’Deception’ (Tromperie)

An elegant, fractured, dialogue-based chamber piece, a perfect example of the craft of filmmaking through intimacy of performance, camera work, lighting and editing as a successful writer looks to the relationships in his life. Yet, ultimately, the result is somewhat inert and tedious.

An adaptation of the experimental novel by Philip Roth, Philip (Denis Podalydès) converses over several years with various women in his life – with the unnamed L’amante anglaise (Léa Seydoux) dominant. A luminous contrivance of sex, love and (dis)loyalty in a Notting Hill studio, Hampstead home or New York hospital, Deception is a literary and cinematic bon mot as Philip intellectualises his infidelities, his writings, his Judaism.

Directed by Arnaud Desplechin, Deception is deceptively seductive centred around a mesmerising performance by Seydoux, muse, lover and intellectual match to the writer. Less convincing is a Philip with charm but lacking the rigour and magnetism of the philanderer he is meant to be.

Rating: 59%

Director: Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days, The Sentinel)

Writer: Arnaud Desplechin (My Golden Days, Esther Kahn), Julie Peyr (Brother and Sister, Who You Think I Am) – adapted from the Philip Roth novel

Main cast: Denis Podalydès (Caché, An Officer and a Spy), Léa Seydoux (No Time to Die, Blue is the Warmest Colour), Emmanuelle Devos (Coco Before Chanel, Kings & Queens)

‘The Great Train Robbery’

An intriguing two part telling of one of the most audacious heists in British history – the theft of  £2.61 million from the Royal Mail train travelling between Glasgow and London in August 1963.

Over its two parts (each 90 minutes long, both written by Chris Chibnall), The Great Train Robbery sees events from two sides. Part one, with Bruce Reynolds (Luke Evans) heading the gang, is the lead up and stopping of the train as some 15 men, holed up for a week in a nearby farm purchased specifically for the occasion, empty the train of 120 mailbags. An enormous embarassment to the government of the day, DCS Tommy Butler (Jim Broadbent) is placed in charge of the investigation with DI Frank Williams (Robert Glenister) his righthand man. Results are expected – and quickly. Part two is the tracking down of the gang with pressure placed on narks to deliver names – nothing of this size would not go unnoticed in the London underworld.

Some are rounded up pretty quickly – the instruction not to flash money around too easily ignored by some. And the clean up of the farmhouse was not as thorough as it should have been. But it’s the ringleaders the overbearing and bullying Butler (its the 1960s after all – 15 hour shifts 7 days a week expected with no time off) wants – and the likes of Reynolds, Gordon Goody (Paul Anderson) and Roy James (Martin Compston) are that much more difficult to track down. Reynolds certainly keeps his head down – with the takings more than double what was expected (calculated to present-day value of £58 million), he knows the authorities will throw everything at him: even Parliament steps in and interferes with investigations.

Both parts are straightforward, point-of-view procedural dramas chronicling events and built around known truths. It’s all pretty low key but intriguing nevertheless – but with Reynolds a likeable rogue and Butler a bullying member of the establishment, there’s no doubt where most sympathies lie!

Rating: 64%

’A Room with a View’

A brief romance in early 20th century Florence leaves Lucy Honeychurch uncertain of her inevitable marriage to the somewhat staid and dull Cecil Vyse.

Chaperoned by cousin Charlotte (a splendid Maggie Smith), Lucy (Helena Bonham Carter) comes into contact with the father/son Emersons at the hotel. Dismissed by Charlotte as ‘beneath them’, the Emersons exchange their better rooms (and one with a view) with the two women. This simple act of kindness piques Charlotte’s interest in the young, romantic George Emerson (Julian Sands). A brief romance ensues before Lucy’s return to England and her acceptance of marriage to Cecil Vyse (Daniel Day Lewis).

The Midas touch of James Ivory, Ismail Merchant and Ruth Prawer Jhabvala once more prevails with this sumptuous costume drama of romanticised love, privilege and class. It can get a little bogged down in its respect of E.M. Forster’s source novel but it remains an exquisite piece of storytelling.

Nominated for 8 Oscars in 1987 including best film, director, supporting actor (Denholm Elliot), supporting actress (Maggie Smith), art direction, costume – won 1 for best adapted script

Rating: 74%

Director: James Ivory (Heat and Dust, Maurice)

Writer: Ruth Prawer Jhabvala (Heat and Dust, Howards End) – adapted from the script by E.M. Forster

Main cast: Helena Bonham Carter (Fight Club, The King’s Speech), Julian Sands (Gothic, Ocean’s 13), Maggie Smith (Gosford Park, The Lady in the Van)

’Hester Street’

Russian and Polish Jewish migrants find different levels of success in assimilating into 1890s New York.

Living in the tenements on the Lower East Side, Jake (Steven Keats) finds himself perfectly content, working, fluent in English, flirtatious, spending time with seamstress Mamie (Dorrie Kavenaugh). But things are about to change when his wife and young son arrive from the shtetls of Europe. The wide-eyed, observant Gitl (Carol Kane) struggles with the challenge of a new life and turns to the lodger, former yeshiva student Bernstein (Mel Howard), for insight into the change in her once traditional husband.

