TOLKIEN

Cert 12A 112mins Stars 2

Reeking of radioactive levels of unthinking snobbery, this dreary account of the early life of the acclaimed author of The Hobbit fatally overestimates the appeal of being cooped up for two hours with self-regarding and over-privileged public school boys.

Nicholas Hoult is sincere as J.R.R. Tolkien, Lily Collins is a bright spark as his sweetheart and Derek Jacobi’s professor is fun, but there’s nothing to learn and it lacks the epic grandeur of Peter Jackson’s Lord of The Rings trilogy.

Despite being orphaned and enduring the horrors of the First World War frontline, the film paints Tolkien’s earliest darkest hour as briefly having to slum it among the working classes of Birmingham.

He’s rescued by Colm Meaney’s kindly priest and sent to a posh establishment where he enjoys the fellowship of a semi-secret club who quaff champagne, mock waitresses and are as sympathetic as UK MP Boris Johnson’s Bullingdon Club.

Tolkien’s family have disowned the film and I don’t blame them. 

LONG SHOT

Cert 15 124 mins Stars 4

Charlize Theron and Seth Rogan try to defy the romantic odds in this funny and slick modern spin on the screwball comedy, set in the whirlwind world of a political campaign.

The South African actress plays US Secretary of State, Charlotte Field whose globetrotting groundwork for a presidential bid is threatened when she falls for Rogan’s newly appointed speech writer, and she is forced to choose between her ambition and her feelings. 

Charlotte was once Fred’s babysitter, and while he reminds her of her lost youthful integrity, her sense of responsibility slowly rubs off on him.

One time Oscar winner, Theron, demonstrates a deft comic touch alongside her emotional range in a glamorous role, in contrast to her shaven headed warrior in 2015’s Mad Max; Fury Road.

Rogen has to run to keep up with her, and from 2007’s Knocked Up to 2018’s Blockers, he’s well practised at playing a petulant man-child who slowly realises his faults.

Moments of gross out comedy and drug taking are mixed with some political satire and a great running gag about TV stars failing to transition to glorious Hollywood careers, which is especially pointed as there’s a game cameo by former Friends star, Lisa Kudrow.

Alongside many nicely judged pop culture references and a 1990’s soundtrack, Kudrow’s presence adds nostalgic appeal for a middle-aged audience. 

More seriously it attacks the hypocritical prudishness of US media to sex lives of politicians, touches on the limitations of the dating game for women of a certain age and status, and flags up the higher expectations and double standards placed upon them in the public eye.

However director Jonathan Levine treats these issues as additional extras and keeps the pace brisk and the tone comic even as the wheels of romance fall off the passion wagon in time-honoured movie tradition.

This is a movie well worth voting for with your wallet.

YESTERDAY

Cert 12A 116mins Stars 3

This juke box musical romcom is an amiable and safe disappointment from the creative dream team of writer Richard Curtis, and director Danny Boyle.

Gently humorous but shy of laughs, we have every right to expect a much funnier script from the guy who gave us Four Weddings, and something more interesting from the director of Trainspotting.

Watching it is akin to the experience of listening to a coffee shop song cover compilation while leafing through the Boden summer clothes catalogue.

Following a road traffic accident and a global electrical blackout, a part-time busker wakes up to discover he’s the only person in the world with any knowledge of pop group, The Beatles.

Using their songs to become famous, Himesh Patel must choose between global superstardom and the true love of Lily James. The pair are sweet and charming, and in her least annoying big screen performance, US comic actress Kate McKinnon is nicely acerbic as a US music promoter.

As the Beatles had split up before I was born, it’s questionable how many of those under 30 years old are sufficiently well versed in their music to understand the many laboured references and jokes.

So alongside Beatles songs such as the title dirge, Hey Jude, and Back in the USSR, there’s also lots of singer Ed Sheehan, who is game for being the blunt end of some gentle mockery while getting paid to push his unique brand of forgettable pop which seems ever more insignificant in this company.

