The film follows two handsome newly weds, Atul (Reece Ritchie) and Vina (Amara Karan), who struggle to consummate their new marriage. The trouble is, they are stuck in the small terraced house in Bolton belonging to Atul’s family. Not only can the squeak of every bedspring be heard through the walls, but there is also dad to contend with. Things aren’t helped when their honeymoon tour company goes bust. Dad is Eeshwar, played by the hilarious Harish Patel, who constantly undermines his sensitive son’s achievements and attempts at independence. What starts as an a disappointment, builds into a serious issue.

The young couple are at the heart of the story, but it is Patel’s Eeshwar who really steals the show. Double chinned and triple stomached, Eeshwar is the sort of stubborn, slobbish husband whose wife Lopa (a stoic Meera Syal) would probably kill if he wasn’t also so funny and ultimately helpless. Most of Patel’s career has been spent acting in Bollywood and Indian theatre, but the more observant among us might recognise him from Corrie or My Beautiful Laundrette. He also put a smile on the face as Simon Pegg’s landlord and trainer in Run, Fat Boy, Run, the hapless Mr Goshdashtidar, but this more significant role is apparently what we’ve been waiting for, as it really lets him come into his own.

Of course, a father who never has a good word for his son isn’t exactly a funny scenario and the film is surprisingly poignant. But All in Good Time is about a whole family, not just Atul and Vina. Virtually all the relationships in the film are under strain – Eeshwar and wife Lopa, Atul and his dad, as well as the newly weds. But where would a remotely truthful family drama be without the rows? Despite all this drama, the script is peppered with jokes. There is a steady flow of laughs and, of course, we’re assured a happy ending.

As mentioned earlier, the story isn’t exactly new. All In Good Time was originally a play by Irish-Northern English playwright Bill Naughton, who also wrote Sixties-classic, Alfie. It followed another young working class couple who are constantly thwarted as they try to consummate their marriage after they move into the crowded family home. Although the couple are white, the locale was also up north. The play was first adapted as a television play in 1962 called Honeymoon Postponed.

Three years later it became The Family Way, a Boulting brothers film starring John and Hayley Mills with a soundtrack by Paul McCartney. Wind forward to 2007 and the writer of East is East, Ayub Khan-Din, adapted it as Rafta Rafta (slowly, slowly in Urdu and Hindi) which became a hit at the National Theatre.

All in Good Time is directed by Nigel Cole, who knows a few things about the feel-good movie having directed Calendar Girls and Made in Dagenham). If the thing that distinguishes decent feel-good movie from a bad one is the depth of the feel-bad before things finally start to look up, then Cole scores a hit. The family strife is recognisable and genuinely moving. He is helped by Meera Syal and Harish Patel whose experience playing their current roles in the long run of the stage version shows. Reece Ritchie and Amara Karan are charming, as well as good-looking, young lovers too.

Funny, touching and sweet, All in Good Time also gives Harish Patel the sort of extended role that allows British audiences to really see his extraordinary comic talents – what more could you ask for?

All In Good Time is out in Cinemas today.

See our pictures from the gala screening here.

See Harish Patel and Meera Syal on glorious form here:

Let’s take a trip back to 1999. It was the year of the romantic comedy. Never Been Kissed, Notting Hill and Ten Things I Hate About You were just three of the hits that year. Among them was a comedy no one had anticipated. American Pie, a film about a group of high school seniors who make a pact to lose their virginities before graduation. It was quick, it was funny, the characters were relatable (to the point of embarrassment), and for the time the movie was outrageously raunchy and original. Naturally it spawned two hit sequels that were just as filthy as the first.

Nowadays with films like The Hangover and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, this type of comedy is the norm. Is the comedy in American Reunion too stale for the current market?

