4.3.2.1 ***
Dir: Noel Clarke/Mark Davis (15, 90 mins)
Kidulthood and Adulthood director and former Dr Who companion Noel Clarke branches out from his gritty urban celluloid roots in this time-fractured thriller. Four girls play archetypes: Ophelia Lovibond is sweet Shannon, Tamsin Egerton is the virginal Cassandra, Emma Roberts is Julia Roberts’ niece, and Jo and Shanika Warren Markland are spunky Kerrys. Our four heroines start the film gathered in a café dealing with a bag snatcher, before the film splits four ways and becomes about diamond heists, attempted rapes and skewed female em- powerment. Set over three days and spanning the Atlantic, directors Clarke and Davis have a Tarantino-esque time with the interweaving plots, employing a lot of verve that sometimes works but cannot disguise some of the film’s weakness- es, occasional suspect acting and an uncertainty of tone. Noel Clarke’s swagger is in full evidence both on screen and off: he wrote the often clunky, contrived script and does a lot of scowling. The girls are likeable enough and show some kick-ass tendencies, and a few star cameos from Eve and Kevin Smith and ex-Eastender Michelle Ryan as a baddie add interest, but the film unfortunately believes itself to be better than it is. Opens June 2
BROOKLYN’S FINEST ***
Dir: Antoine Fuqua (15, 132 mins)
This is a police procedural thriller with some hefty star-wattage that papers over some of the familiarities within its often predictable plot. Richard Gere stars as the cop working out his last seven days, jaded with life and with a drink problem. Don Cheadle is deep undercover as a cop about to bust drug-dealing kingpin and friend Wesley Snipes and Ethan Hawke is a desperate narcotics cop who is on the skids trying to look after wife Lili Taylor and seven kids. Hawke needs money, and it’s only a matter of time before moral decay sets in and he starts to take the dirty money that he sees around him everyday at work. All these stories intersect with varying degrees of believability and, indeed, interest. Cheadle’s scenes with Snipes crackle, a reminder that the straight-to-DVD action man Wesley used to be an actor of some note. Hawke’s struggle is contrived and overegged, and Gere is left with little as the burnt-out cynic. The violence is casual and savage, the direction solid, but this is not as affecting as Training Day, Fuqua’s previous foray into crime. The pace and script are turgid at times, but Brooklyn’s Finest has bravura moments, mostly involving Cheadle and Snipes. Opens June 11
KILLERS **
Dir: Robert Luketic (12A, 90 mins)
Ashton Kutcher takes off his shirt and is bland while Katherine Heigl screams in this spy comedy that seems
very familiar – True Lies/Mr And Mrs Smith anyone?
Kutcher is a spy who marries Heigl, she has no idea about his day job until they move to a new neighbourhood and everyone starts trying to kill them. Much sass, would-be banter and shooting ensues. Director Luketic seems to be a master of bland romantic comedies: The Ugly Truth, Monster In Law and Killers. Thankfully, old hands Tom Selleck and Catherine O’ Hara have some fun as Heigl’s parents, and Kutcher has some notable fisticuffs with kickass assassin Katheryn Winnick, but essentially Killers is a film you’ve seen before executed blandly. The bickering dynamic between charisma-free (but heavily toned) Kutcher and Heigl is forced and unbelievable, but if you liked The Ugly Truth this one is for you. Opens
June 16
DEATH AT A FUNERAL ***
Dir: Neil LaBute (15, 90 mins)
A remake of a rather run-of-the-mill-Brit comedy from 2007, this Death At The Funeral has the caustic eye of cynic and often nastily polemic writer LaBute at it’s helm. He made
In The Company Of Men, a superb spearing of masculin-
ity. He also directed The Wicker Man remake – go figure. This remake is essentially a ribald farce played at speed with a talented cast, and it hits and misses with regularity throughout. Chris Rock stresses over his brother Martin Lawrence’s eulogy at his father’s funeral while all manner of eccentric guests attend. Zoe Saldaner looks glam with acid-tripping beau James Mardsen, Danny Glover poos everywhere, while Peter Dinklage reveals the father’s propensity for dwarf sex. The cast give it their all, although sometimes the material does not deserve it, and LaBute’s direction is oddly anonymous. A few laughs are there to be had amidst the schtick of Rock, Lawrence and Tracey Morgan but this feels like a hasty, pointless retread of a
not-brilliant original. Opens June 2
SHE’S OUT OF MY LEAGUE ***
Dir: Jim Field Smith (15, 104 mins)
Jay Baruchel is scrawny nerd Kirk who is in love with su- per babe Molly, played by Alice Eve. His friends insist that she is out of his league, as the title of the film somewhat suggests, but hey – he perseveres anyway in this predict- able, so-so comedy. Baruchel is described by his friends as a five, and Eve is a 10, but when she loses her iPhone after going through airport security where Baruchel works, he returns it and she asks him out on a date. Both have had girlfriend/boyfriend issues, Baruchel’s ex-girlfriend still visits his parents with new beau in tow, while Eve has been disappointed by a former 10 in the looks stakes and wants to make it work with someone who may be a 10 on the inside. Cue comic set pieces include a testicle fondling scene and an outing wearing sweatshirts. Hardly groundbreaking stuff, but Baruschel makes a likeable everyman amidst the humdrum plotting.
Opens June 4
cameo though. PLEASE GIVE (15) The superb Catherine Keener stars in this comedy about a couple at war with the granddaughers of their elderly landlady. WHATEVER WORKS (12A) Woody Allen’s latest stars Larry David from Curb Your Enthusiasm. Bet you it feels a bit neurotic. GOOD HAIR (12A) Chris Rock explores the follicle world of African/American hairstyles. TETRO (12A) Francis Ford Coppolla continues making arthouse black and white films, this time with Vincent Gallo as a man in search of his long lost brother. In Buenos Aires. It’s arthouse.
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