Ed’s presence along with James Corden who plays himself, and location work at the Latitude music festival illustrates how middle class and middle-of-the-road this all is.

Boyle contributes typically bold flashes of colour and clearly has had a ball crafting animated visuals to accompany the classic tunes, while riffing on The Beatles film caper, A Hard Day’s Night.

But it’s mostly a greatest hits package of Curtis’ well-worn tunes, so stop me if you’ve heard this one before.

The lead is a tongue tied Englishman who’s oblivious to the fact his gorgeous best friend fancies him, and in order to get him to notice her she has to humiliate herself a couple of times, including at least once in public.

Their mutual vaguely posh friends have ill-defined jobs, nobody speaks like a real person, there are public declarations of love, and a last minute dash to a train station.

Curtis has built a career by borrowing heavily from authors such as Shakespeare, Jane Austen, and Evelyn Waugh, and here has a written a script about a singer who steals from the biggest pop band of all time, and which suggests having The Beatles in facsimile is better than not having them at all. It’s an exercise in self–justification and Curtis should let it be.

THE SECRET LIFE OF PETS 2

Cert U 85mins Stars 3

A tiger comes to tea in this super-cute animated adventure sequel to 2016’s monster hit and serves up the lions share of holiday family fun for your very little ones.

Max and Duke are confirmed New York City dogs who have a fish out of water experience when taken by their owners on a countryside holiday.

Meanwhile back home Max’s poodle friend has to rescue a prized toy from a litter of feral felines, and their bunny neighbour dreams of being a carrot munching crime fighter.

They’re brought back together in a looney tunes-style caper which results in our heroes on board a circus train chased by a pack of wolves in order to save a tiger cub from it’s cruel owner.

It often feels more a loose collection of jokes and sketches than a fully fleshed-out feature, but the quality of the animation is top dog and Harrison Ford delivers a droll turn as the voice of a Welsh Sheepdog.

 

THUNDER ROAD

Cert 15 90mins Stars 4

There’s a darkness on the edge of town in this melancholy, funny, excruciating and wonderfully affecting comedy-drama which takes its name from a Bruce Springsteen song.

However there’s barely any music in the film which is made in a naturalistic almost documentary style far removed from the wildly romanticised epic tune of The Boss, in a successful attempt to more realistically portray small town US life.

However the song is interpreted through the medium of amateur dance, which is certainly something I never expected to see.

Based on his 2016 short film of the same name, it’s the remarkably accomplished directorial debut feature of writer and star, Jim Cummings, who delivers a bravura performance of dignity, shame and sarcasm as a socially awkward local cop.

With his life shaped by his relationships with his mother, daughter, sister and ex-wife, Cummings uses his characters mental breakdown to examine the psyche of repressed, gun wielding white males and bring the state of the US heartland into focus.

 

MA

Cert 15 99mins Stars 3

Parents trying to party down with the kids is always mortifying to teenagers but are rarely as terrifying than in this fun and functional revenge driven high school horror.

Another bloody and low-budget shocker by the makers of The Purge franchise, it’s a grab bag of drunk teens, public humiliation, sexual assault and torture.

It’s headed up by Octavia Spencer who leads the game young cast in a merry dance, and is supported by stalwart performers such as Juliette Lewis and Luke Evans.

Spencer plays a veterinary nurse suffering a serious case of arrested development who attempts to curry the favour of local teens when she puts the basement of her remote house at their disposal for illicit parties.

In an entertaining change of pace from the wise motherly types she more frequently portrays, Spencer is having a great time teasing out her inner psycho.

Though the eye watering violence is late to the party, they provide a fresh impetus just as the flagging party needs it the most.

 

 

 

GLORIA BELL

Cert 15 102mins Stars 4

Julianne Moore negotiates the perils of middle-aged singledom in this intimate portrait of self-discovery in the latest drama from writer and director Chilean Sebastian Lelio, and is an English language re-imagining of Gloria, his 2013 film.