The answer is no for one reason – the original audience grew up with these characters. We want to know what they are up to. It has been nine years since we last saw them and it’s like going back and visiting old friends. Jim, Oz, Stifler, Finch, Vicky, Heather, Kevin, Michelle, Stifler’s mum, Jim’s dad – they are all staples of a generation’s teen years.

The fact that they managed to get the entire original cast back together, in whatever capacity, is astounding. Or perhaps not so remarkable, considering many of these actors might be in need of a comeback. Although, no doubt, they’d tell you it was the love of the character that drew them back to their roots. Set at their thirteen year high school reunion, American Reunion sees the gang come back together for one last bender for old times sake.

And boy do they come back with a bang. Anybody who is expecting them to be mature adults now with far less embarrassing tendencies … prepare to be wrong. The characters have matured of course (except perhaps Stifler), but ultimately they’re still getting themselves into the usual trouble.

Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan) are still together, but have a libido-killing two-year-old, Kevin is a house husband, Finch is his usual free-spirited self, Oz (who was absent from American Pie: The Wedding) is a sports newscaster, living with his vapid girlfriend after breaking up with Heather (Mena Suvari), and Stifler? Well, he’s still Stifler, except surprisingly less one-dimensional than his past incarnations. Reprised by Seann William Scott, he literally hasn’t changed in a world that has grown up without him, which is a source for both comedy and pity.

The whole film is strangely nostalgic. You almost feel like you are attending your own high school reunion. Only instead of joining in, you watch from the sidelines, figuring out everyone’s differences and what hasn’t changed. Personally I’d rather pay witness to this reunion than attend my own. I’ll freely admit I sat back with a silly smile on my face, playing ‘Spot the Shermanator’(Oh yes, he’s back!).

I am a fan of the originals though. There are many trips down memory lane in American Reunion, that might go over the heads of audience members who are brand new to the franchise. Fans by comparison will be waiting to see if Finch (Eddie Kay Thomas) will get with Stifler’s mum  again – anticipating Jim’s dads embarrassing pep talks – laughing at the Shermanator locating one final victim for Shermanation – and mourning the break-up of the MILF duo’s friendship.

Without these references already set in my mind, the film might have fallen a little bit flat, because it relies heavily on them. And while this is true of any franchise, considering the gap between American Pie 3: The Wedding and American Reunion (almost a decade) it might have paid for the writers to have written it to stand on its own two feet.

Then again fans will see this regardless. It has everything you liked about the originals; slapstick, gross-out comedy, a never-before-seen part of Jason Biggs body, and a whole lot of heart. One highlight is watching Oz (Chris Klein) on a celebrity dance show. Prepare to be amazed by his killer hip hop moves (or lack thereof).

For the kids who have just stumbled across this franchise, enjoy it for what it is. For the adults who used American Pie as rebellion against parental censorship in their youth, well, it never hurts to have one last slice … for old times sake.

American Reunion is in UK cinemas from 2 May 2012.

Not only does the film feature Carry Ons stalwarts Kenneth Williams and Joan Sims, but it is based on the same stage play, A Ring For Catty, that provided the inspiration for Carry On Nurse. It was also Norman Hudis, the man who wrote the first six Carry On films, who penned this adaptation. Let’s not forget Mr Carry On himself, Gerald Thomas, directed it. Fans of the first two Doctor films will find that Donald Sinden plays a moustachioed woman-chasing RAF officer who is very similar to moustachioed woman-chasing Doctor Tony Benskin.

The least funny thing about Twice Round the Daffodils is that it is set in a TB sanatorium. Although by the 1950s the disease had ceased to be a death sentence, it was no laughing matter and still killed thousands of people each year. Six men are confined to a ward where they are looked after by two pretty young nurses, principally Nurses Catty (played by Juliet Mills, sister of Hayley) and Dorothy (Amanda Reiss). Their task is rehabilitate the patients so they are strong enough to walk two times around the daffodil bed in the garden.

