FILM new releases
Grumpy Old Men meets Apollo 13 in this lame duck
Space Cowboys (PG) 130 mins
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Love & Sex (15) 82 mins
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they've got so much on-screen charrsma that some scenes posrtrvely oo/e ‘-.'t.‘:th amrable charm All four are happy to poke fun at therr elderly status and there's the odd moment when Space Cowboys rs truly touchrng.
rat then rt all goes pear-shaped Through son"e rrdrculous plot twrsts the tour end up rn space to reparr a vrtal Russran satellrte, a mrssron whrch goes pr‘edrctably awry From here on rn the humour rs left behrnd and replaced nurtn the krnd of sub-standard actron pulp that Hollywood churns out wrth ararrnrng frequency Dr'Ot.‘.'n:rtg rn specral effects, cliched clralogue, and a stupendousiy rmplausrble plot, not even th:s cast can salvage much respect from thrs lame duck of a ‘rlm Doug Johnstoner
General release from Err 22 Sep
The enormously Iikeable Janssen and Favreau really light up the screen
rt's fr‘eguently ‘nrlarrous lnsprred by unhat she calls 'the break-up of a Krdrcrous r‘elatronshrp \.'.’rth my best ‘r'rend', Brerman's scr‘rpt shoots s‘tr'arght to the heart of relatronshrps, from flrr‘tatro'r throagh honeymoon perrod, 'orng (ornpanronshrp and break up What arso drstrngurshes thrs f'lm from 'esser vorn-com efforts are the leads' sparkl1ng performances Indrvrdually, Ja'tssen and Favr‘eau are enormously lrkeahre, then many scenes together 'eally lrght up the screen llavrng played the str‘rkrng Bond vrllarn, Xenra Zar‘agevna Onatopp, rn Go/(lenEye, and then been underused rn X—Men, rt's great to see Janssen tn a starr‘rng role And she and iavr'eau worked so well together they're tearnrng up agarn for ":s S‘.'./r/;gers forl(:‘r.'.'-up, Made
l.lrles Frelcler‘r
General release from Err 29 Sep See feature
Human Resources
(Ressources Humaines) (tbc) 103mins it + w a
Laurent Cantet's frne debut feature rs the logrcal extensron of a certarn trend rn recent French crnema, Where, say, La Vie Revee Des Anges used professronal actors to deprct aspects of workrng class lrfe, and La Vr’e De JeSr/s used non-professronals to manrpulate a relrgrous parable out of the same Northern French regron, Cantet uses amateurs (wrth the exceptron of Jalrl Lespert) to explore a specrfrc srtuatron.
The problem here rs contemporary and polrtrcally troublesome Lespert returns home from busrness studres rn Parrs to work rn the same company as hrs father But where dad's a blue collar ordrnary Joe, Jalrl's a surt, and whrle hrs father rs proud of the famrlral upward mobrlrty, what nerther father nor son realrse rs that personal and social progress can lead to drvrded loyaltres at home
What makes Cantet’s frlm more than a preach movre -- no matter the rmportance of the message rs the way rt rnterweaves the personal and the polrtrcal to the pomt that they become nothrng less than rnextrrcable. At rts centre Lespert proves hrmself — as he drd rn last year’s French Frlm Festrval movre A Consr'derab/e D/sturbance an actor especrally adept at capturrng the ambrvalences of a workrng class guy Wrth expectatrons transcendrng hrs class (Tony lvchrbbrnr I Ed/nburgh; Frlm/rouse from Sat 30 Sep.
Hotel Splendide (15) 98 mins 7' 2r Any frlm that's a cross between Del/catessen and Faw/ty Towers ought to be worth a look But whrle Hotel Splendrde has the strrkrng appearance of Jeunet and Caro's fantasy and the Brrtrsh eccentrrcrty of the John Cleese Srtcom, rt rs sorely lackrng rn the humour department, a problem because Terence Gross’ frlm debut rs supposed to be a black comedy Hotel Splendrde has a tasty 'rne rn scatology, however
The eponymous crumblrng health spa exrsts on a remote rsland where rts guests endure mud baths, enemas and food borled free of taste and texture, a strrct r'egrme rnstalled by the now dead Blanche famrly matrrarch and adhered to by the dead mother's three srblrngs, Ronald the head chef rDanrel Crargr, Cora the tr‘eatrrtents nurse (Katrtn Cartlrdger and Dezmond the general manager tStephen Tompkrnsonr The surprrse reappearance of Ronald's ex, rrval chef Kate =Torrr Colleter, however, rocks the rnstrtutron to rts foundatrons
Frustratrngly, the aptly-named Gross has all the elements rn place for a frne frlthy farce about repressron and obsolete Emprres But whrle the drab set desrgn and oddball characterrsatrons v partrcularly the gogg‘e-eyed Hugh O'COnnor, so good rn The Young Pmsoner’s Handbook work, the narratrve meanders and the humour rnrsses the beat at every turn A shrtty sname erles F'elder‘r I Selected release from Fr/ 22 Sep.
Elephant Juice (18) 83 mins we Elephant jurce mouth the words to a frrend and therr srgnrfrcance may be revealed) rs the frrst frlm from Tirrs L/fe team Sam lvlrller and Amy Jenkrns It boasts a srmrlar'ly psychologrcally- focused sc‘rrpt and an :nterest rn the growrng parns of late twentysomethrngs, and would also be more at home on a small screen
Jules (Emmanuelle Beartr beautrful, sensrtrve, hrgh-power'ed rob, fantas'trc clothes rs engaged to eri tDanrel Laparne~ sexy ar'trst, wrld man She has doubts about marryrng, and so she should have erl rs nobbrng varrous \‘yomen rncludrng a prostrtute and doesn't even know the meanrng of the word gurlt Indeed, they are not the only confused parr, very few rndrvrduais rnanage to keep to therr own partners for the duratron of the frlm For some of then‘ cr‘rsrs rs loomrng, and for others much more satrsfyrng rear‘r'angernents To help us forget that Elephant lurce rsn't T‘lrrs lrfe, Daniela Nardrnr cornpe’s us agarn as (ynrcal, sharp-but-sympathetrc' Scot Daphne
Some may irke the hrp rnrlreu of thrs frlm, others may tnrnk rt pretentrous Frther way, soft soul Brlly 'Sean Gallagherl rs at the heart of r! al‘, ensurrng that good guys and truthful feelrngs do count, and that Elephant lurt e rs on the thoughtful srde of lrg'nt (Hannah Fr'resr I Selected release from Err 22 Sep
Politics in the workplace
Wonderfully eccentric but frustratingly unfunny
More twentysomething angst