8 Don't Pull Your Hair Out, July 2010 Cinema Whatever Works (12A)


AGEING curmudgeon, Boris Yellnikoff (Larry David) allows pretty runaway Melodie St Ann Celestine (Evan Rachel Wood) to spend the night on his couch rather than sleep rough on the streets. One night turns into one week and


then one month as friendship blossoms between Boris and his perky new housemate. Companionship becomes genuine affection and Melodie gradually re-shapes her views on the world to mimic Boris. They marry.Then her parents Marietta (Patricia Clarkson) and John (Ed Begley Jr) turnuponBoris's doorstep and throw the couple's routine into disarray. Marietta feels her daughter should find love with someone younger and she sets about playing Cupid between Melodie and handsome suitor,Randy James (Henry Cavill). ★★★


WHEN IN ROME (PG)


BETH (Kristen Bell) is acurator at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. She is desperate to impress her tough boss, Celeste (Anjelica Huston). Celeste puts Beth in charge of the annual Circle Of Gold Gala with astark warning that should anything go wrong, it will be the end of aburgeoning career. In the middle of preparations, Beth travels to Rome, whereshe is instantly attracted to accident-prone sports writer Nick (Josh Duhamel), only to see the hunk kissing another woman. Feeling depressed, Beth wades into


the famed Fountain Of Love and drunk- enly snatches up ahandful of coins and apoker chip. As if by magic, the men who threw the tokens into the fountain all fall under Beth's spell and they vigor- ously pursue her. ★★


KILLERS (12A)


IF Robert Luketic's action-packed romantic comedy is to be believed men arecapable of hiding everything from their nearest and dearest. The film's charmingheromeets, woos and marries the woman of his dreams without revealing avital part of his genetic make-up.Jen Kornfeldt (Katherine Heigl) marries Spencer Aimes (Ashton Kutcher). Spencer has been keeping atiny


secret: he is an international spy and assassin, who retired from active duty but has now been marked for death. Killers is an odd mishmash of genres, veering wildly from action to comedy and back again, sometimes in asingle scene. Kutcher and Heigl arefar better than the screenplay. ★★★


By Shereen Low


FOLLOWINGastring of box office flops, Antonio Banderas’ career was revived when he voiced the cute-but-deadly Puss in Boots in the Shrek films –arole he reprises for Shrek Forever After,which is at cinemas now. “Because Ihad been playing characters that were, in some ways, bigger than life and heroic, putting it into atiny body of apussy cat was fun,” he says. In the fourth and, what is rumoured to be, final instal- ment of the animated films, Shrek -voiced by Mike Myers -finds himself in atwisted alternate reality of Far Far Away after being duped into


signing amagical pact with Rumpelstiltskin (Walt Dohrn). With Shrek turned back into


ascary ogre, Princess Fiona (Cameron Diaz) as awarrior and Donkey (Eddie Murphy) as aslave, wheredoes that leave the swashbuckling Puss? “This last one is very surpris-


ing because Puss is very fat,” Banderas reveals, with adeep chuckle. “He just let himself go badly,


so he doesn’tfeel like hunting any moreorkilling others - he’sjust lazy,very lazy.” He continues: “When they


came up with this story of an alternative reality and all the characters not really knowing each other,itwas almost like it started from the beginning, almost like anew movie. I


thought it was just afantastic concept, and the re-imagina- tion of Puss as this spoiled, pampered pet is inspired.” While fans may soon be bid-


ding farewell to Shrek, Puss will be back with his own spin- offfilm, expected for release next year. “I already did the first record-


ings and it’sgoing to be called Puss In Boots: The Story Of An OgreKiller,” Banderas con- firms. “It starts when he was very little. He was in an orphanage when he first dis- covered the effect he has on people with his big eyes and that’swhen he starts being very intelligent,” he adds.


SHREK FOREVER AFTER (U) ★★★


Our Family Wedding (12A)


APREDICTABLYfraught ensemble comedy about the clash of cultures between Mexican-American and African-American families, who must grit their teeth and bear their cultural differences for the sake of their love- struck offspring. Lucia (AmericaFerrera) and her fiance Marcus (Lance Gross) arehead over heels in love. The soon-to-be- weds organiseameal wherethey intend to get the family introductions out of the way in public but their fathers already know each other -one has towed away the other's illegally parked car. Our Family Wedding trades heavily on


stereotypes,particularly Ontiveros' character and her brood of God-fear- ing old dears. ★★★


THIS comedy caper is areal romp on the big screen, and one you simply can- not help getting swept away with. Bill Nighy stars as Victor Maynard, a meticulous, lethallyefficient, middle-aged and unmarried assassinunder the thumb of his domineering mother,simply referred to as Mother (played brilliantly by Eileen Atkins). Emily Blunt is the reckless thief Rose, aiming for the ultimateart con who makes aphone call to Victor as soon as he realises he's been duped. Victor sets out to perform the deadly hit in acar park but finds himself unable to kill her. This British version of Wild Target,


Wild Target (12A)


remade from the French film by Pierre Salvadori over 15 years ago, will tickle your laughter buds and make for an enjoyable big-screen outing. ★★★★


LETTERS TO JULIET (PG)


WRITER Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is poised to marry chef Victor (Gale Garcia Bernal). They embark on atrip to Italy.She visits Juliet's famous bal- cony and is surprised to see dozens of touristspenning letters to the ill-fated Capulet. Agroup of women known as the


secretaries of Juliet collect the mis- sives and reply to these love-sick strangers. Sophie offers to help and stumblesupon along-lost note which demands her words of wisdom. The Americanisshocked when a snooty man arrives in Verona to berate the secretaries for encouraging his grandmother to seek out her soul mate from all those years ago. ★★★


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