The motley selection of men includes John (Donald Houston), a blustering Welsh miner struggling to come to terms with his condition, melancholy Bob (Ronald Lewis) who’s feeling the effects of already been in the ward for some time, sensitive young poet and orphan Chris (Andrew Ray), not to mention the raffish Ian (Donald Sinden), Kenneth William’s catty, chess-obsessed Henry, and a cheery soul in the form of George (Lance Percival). Unlike in the Carry On films, these characters aren’t purely eccentric stereotypes, but suffer like real people.

Not a lot happens really. To give you an idea, one plot strand follows George who secretly learns chess so he can beat Henry – and then does. Wow. The real strength of the film comes from the personal dramas and conflicts of the men: Bob has to deal with a girlfriend (in the form of Nanette Newman) who has gone off with another man. Even Kenneth Williams’ and Donald Sinden’s characters, are lonely men whose stories that catch the attention, despite being mostly played for laughs. And death or at least a painful bronchoscopy is an ever-present reality.

Let’s not forget the jokes and the romance. The humour mostly comes from two key players, Donald Sinden’s lecherous cad who doesn’t translate quite as well to our era as Kenneth Williams’s bachelor. As ever with Williams, its the way he spits out fairly amusing lines like “some people aren’t all that interested in mail, not matter how it’s spelt” (mail/male geddit?) and “that’s no way to bash a bishop” that makes them actually funny. Three of the men develop crushes on nurses, and although you’ll have to see if there is finally a ring for Nurse Catty, these relationships are more cute rather than Carry On smut.

All in all Twice Round the Daffodils isn’t the camp carry on that you might expect. It’s a wonder that one play adapted by the same screenwriter could produce two such different films. This one is light, but unexpectedly enjoyable.

Twice Round the Daffodils is out on Monday 30 April, 2012.

The Source is the amalgamation of a true story and a mountain of research conducted by French director Radu Mihaileanu. The story it is based upon occurred in a Turkish village in 2001. The women had always fetched water and the men not only refused to help carry it, but would not even install water pipes. So, after a series of water-fetching accidents, the women took matters into their own hands. Their weapon was themselves, and their method was to wage a ‘love strike’ against their husbands. This story is reproduced in The Source, where we are exposed to the violent reaction this incites in the men, as well as the tender scenes that such a situation can bring about between those who are not stuck in tradition.

Mihăileanu described the setting as a “North African or Arabian village” or more poetically “wherever a source flows and love dries up”. The big picture in this remote settlement is of two cultures colliding. Knowledge and education are beginning to encroach on the traditional way of life, making some people angry.

The main character, Leila, is played by rising star Leila Bekhti (Paris, je t’aime and A Prophet), and she is the source of change in this story. She is seen as an outsider, having come from the south to marry her husband (played by Saleh Bakri) out of love. However, it is exactly this quality that enables her to see past the stifling traditions and decide that something needs to be done. Bekhti plays her character beautifully, fusing a fierce determination to her beauty and ensuring she stands out from the crowd. Her husband has been teaching her how to read and write, and this education makes many inhabitants of the village are wary of her. Luckily she has the love and support of her husband and is determined enough to keep going.

Despite Leila’s charisma, she would not have been able to persuade the women of the village to go on the love-strike if it were not for the help of the fantastically formidable Mother Rifle. Why is she called ‘rifle’? Well as one character says, her “words are like bullets”. This character, played by Algerian singer/actress Biyouna (Viva Algeria and Délice Paloma), is widowed and thus free from the constraints of a man. Mother Rifle is able to rise to Leila’s aid with some inspiringly fierce speeches and, as Mihaileanu says, embody a kind of “justice of the peace”. She is a fantastic character, who provides us with many golden moments of comedy, including a hilarious scene where she rides a donkey while talking on a cell phone with an iffy signal.

Although far removed from Western values, this story still feels very current. It deals with many issues we see in the media on a daily basis, including misconceptions about the message of the Koran and the extreme views of Islamic fundamentalists. The film sheds light on the Islam, revealing many of its positive facets in a beautifully natural way.

