In Dan in Real Life, Steve Carell plays Dan Burns, a dedicated single father who discovers that the woman he fancies, cutesy Marie from the bookstore (Juliette Binoche), is actually dating his brother!
It's not that exciting a premise, but Rolling Stone seem to love the idea: "The film is a winner because Carell and Binoche follow Hedges' lead and keep it real. Sharing their company really is a pleasure."
This is not Carell bearded silliness on an ark - step forward Evan Almighty - but more Carrel trying to be the next Jim Carrey, as he's already done with Little Miss Sunshine. This can only be a good thing.
4 Months, 3 weeks, 2 Days is set during Communist Russia of the late 1980s and revolves around two friends (Anamaria Marinca and Vlad Ivanov), one of whom is attempting to arrange a dangerous illegal abortion for the other.
Empire could not be complementary enough, giving the film five red stars and claiming it to be "brilliantly made... tense, kinetic, intelligent and real - as if Paul Greengrass had remade Vera Drake."
Clearly this is not everyone's idea of a weekend night time filler before the pub though maybe it should be. A bit of foreign film culture never hurt anyone - unless you get a permanent squint from reading the subtitles.
The Lady Vanishes is Alfred Hitchcock's 1938 suspenser. While it’s not his is best work, you could do a lot worse for easy excitement.
"There's a sheer pleasure in watching the way the plot turns so smoothly," says Time Out. "Compounded by consistently witty dialogue and the all round excellence of the cast."
The set up concerns elderly governess Miss Froy who boards a trans European train, then seemingly vanishes a few hours later - much to the bewilderment of her fellow passengers.
What could have happened to this sweet old dear? Was she a figment of everyone's imagination? A spy? Or did she simply fall off the carriage roof while train surfing?
Way better than the putrid 1979 remake, this is a classy thriller with an adorable performance by May Whitty. Seek it out if you can.
POSTED...
Sun 20 Jan at 1:30pm
