8 Out & About TOP FIVE (15, 102


mins) TOP Five sounds like the worst kind of vanity pro- ject: an insider’s portrait of modern celebrity directed and written by Chris Rock, in which the stand-up come- dian turned film star plays a stand-up comedian turned film star.


Admittedly in his role as ringmaster Rock allows too many showbusiness chums to flash their pearl whites but they don’t distract from the tender love story. Rock plays Andre Allen,


star of the hugely successful Hammy The Bear film fran- chise inwhich he plays a cop in an animal suit.Audiences and the studios are hungry for another instalment, but Andre is attempting to re- invent himself by headlin- ing a serious drama entitled Uprize.


Promotional duties for Up-


rize coincide with Andre’s forthcoming wedding to reality TV star Erica Long (Gabrielle Union) so camer- as are tracking their every move. So too is reporter Chelsea


Brown (Rosario Dawson), who has been granted a rare audience with Andre, even though her newspaper has been less than kind in the past about his work. The spark between Andre and Chelsea is palpable and as the day unfolds, they trade cheeky banter and give the slip to Andre’s bodyguard Silk (JB Smoove) so they can spend some quality time with his friends. A couple of smutty inter- ludes don’t detract from the underlying, irresistible sweetness. Rating: 8/10


Follow us on Twitter @Argus_The Guide Friday, May 8, 2015


CINEMAWORLD


In 1937, Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively) is the victim of a freak accident, which con- demns her to remain 29 years old.


Her daughter Flemming (Cate Richardson) grows up, forcing Adaline to dodge un- comfortable questions about her glowing appearance. She resolves to live alone


and to change her identity and home every decade. On New Year’s Eve, almost


80 years after the fateful ac- cident, Adaline meets hand- some San Francisco philan- thropist, Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman). He woos Adaline and persuades her to accom- pany him to his parents’ 40th wedding anniversary party. She walks into the Jones homestead and comes face to face with Ellis’ father William (Harrison Ford), who takes one look at his son’s sweet- heart and gasps: “Adaline!” Heis her long-lost beau from


the 1960s, who she abandoned without explanation. Adaline is distraught and


tells her daughter that there can be no future to her rela- tionship with Ellis. The Age Of Adaline gen-


BIG SCREEN DRAMA: Peter Firth stars as Harry Pearce and Kit Harington stars as Will Holloway in Shine Pictures’ Spooks: The Greater Good


SPOOKS: THE GREATER


GOOD(15, 104 mins) DURING a nine-year run on BBC One, Spooks thrilled viewers with the morally con- flicted escapades of members of Section D of MI5. Director Bharat Nalluri,


who was closely associated with the TV version, main- tains a brisk pace and orches- trates a couple of nail-biting action sequences. Sir Harry Pearce (Peter


Firth), Head of Counter-Ter- rorism at MI5, oversees the


handover of terrorist Qasim (Elyes Gabel) to the CIA. The transfer, via the traffic-


clogged roads of London, reaches a stand-off when Qasim’s gun-toting hench- men attack the police escort. Harry makes the bold deci-


sion to avoid bloodshed by re- leasing the prisoner. Qasim narrowly escapes a subsequent pursuit by MI5 agent June Keaton (Tuppence Middleton) and her partner. With the clock ticking be-


fore Qasim detonates a dirty bomb in the heart of London,


Will attempts to navigate a web of intrigue, some of it spun by Harry. Fans will savour these gos- samer thin ties to the past but Nalluri’s picture works well as a stand-alone feature for the uninitiated. Firth affects the same fur-


rowed brow to suggest he is custodian of too many secrets, while Harington ex- pends energy in bruising fight sequences. The plot twists and turns,


and threatens to tie itself in knots, but thankfully unrav-


els with a satisfying dose of treachery. As Harry reminds his ide- alistic protege, “You can do good or you can do well. Soon- er or later, they make you choose.” Rating: 6/10


THE AGE OF ADALINE


(12A, 113 mins) THE Age Of Adaline is a rose- tinted fairy story for every image-obsessed Hollywood actress.


tly plucks heartstrings as the time-defying protagonist struggles to let Ellis into her unedifying existence. Director Krieger employs


a gushing voiceover to fill in the gaps in Adaline’s past. This florid and unintention-


ally hilarious narration risks derailing the entire, sticky- sweet enterprise. Ford is terrific as the emo- tionally scarred patriarch, who fears he is losing his grip, grounding the film in tear-stained realitywhile the rest of the script demands dizzying suspensions of dis- belief. Rating: 6/10


Shaw’s witty classic to be broadcast live


RALPH Fiennes takes the role of Jack Tanner in an exhilarating re- invention of Shaw’s witty, provoc- ative classic Man And Superman, which will be broadcast live from the National Theatre on Thursday, May 14, to cinemas in the UK and internationally. Ralph Fiennes leads the cast in


Bernard Shaw’s witty, provocative classic, directed by Simon God- win, which can be seen at more than 550 cinemas across the UK on May 14 at 7pm. The cast also includes Nicholas le Prevost, Tim McMullan and Indira Varma (as Ann). A romantic comedy, an epic fairytale, a fiery philosophical debate, Man And Superman asks fundamental questions about how we live. Jack Tanner, celebrated radical thinker and rich bach- elor, seems an unlikely choice as guardian to the alluring heiress, Ann. But she takes it in her assured


stride, and, despite the love of a poet, she decides to marry and tame this dazzling revolutionary. Tanner, appalled by the whiff of domesticity, is tipped off by his chauffeur and flees to Spain, where he is captured by bandits and meets The Devil. An extraordinary dream-debate,


heaven versus hell, ensues. Fol- lowing in hot pursuit,Annis there when Tanner awakes, as fierce in her certainty as he is in his. Ralph Fiennes appeared at the


NT most recently in the title role of Oedipus, and in the NT’s 50th anniversary gala performance. His extensive filmappearances in- clude The Grand Budapest Hotel, Skyfall, Voldemort in the Harry Potter films, The Constant Garden- er, The English Patient and Schin- dler’s List. Indira Varma’s recent theatre


work includes Titus Andronicus (Shakespeare’s Globe), The Hot- house (Trafalgar Studios), Dance


of Death and Twelfth Night (Don- mar Warehouse), and Hysteria (West End). Her many screen appearances include Game of Thrones, What Remains, Rome, Luther and Exodus: Gods and Kings. Simon Godwin directed Strange


Interlude at the NT last year; his production of The Beaux’ Strata- gem opens at the NT on May 19 and will be broadcast by NT Live from September 3. He is an asso- ciate artist at Bristol Old Vic and associate director at The Royal Court; other work includes Two Gentlemen of Verona for the RSC. He received the emerging director award at the 2012 Evening Stand- ard Awards. The production is designed by Christopher Oram, with light- ing by James Farncombe, music by Michael Bruce, movement by Jonathan Goddard and sound by Christopher Shutt.


Cinema 2hrs 08 mins


Selma (12A)


Monday11, Tuesday 12, Wednesday13 May, 7.45pm


1hrs 54 mins


TRASH (15)


Monday18, Wednesday 20,7.45pm


£5.50, reductions £5.00


or book four films in one booking and see them all forjust£16!


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STARRING ROLE: Ralph Fiennes as Jack Tanner


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