The language spoken in The Source is the Darija dialect of Arabic spoken in Morocco, which was chosen for its beautiful melodious quality. Melody plays a big part in the film as many things cannot be stated directly within this traditional society, so song and dance step in to fill the gaps. These numbers look and sound joyous, even if the underlying message is scathing.

This mixing of opposites is a common theme, with comedy and tragedy taking place side-by-side. This has the effect of lightening some situations that could otherwise be unbearable, and making The Source a very watchable film. Occasionally it looks a little like a documentary – the actors have very natural, unaltered appearances – which creates a more intimate and realistic feel than the average Hollywood film. This aesthetic works to reinforce the relevance of the important issues the film raises.

The Source is out in cinemas this Friday (18th May) and you can see the trailer below:

Vittorio De Sica’s two best known films, the neo-realist classics Sciuscià or Shoeshine (1946) and Ladri di Biciclette or Bicycle Thieves (1948) movingly chronicle the devastation and poverty of the immediate post-War years. By the release of Il Boom in 1963, the Italian economy had seen spectacular growth since 1951 in a growth spurt christened ‘il boom’. The country had left behind both neo-realism and penury.

Life may have been sweeter for many people but, as we in the 2010s know, il boom is usually followed by il bust. Even if the Italian economy had been able to defy gravity and travel on a one-way trajectory to the stars, Vittorio De Sica would have been there to bring everyone back down to earth. Il Boom, starring one of Italy’s biggest comic movie stars, Alberto Sordi, looks beneath the glossy surface of the economic miracle to the festering truth of the matter.

The round faced, ever-expressive Sordi plays Giovanni Alberti, a dapper businessman who works in construction. At night he drives his beautiful wife Silvia (Gianna Maria Canale of I Vampiri fame) from fancy restaurant to exclusive nightclub in their sportscar and spends the weekend playing tennis and watching show jumping. The trouble with this expensive lifestyle is someone has to pay for it, and Giovanni doesn’t have the money. He’s already up to his eyeballs in debt and none of his friends and acquaintances shows the slightest interest in investing in his get rich quick scheme.

Luckily Giovanni is offered a way out from under the mountain of debt that threatens to engulf his life. The wife of a billionaire offers to pay him big lira if he will agree to sell one of his eyes to her one-eyed husband. Giovanni wouldn’t so much give his eyeteeth to be free of debt, as one of his eyes.

If selling an eye doesn’t only sound macabre, but also slightly ludicrous, that’s because Il Boom is a dark satire. Giovanni isn’t exactly poverty stricken, it’s just that he lives beyond his means. His wife is the daughter of a senior policeman and has certain standards, while his friends and colleagues all seem to expect him to tag along with their extravagant lifestyles. Throughout the film Giovanni is told to cut back on his expenditure, but can’t or won’t.

The principle character in The Bicycle Thieves gains our sympathy because of the implacable nature of his poverty-stricken fate, here we are moved by human frailty. Giovanni Alberti loves his wife and can’t bear to let her down (he fears losing her too), he also doesn’t want to be seen as the merely middle class man that he is. More than anything he just doesn’t have the presence of mind to change. De Sica himself was a prolific gambler who struggled with his finances throughout his life and knew what it meant to be trapped by your bad habits.

Alberto Sordi was so loved in Italy that on his death more than a million people turned onto the streets of Rome to pay their final respects, and his performance here makes it easy to see why he was so popular. Even though he does nothing to help himself, it is almost impossible to dislike this gentle hapless man.

The character of Giovanni Alberti allows us to see through the familiar images of 1960s Italy: the handsome, tanned people and their gilded lives, but he is more than that. Although Giovanni is a creation of his materialistic, consumerist society, but Il Boom is equally a study of the humanity of a flawed individual as well as criticism of society. De Sica knew himself too well for the story to be anything less complex.

