The Rum Diary – review
The Johnny Depp-produced adaptation of Hunter S Thompson's semi-autobiographical novel is lovingly made, but it's bit of a vanity projectProducer-star Johnny Depp mounts a sincere but basically self-admiring homage to his hero, wildman gonzo-journalist...
Wuthering Heights – review
Andrea Arnold's adaptation of the Emily Brontë classic strips away all the period-drama cliches to create a passionate, elemental dramaHeathcliff: two syllables conjuring desolate space and dizzying altitude. The two ideas are well represented in this...
We Need to Talk About Kevin – review
Lionel Shriver's award-winning novel has become a superb film, with director Lynne Ramsay putting her finger on unpalatable truths about parentingWhat happens when bad children happen to good parents? Does it mean they are not, in fact, as good as they...
Everything Must Go – review
A rare straight role for Will Ferrell shows him to be a classy actor, even if the film he's in is a bit on the soft sideWill Ferrell dials it right down for this straight role in a gentle drama of male mid-life crisis, based on a Raymond Carver sh...
Franzen’s Freedom revives legend of The Dragon
A fictional date to see a 1950s Greek movie might yet restore the reputation of film-maker Nikos Koundouros and his dark, satirical masterpiece, O DrakosRecently I became what almost felt like the last person in the English-speaking world to read Jonat...
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy – review
The new adaptation of John le Carré's novel is a brilliant study of the disenchantment, compromise and tension of the 1970s spy gameDirector Tomas Alfredson came to prominence with Let the Right One In, a story about vampires, but his instinctive, eve...
Jane Eyre – review
Mia Wasikowska shines in an intelligent, beautifully crafted version of the Charlotte Brontë classic, but it's a little too restrained for its own goodCool, temperate, finely wrought, this new adaptation of Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre is enclos...
One Day – review
The fun and popular David Nicholls novel has become a so-so rom-com, though Anne Hathaway's accent isn't quite the disaster many forecastIt's just 24 hours out of a person's life, but that can be a long, momentous and rather depressing time – as Ivan...
Horrid Henry: The Movie – review
Despite the big-name cast, this adaptation of the successful kids' books is definitely underwhelmingMuggingly overacted by a star-studded cast, and filmed in a mix of flat, scuzzy, Day-Glo colours, this film is based on the children's books featuring a...
Captain America: The First Avenger – review
The big showdowns may be run-of-the-mill but a clever postmodern twist pushes Captain America to the front of the superhero pack this summerA shield? Growing up in the 1970s, and first becoming aware of Captain America's crime-fighting career, that shi...
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 – review
Sensational, satisfying, surreal ... an explosive final chapter puts the magic back into the Harry Potter franchise. WARNING: CONTAINS SPOILERS"It all ends," says the poster slogan. A potentially grim statement of the obvious, of course, yet the Potter...
A Spectacle of Dust by Pete Postlethwaite
The autobiography of Pete Postlethwaite, once called 'the best actor in the world' by Steven SpielbergIn the year or so leading up to his death from cancer this year, Pete Postlethwaite had been working on an autobiography, and this has now appeared, s...
