run director Tom Tykwer. An offbeat and sensuous adult fairy tale, it revolves around a chilling turn by Ben Whishaw (Enduring Love) as the Parisian perfumer’s apprentice, Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. Born with an exceptional sense of smell, Grenouille becomes monstrously fixated on preserving the aroma of young women — particularly the only daughter of merchant Antoine Richis (a poignant Alan Rickman). The tragic horror that unfolds has a seductive quality reminiscent of German Expressionist cinema, which gives Grenouille’s crimes and motivations a darkly romantic edge. But it’s the extraordinary visuals and evocative soundtrack that are the movie’s greatest strengths, re-creating a pungent era so vividly that every frame conjures up mental fragrances. This really is a mesmerising experience, though the faithfulness to the source material makes the film excessively long and occasionally sluggish.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 147mins

Review by Sloan Freer

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: Flags of Our Fathers

UK release date: 22nd December

Joe Rosenthal’s iconic photograph of US servicemen raising the Stars and Stripes above the Pacific island of Iwo Jima is the starting point for Clint Eastwood’s Second World War epic. Part war movie, part deconstruction of heroism, it follows three of the group — Marines Rene Gagnon and Ira Hayes (Jesse Bradford, Adam Beach), and Navy corpsman “Doc” Bradley (Ryan Phillippe) — as they’re sent home to bolster the fundraising effort. While these men struggle to cope with post-traumatic stress and their reluctant status as heroes, Eastwood reveals the complex interaction of war, propaganda and real lives behind the famous image.

Based on a bestselling memoir by Bradley’s son, this is a technically accomplished yet ponderously worthy film that quickly abandons its probing remit to fall back on misty-eyed platitudes about war as hell and the camaraderie of soldiers under fire. Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima, which depicts events from the Japanese perspective, is due for release in February.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 15
Running time 131mins

Review by Jamie Russell

Review: Deja Vu

UK release date: 15th December

Denzel Washington reteams with his Crimson Tide and Man on Fire director Tony Scott for this sci-fi thriller about manipulating the past to save lives in the future.

Washington plays Doug Carlin, a New Orleans federal agent investigating a huge bombing, who is given access to a top-secret government “time window” that lets him see into the past. He then tries to solve the crime, and also prevent it from ever happening.

The screenplay provides some provocative commentary on surveillance, home-grown terrorism and the Bush doctrine of pre-emptive strikes, but Scott is far more interested in crash, bang, wallop pyrotechnics — in particular, a freeway car chase that occurs simultaneously in both the past and the present.

This is a gloriously dumb thriller that occasionally teases with some serious themes, but doesn’t quite follow them through.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 126mins

Review by Jamie Russell

Review: Eragon

UK release date: 15th December

It’s set in a world of dragons and sorcery, but Eragon fails to conjure the magic of Christopher Paolini’s bestselling book.

Newcomer Ed Speleers stars (with some initial uncertainty) as the titular farm boy who becomes a “dragon rider”, threatening the tyrannical rule of King Galbatorix (a gnashing John Malkovich). Jeremy Irons employs a dry sense of humour as Eragon’s mentor Brom, which helps to alleviate some of the tedium as the kid struggles to decide what his true mission is. Rachel Weisz voices Saphira, the winged beast that carries Eragon into battle, although getting there proves to be a dizzying ride.

First-time director Stefen Fangmeier provides occasional distraction from the dithering script with adrenaline-fuelled flying scenes. But sadly the CGI effects aren’t good enough to make Saphira an emotionally engaging character, so the relationship between her and Eragon fails to spark.

Radio Times rating:

**

UK cinema certificate PG
Running time 103mins

Review by Stella Papamichael

Review: Happy Feet

UK release date: 8th December

George Miller, the co-writer of Babe, does for penguins what he did for pigs in this fabulous family adventure. Playing like March of the Penguins: the Musical, it combines jaw-dropping computer animation with contemporary and classic tunes to bring to life a simple but eloquent story of an outcast emperor penguin’s struggle for acceptance.

Moral and ecological messages abound as avian cutie Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood) hatches without the ability to sing — a terrible misfortune in an Antarctic community where penguin couples find their mate through song. What he can do however is tap dance brilliantly, leading to social rejection that prompts him to embark on an exciting quest to prove his worth.

Every element of this heart-warming tale is delightful, from the astonishing visuals and imaginative song and dance numbers to the relentlessly paced (and occasionally scary) action sequences. The voice talent is also seriously classy, with Robin Williams in dual roles a highlight in a cast that also includes Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman as Mumble’s parents.

Radio Times rating:

****

UK cinema certificate U
Running time 108mins

Review by Sloan Freer

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: Stranger Than Fiction

UK release date: 1st December

Following in the footsteps of such movies as Being John Malkovich and I Heart Huckabees, which treat their outrageous scenarios as more drama than comedy, comes Stranger than Fiction.

The loopy premise here is that mild-mannered tax inspector Will Ferrell begins to hear voices — well, actually just one voice, which seems to be narrating his life. A visit to a literature professor (Dustin Hoffman, as enjoyably tick-riddled as ever) reveals that the author of his story is Kay Eiffel (Emma Thompson) and she is indeed in control of his destiny. The trouble is that all her novels end in the death of the lead character.

In less talented hands, this kind of forced intellectual whimsy can be deeply irritating, but with the understated direction of Finding Neverland‘s Marc Forster, the decidedly odd is perfectly believable. And Ferrell, like Bill Murray and Robin Williams, proves that comic actors reined in can give surprisingly affecting dramatic performances.

Radio Times rating:

***

UK cinema certificate 12A
Running time 112mins

Review by Adam Smith