The film zips along like an Alfa-Romeo speeding down the Stelvio Pass. There may be a heavy cloud of melancholy and foreboding hanging overhead, but somehow Giovanni manages to cling to the road despite the hairpin bends. Of course, we shouldn’t forget the hilariously pitch-black scenes. Giovanni’s negotiation with the millionaires over the price of his eye and timing of his operation is a particular highlight of gleefully horrifying power play.

Vittorio De Sica is best known as a neo-realist director, but Il Boom shows quite how skilled he was at creating fine films after he had left this approach behind. Giovanni Alberti is an unforgettable character in  a very memorable film.

You can buy Il Boom on DVD from April 23rd, 2012. There two cinema screenings at Glasgow Film Theatre on April 18 and Edinburgh Filmhouse on April 24, as a part of the Italian Film Festival.

Human beings are notoriously curious creatures, constantly striving to find out more about the universe. However, if we send a signal into outer space in the hopes of receiving a friendly alien response, the response of the little green men might not be as kindly as we’d hoped. An alien ship does indeed come to visit Earth, unfortunately its occupants are not in the mood for a friendly cup of tea and a catch-up. One of the alien ships crash lands in Tokyo, not the way to make a good first-impressions with humanity. The rest crash into the Pacific Ocean, near an international naval fleet that just so happens to have numerous weapons at the ready.

From the start it is clear that the aliens have far more advanced weaponry than the humans, especially their flying wheels that destroy anything in their path. However what the humans have is tactics, and this is where the Battleship board-game element comes in.

Battleship is Barbadian singer Rihanna‘s first venture onto the big-screen and, for us at least, she has succeeded in making the transition. She plays weapons officer Raikes with just the right amount of bad-ass bravery and powerful one-liners. Taylor Kitsch, star of John Carter, plays Alex Hopper who starts out as a long-haired down-and-out who will do anything for love. He is brought into the US Navy by his brother, played by Alexander Skarsgard, and aside from the alien invasion, his character transformation is the focus of the film. His performance is credible enough, and he has the bonus of having perfected a particularly intense and mysterious pout.

Brooklyn Decker, who will be appearing in the upcoming rom-com What to Expect When You’re Expecting, plays his love-interest. Throughout the film she proves that she is not just another pretty face but is willing to get down-and-dirty in order to try and save the world from the aliens. She stars alongside real-life war hero Gregory D. Gatson, who plays Lieutenant Colonel Mick Canales. The changing dynamics of their relationship is interesting to watch, as we see their differing personalities find a way to work well together. Her father in the film is played by Liam Neeson, whose Irish lilt shines through the American accents like an Emerald Isle in a true blue sea. However, that is not a problem as he plays Admiral Shane with the perfect mix of gentle comedy and fierce father-in-law protectiveness that terrifies Kitsch’s Hopper to his very soul.

One place that Battleship succeeds, without a doubt, is having a banging soundtrack. Whether it’s the naval officers playing an intense football game or some elderly war heroes bravely stepping up to fight, the music definitely makes you feel ready to rock.

While the storyline appears to have everything packed in, from romance to warfare, it does not delve deep enough into details to make it really worth paying much attention to. The aliens are a bit too similar to humans (if humans dressed up like transformers) to make their journey from a completely different world justifyable, and it would have been nice to see a little more imagination put into their creation. It is a weakness of the film that we don’t learn anything about them, apart from the fact that their weapons are terrifyingly awesome and they are not completely devoid of compassion. If you are expecting a film in which we meet other-worlders, learn more about their world and find out what they want, then you will be disappointed. However, if you watch the film for its special effects alone, and endless action sequences, then you will love it. Battleship is out in the UK now.

