The Adam Project
The hard-working Ryan Reynolds, who is rapidly becoming this generation’s Bob Hope (hopefully without the rampant misogyny) wisecracks his sway through this Sci-Fi adventure. He travels back in time and meets himself as a child and the pair of him thwart an evil plan. This works pretty well as a comedy in the first half but the generic story that takes over towards the end is not very interesting.
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nightride
A surprisingly good British thriller about Budge (Moe Dunford), a drug dealer trying to complete once last delivery before he goes straight. It is set almost entirely in Moe’s car as he negotiates whilst the deal spins out of control, and whilst it is not in the same league as the similarly set Locke, it does build up a fair amount of tension. That is helped by a good lead performance and a pulsing score from Paul Kieran. Amongst cast of unknown, Stephen Rea literally phones in his performance.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Invisible Thread
A teen boy makes a film for a school project about his two Dads, and uncovers a secret. This Italian film offers nothing new to the teen drama genre.
Rating: 3 out of 10
My Wonderful Life
A Polish middle aged woman has to balance being a wife, mother, teacher and lover of a colleague. This a rather dull soap opera that has no characters of interest.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Restless
A corrupt cop covers up an accident which leads to potentially lethal consequences for him. I have seen a lot better French police thrillers and this one starts quite confusingly. It picks up considerably towards the end though and Franck Gastambide is quite charismatic in the lead role.
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
Against the Ice
This Danish/Icelandic production is based on true events that took place between 1909 and 1911. Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and crew member Iver Iversen (Joe Cole) leave their boat and trek across the ice in an attempt to disprove the United States’ claim to North Eastern Greenland. They achieve their goal but are left stranded. This is pretty bleak stuff, and there have been numerous similarly set films so there is nothing surprising. It did engage me enough to look into the veracity of the events shown though,
Rating: 5.5 out of 10
The Bombardment
Another true story, this time set in World War 2 when a British bombing crew accidentally bombed a Copenhagen school killing 120 people. Whilst that was a tragedy, there is not enough story to make up a feature film. It gets bogged down in the backstories of the people impacted and struggles to sustain any interest.
Rating: 4 out of 10
The Weekend Away
Leighton Meester from the prematurely cancelled sitcom Single Parents stars as Beth in this thriller from director Kim Farrant. Beth travels to Split to meet up with her old friend Kate (Christina Wolfe). After a drunken night out, Kate disappears. At first the police take little interest in finding Kate, but when her body is found, Beth comes under suspicion. This is a typical example of this genre. The foreign police are shifty and the locals Beth meets are either creepy or helpful…maybe too helpful! But it is slickly made, revealing the events of the night and Kate’s backstory gradually to increase the suspense. Meester is convincing as the desperate friend, it is good to see one of the loveliest European cities on screen and the final twist is pretty satisfying.
Rating: 7.5 out of 10
Marilyn’s Eyes
A group of psychiatric patients decide to turn their treatment centre into a restaurant in this Italian drama. I am sure it was well intentioned but the sluggish pace and over acting made it a very hard watch.
Rating: 3.5 out of 10
Windfall
When a tech billionaire (Jesse Plemons) and his younger wife (Lily Collins) arrive at their vacation home they find it occupied by a stranger (Jason Segal) who holds them hostage whilst they get money together to pay him off. Set just in the one location, this thriller has been described as Hitchcockian. Apart from Danny Bensi’s and Saunder Jurriaans’ Herrmannesque score I don’t really see that. It is a well set up premise and the acting is great but the story does peter out to an unconvincing ending.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
The Pirates: The Last Royal Treasure
This Korean romp owes a bigger debt to the dreadful Pirates of the Caribbean movies than Errol Flynn unfortunately. Packed with unconvincing fight scenes and bad CGI, the only thing that distinguishes this film is Han Hyo-joo as the ship’s Captain.
Rating: 3 out of 10
Without Saying Goodbye
A vain Spanish property developer who seems only interested in money travels to Peru with the intention of building a hotel on some unspoilt land. But when he meets a free spirited young woman he realises there is more to life. This is a plot straight out of the Hallmark playbook and it hits all the expected rom com beats. But it has warmth and charm and Maxi Iglesias and Stephanie Cayo make likeable leads.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
Rescued by Ruby
This is a true story about a state trooper who wants to join the canine team. He rescues a shelter dog from that seemingly cannot be re-homed and is about to be put down. Can he train her and can he make the team? Well, you probably know the answer to that, but you would also need to have a heart of stone not to be moved by this story.
Rating: 6.5 out of 10
In Good Hands
This Turkish romance about Melisa, a single Mum with a terminal illness, is very schmaltzy. In true movie style, the deadly illness how almost no effect on Melisa apart from an occasional headache. The seemingly unsuitable man she meets, Firat, barely bats an eyelid when she tells him her news which felt very odd. If you can bare the sentimentality you may find this affecting.
Rating: 4.5 out of 10