Gloria is a middle-class insurance agent with an unremarkable existence which Moore brings to life with a combination of charm, sensuality, fragility, vulnerability and rising fortitude.

Her new boyfriend is a slack bag of weakness with commitment issues which allows a marvellous John Turturro to demonstrate his versatility and wonderful lack of vanity.

The cast also includes Jeanne Tripplehorn, Rita Wilson and Michael Cera, with each offering understated excellence at awkward family gatherings where new beaus meet former spouses and adult children.

It’s hard to tell where on the scale of great-to-brilliant Moore’s performance lies, partly due to her having seemingly played similar roles before, and also because she’s required to repeat everyday snapshots of life, such as feeding a cat, and singing along to the car radio on her daily commute.

These scenes don’t allow for grandstanding fireworks of emotion but the small changes in these routines reveal Gloria’s gradually changing attitudes to life.

Bonnie Tyler’s epic rock ballad Total Eclipse of The heart soundtracks a wonderfully aggressive moment of catharsis, leading to a dance floor scene which is well, glorious.

 

 

 

 

LIAM GALLAGHER: AS IT WAS

Cert 15 85mins Stars 3

With even the biggest screen barely able to contain his formidable charisma, the former frontman of 1990’s rockers, Oasis, swaggers into cinemas with this indulgent documentary charting his recent life with a cheerily casual and charitable eye.

It’s a reasonable attempt to rebrand the notorious hedonist as a fitness-minded family man and tea drinking elder statesman of rock music.

He was rescued from a post-Oasis creative, personal and financial low by his new manager and romantic partner, Debbie, and their complex relationship has interesting echoes of the marriage of reformed wild man, Ozzy Osbourne and his wife Sharon.

Liam’s mother is a scene-stealing Irish charm, and he can’t resist sticking the boot again into his brother, Noel, whose absence along with the songs of Oasis is a loss.

Irresistibly funny and foul-mouthed, Liam’s a fascinating mix of humility, arrogance, sensitivity and bravado. Plus judging by recent musical output, he’s also the most interesting and talented member of the family.

LATE NIGHT

Cert 15 102mins Stars 3

Tune into this comedy-drama to watch Emma Thompson dig deep into her stand-up comic roots to compensate for the deficiencies of a well-intentioned but tame and clumsy script.

The two-time Oscar winner plays a TV chat show host whose ratings slump threatens the shutdown of her career, so in desperation she employs an inexperienced woman of colour to freshen up her writing team of entitled whinging white guys.

Scriptwriter and actor Mindy Kaling plays the eager Molly Patel, and her screenplay draws heavily on her own experience of being a ‘diversity hire’ as a writer of the US version of TV’s The Office.

However her millennial point of view patronises Thompson’s character and age group, by suggesting a middle-aged woman twenty year high profile media career wouldn’t comprehend the importance of social media.

Important points are made about employment gatekeeping and inequality, but for a room full of supposed comedy writers, it’s insufficiently funny.

 

 

 

 

SOMETIMES ALWAYS NEVER

Cert 12A 89mins Stars 4

Bill Nighy is a debonair delight in this charming, elegant, whimsical and unexpectedly moving gem of British comedy-drama mystery.

Sporting an initially distracting Scouse accent, Nighy plays a scrabble-loving tailor who is called to the morgue to identify a body which possibly is that of his missing adult son.

A sensitive veil is drawn across the detail of this gruesome errand, and leads to the elderly widower attempting to reconnect with his surviving family.

With great precision Bootle-born director Carl hunter, uses uniquely beautiful and highly-stylised set design and a deliberate sense of artificiality to bring an air of timelessness to this warmhearted and funny fable.

A uniformly excellent featuring Jenny Agutter, Sam Riley, and Alexei Sayle, are fortunate to work from the wonderfully droll and articulate script by Liverpool-born writer Frank Cottrell Boyce, who finds joy in the everyday and ordinary and whose love of words and language is in every line of delicious dialogue.