Delicacy follows the story of Nathalie (Tautou) who is so loved up it’s almost unbearable. Her cutesy romance with Francois (Pio Marmai) involves kissing outside cafés, twirling in the snow, and planning to start a family. Her dreams are shattered, however, when Francois is tragically killed in a car crash. Distraught Nathalie throws herself into office work – having given up what looked like a much more enjoyable job selling programmes at a theatre. All plods along fairly unremarkably until Nathalie impulsively decides to throw herself at her Swedish colleague Markus (François Damiens), who himself appears somewhat unremarkable. From here, a timid but predictable romance develops, as Nathalie gradually gets her love-life back on track, and a bemused Markus generally can’t quite believe his luck in having somehow impressed such a beautiful co-worker.

The real problem with Delicacy is not the fact that it’s undeniably formulaic and saccharine throughout, but that is struggles to balance its comic and tragic elements. Sitting squarely in the shadow of quirky classic Amélie, the film desperately wants to be a mildly eccentric rom-com, while at the same time giving a sensitive portrayal of the rather inconvenient death which occurs about twenty minutes in – although, admittedly, it manages to evade any obvious One Day comparisons. By refusing to take a blasé or black-humoured approach to the subject matter, the pace is inevitably slowed by all the sadness and never quite picks up again.

That said, teeny-tiny typecast Tautou shows she’s still got her comedic touch in some brilliantly scripted moments of office-based comedy with larger-than-life Belgian comedian Damiens – which are genuinely funny, if not a little over-familiar these days. Yet it’s a shame there is little resolution to the shallow reactions of Nathalie’s friends and colleagues, who appear to disapprove of her unconventional choice of man.

For all its flaws, Delicacy does present an intriguing insight into how and why unlikely romances can occasionally blossom. For heartbroken Nathalie, the choice between her suave successful, good-looking boss, who wines and dines her under the guise of celebrating her promotion, and the awkward and clumsy Markus, is not a difficult one. The less-than-obvious attraction of her unlikely suitor is subtly demonstrated in a parallel dinner date, in which Markus takes her to a tacky Chinese restaurant, where she laughs at the bad food and his terrible jokes. He is not charming, but he is kind and genuine – the safe option – bringing a touch of realism to this wildly whimsical tale.

The film does itself no favours by being inexplicably bizarre at times – directing duo, Stéphane and David Foenkinos, are perhaps a little overly ambitious with some dream sequences that tend to miss the ‘kooky’ mark by miles. Nathalie’s boss is also guarded by a needlessly sexy Mad Men-style secretary, whose pouting and wiggling may well amount to a joke that is simply lost in translation. Worst of all, the film leaves you with the slight sense of dread that Markus might be the one to have his heart broken next time around. It’s hard to say why, but the ‘feel-good factor,’ which should be slathered on with a film like this, somehow seems to be spread a little thin – a little too delicately, perhaps.

Before anything else there is the stellar cast of British oldsters. Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton and Celia Imrie represent the ladies, and the chaps are Tom Wilkinson, Bill Nighy, and Ronald Pickup. All over sixty, they play retirees who find themselves in such dire financial straits that living cheaply in India seems to be the best option.

Each of these characters has a back story that shows why Blighty simply won’t do. These tales take up the first twenty minutes of the film and are both funny and poignant. Evelyn, played by Judi Dench, finds that her recently deceased husband left her nothing but debts. She also finds herself completely at odds with the internet or wi-fi or whatever it’s called and the ‘dedicated helpline’ seems designed only to utterly befuddle her… and amuse us. Ronald Pickup’s lonely Norman goes speed dating pretending he is only aged 40, his much younger date quips: “You mean you were born in 1940!?” So, the group head for Jaipur where they all move into a small, slightly tatty, Indian palace that is now the The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel – “Now With Guests” – run by Dev Patel’s Sonny.

It’s a shame that in the years since Slumdog Millionaire Patel has only been in The Last Airbender, which by most accounts was execrable rubbish. Hopefully this film, directed by the very capable John Madden (Shakespeare in Love, Mrs Brown, Captain Corelli’s Mandolin) will be the beginning of something better. Faced with an onslaught of acting experience, he goes into overdrive. It’s true that Sonny is desperately trying to please his new guests, but Patel’s performance is slightly over the top. Despite this, he is still charming, amusing and likeable. Sonny also provides a pleasant romance plotline centred around his struggles with a girlfriend (Tena Desae) that his marvellously waspish mother (Lillete Dubey) is unhappy about (ie hasn’t chosen for him).

The rest of the characters variously have their cherished opinions challenged, find work, love or their true direction in life. The whole effect is heart-warming, with enough struggle and sorrow to prevent it being too saccharine. India may be watered down – only portrayed as colourful and busy, rather than chaotic and genuinely quite hard work – but this is a ‘feel good film’ not gritty reportage.

I arrived for a screening just before the film started. Looking around when the credits rolled I noticed the auditorium was packed and that most of audience seemed to have grey hair. Yes, there definitely is a shortage of films that directly address the issues of older people, but having said that The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is funny and moving enough to captivate adult audiences of all ages. This is a prime example of a movie that relies on a good story and great performances to ensure the box office is packed.

See the trailer here:

Directed by McG, of Charlie’s Angels and Terminator Salvation fame, we get it all, from high-octane gun fights to tender romantic scenes and not forgetting a generous smattering of great comedic timing. Firstly, we have the brilliantly English Tom Hardy, who is all set to rip up the scenery as Bane in The Dark Knight Rises. Here he plays Tuck, a divorced CIA agent who is trying to get back into the dating game. Alongside him comes the just-as-handsome and professionally single FDR, played by Chris Pine (known for playing Kirk in the 2009 Star Trek film).

When they both fall for a lovely-looking Reese Witherspoon, what will our two bad-ass lotharios do? Will they step aside to preserve their friendship, or will they declare a love war on each other? The title of the film should speak for itself, and the ensuing events make for a really entertaining 98 minutes of viewing.

Reese Witherspoon’s character Lauren, is an endearing, hapless-in-love young woman who is living in Los Angeles, where she moved for her ex-boyfriend. She is now single and looking for the right guy, so what is a girl to do when both Tom Hardy and Chris Pine come along at once? Witherspoon gives an energetic performance, where oddly enough we end up rooting for her, as she enjoys dating these two fine specimens of manliness. However, every novice player needs that opinionated friend to tell them they are doing the right thing, and thankfully for the entertainment of the audience, she has just the one in the form of Trish.

Trish, played by producer/actress Chelsea Handler, is married to a rather large and unattractive man, which thus makes her feel the need to live vicariously through Lauren. She sends barrages of encouragement and advice down the phone every time her friend calls in a quandary over dating two guys. Her lines are hilariously witty, so much so that it borders on predictable. However, if you just sit back and enjoy this outspoken housewife for what she is (someone who would fit in well with the girls from Bridesmaids), then it definitely brightens up the film. Her line “get out there, and you get flexible” pretty much says it all.

Now, we must devote a few paragraphs to the two smouldering, swaggering spies whom Lauren just can’t bring herself to choose between – it’s a tough life, but someone’s gotta do it. First, we have the tall, dark and handsome Tom Hardy and his character Tuck. He plays a cross between the bad-ass spy and a man who is out-of-practice with dating and just wants to find the right girl and settle down. This is the perfect film to show off Hardy’s romantic side, as well as allowing him the opportunity to fire a few guns and punch a few bad-guys. However the focus of This Means War is not really on the spy side, so much as the love triangle at its centre.

This is where Chris Pine comes in, being just as good-looking, in the opposite corner. His character FDR is very different to his close friend Tuck when it comes to the ladies. He is cool and confident, not wanting to be tied down and is surprised at himself when he realises he has fallen for Lauren. Again, Chris Pine is able to shine as a love interest, as he is, well, quite dreamily good-looking. He is also great at doing the spy stuff, making it the type of film that both guys and girls will enjoy.

His relationship with Tuck is something that, after Trish’s surprisingly crude comments, brings the second biggest element of comedy into play. Their great chemistry makes for hilarious banter and we then get to enjoy watching their relationship become more and more competitive because of their shared interest.

If you go see This Means War, be prepared for a film that ticks many boxes, albeit if the action box receives a rather smaller tick. The spy element is more just a good background for the real plot, which is, no matter what many critics may have said, very entertaining. It comes out in the UK on 2nd March, so get ready for an onslaught of brooding good-looks and lots of Reese Witherspoon being conflicted.

Putting family life under a microscope has long been a popular device for filmmakers, but very few do it quite like Roman Polanski. In Carnage he takes four civil, up-standing New-Yorkers and reduces them, in the space of 79 minutes, to their true unapologetic selves.

With a name like Carnage, you’d be forgiven for expecting a slasher film to rival the Saw franchise. On the contrary the film is a ‘warts and all’ portrayal of parenting, that is bitingly funny and disturbingly accurate.

Here are a few subjects you should not broach in a social situation with another family: you should not insult their children, criticise their parenting, their careers, or mention leaving your daughter’s hamster out on the pavement because you were sick of it.

Everyone agreed these are big no nos? So what happens when these rules are ignored? Carnage explores this with brilliant wit.

Polanski had genius material to work with: the film is based on the comedy play ‘The God of Carnage‘ written by Yasmina Reza, and he also drafted her in to adapt it for the screen. The play has enjoyed successful runs in Paris, London and on Broadway since its premiere in 2006 and Polanski reportedly saw the play’s potential immediately.

The film certainly lives up to its source material. There is never a pause in what so easily could have been mundane and boring. Instead we have two families, the Longstreets (Foster & Reilly) and the Cowens (Winslet & Waltz), locked in a showdown over their children. Set in the Longstreet’s apartment, the four adults get together to discuss the issue at hand. Passive aggressive banter soon escalates, revealing each adults’ contradictions and hypocrisy.

Much of the genius lies in the unpredictable nature of the story. Of course there are certain aspects that you do see coming. Alan Cowen’s (Waltz) phone will go off every other minute, and the impending explosion from four strong personalities clashing is inevitable, but you can’t predict each adult’s reactions to one another. It’s delicious to find out. Alan reprimands the Longstreets for implying his son ‘disfigured’ their son, but in the next breath describes his own son as a maniac. It’s these contradictory moments that the comedy is at its most powerful and we get many of the biggest laugh-out-loud moments.

The film is in real-time just like the play, which is possibly Polanski’s biggest triumph. As an audience you are made to feel like you are in the room with them, although at a safe enough distance to observe without implication. Polanski cleverly toys with those basic human instincts that make us judge others and laugh at our own failings. The only detriment I could find was, the entire film takes place in one setting, which becomes a little tedious after a while.

A lot of credit has to go to to the four actors. They play off each other so well. Polanski reportedly scheduled them for weeks of rehearsal, performing the screenplay like the play it’s based on. It shows; the scenes flow very naturally.

Despite our reluctance, we gradually feel empathetic with each character. Kate Winslet (The Reader) for example, gives an outstanding performance as the demure and aloof Nancy. At first she seems cold , but by the end, after she has stopped trying to mediate proceedings, you might find you don’t mind her after all. Unlike Jodie Foster’s (Panic Room) character; the liberal writer Penelope, who seems pleasant in the beginning but by the end is a hysterical sobbing wreck. John C Reilly also deserves a mention too, for his comedic timing, and Waltz is deliciously nasty throughout.

The most amusing thing though, is so much of the conflict could have been avoided. A bite of the tongue here and there, and avoiding certain subjects would have caused far fewer problems. But where’s the fun in that?

Carnage is out in cinemas across the UK from the 3rd February 2012.