Simple in its construction, Hester Street, as directed by Joan Micklin Silver in her feature film debut, is a sensitive portrayal of the microcosm of Jewish and immigrant life at the end of the 19th century. Tradition, religious observance and the old way of life clash with modern America in Silver’s authentic bittersweet slice of life that alternates between Yiddish and English.

Nominated for 1976 best actress Oscar

Rating: 70%

Director: Joan Micklin Silver (Crossing Delancey, Chilly Scenes in Winter)

Writer: Joan Micklin Silver (Limbo, Chilly Scenes in Winter) – based on the novel by Abraham Cahan

Main cast: Carol Kane (Annie Hall, TV’s Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt), Steven Keats (Death Wish, The Friends of Eddie Coyle), Mel Howard (Buffalo Heart, The Washington Affair)

’The Boys in the Boat’

A winning tale as the State of Washington University rowing team take on the best of the US before qualifying for the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.

Desperate for work to pay for tuition fees, Joe Rantz (Callum Turner) signs up for the rowing team trials. Along with best mate Roger (Sam Strike), he makes the final eight of the juniors under the tough eye of coach Al Ulbrickson (Joel Edgerton). Pressure is on the blue-collar Washington team as they compete against the wealth of California and Princeton – as well as their own seniors.

Based on an inspiring true story, director George Clooney produces a solid episodic telling as Rantz struggles with poverty (he lives out of a beat-up truck) and adversity. There’s few bells and whistles – until the final minutes with a truly thrilling race in the Berlin Olympics under the watchful eye of the German Chancellor.

Rating: 62%

Director: George Clooney (The Ides of March, The Tender Bar)

Writer: Mark L. Smith (The Revenant, The Marsh King’s Daughter) – based on the book by Daniel James Brown

Main cast: Joel Edgerton (The King, Loving), Callum Turner (The Only Living Boy in New York, Fantastic Beasts), Peter Guinness (Official Secrets, Alien 3)

‘Lupin’ (Seasons 1 & 2)

Inspired by the early 20th century stories of the fictional French gentleman thief Arsène Lupin, this 10 part, two season narrative is a delightful romp through modern day Paris as petty thief Assane Diop looks to avenge the framing and resulting death of his father for theft 25 years earlier.

Omar Sy is magnificent as the empathic and warm-hearted Diop who, through his own unreliability, has seen his family unravel. But he and wife Claire (Ludivine Sagnier) remain best of friends with Diop a strong presence in the life of son Raoul (Etan Simon). The two share a love for the stories of Maurice Leblanc and his fictional creation, Arsène Lupin. Intending to go straight, Diop is distracted by news of the forthcoming auction of the very necklace his father was accused of stealing – and by Hubert Pellegrini (Hervé Pierre), the wealthy industrialist and former employer of Babakar Diop (Fargass Assandé).

Like Lupin, Assane Diop is a master of disguises and, with support from best friend since schooldays, Benjamin (Antoine Gouy), inveigles his way into the Louvre and the auction. Disguised as a wealthy bidder, he steals the necklace. And so begins a 10 part narrative of Diop attempting to stay one step ahead of Pellegrini’s henchmen and corrupt police as well as be a reliable father to Raoul. Interspersed are recollections of young teenage memories and his links with the Pellegrini family and daughter Juliette. Diop’s singular objective is to prove his father was framed.

It’s a fun, slightly tongue-in-cheek, old-fashioned ride full of incident but with occasional challenging moments to ensure Lupin avoids asinine superficiality.

Rating: 77%

‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’

A surprisingly engaging feature that oozes ‘indie’ as a group of environmental activists plan to blow up an oil pipeline in an isolated part of West Texas.

Travelling individually or in pairs from their home states, time is taken by writer/director Daniel Goldhaber to present the reasonings behind this diverse group of individuals resorting to their actions. From local Texan Dwayne (Jack Weary) angry by the enforced sale of land that’s been in his family for generations through to Theo (Sasha Lane) dying from a leukaemia linked to her Californian oil refinery town; from group leader Xochitl (Ariela Barer) with the recent loss of her mother to explosives expert Michael (Forrest Goodluck) a native American Indian – all have their reasons.

Based on the book by Andreas Malm who argues that property destruction is valid in looking for environmental justice, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is non-glamourised realism as the group prepare and undertake their carefully planned objectives. It’s the polar-opposite characters and the interactions between the likes of rebellious trust fund kid Logan (Lukas Gage), meat-eating red-neck Dwayne and the vegan, lesbian Sasha and her girlfriend Alisha (Jayme Lawson) who provide a deep humanity to the narrative.

Rating: 66%

Director: Daniel Goldhaber (Cam, TV’s 50 Shades of Fright)

Writer: Daniel Goldhaber (Cam, TV’s 50 Shades of Fright), Ariela Barer, Jordan Sjol

Main cast: Ariela Barer (TV’s Runaways, Rebel), Jake Weary (Message From the King, TV’s Animal Kingdom), Sasha Lane (American Honey, TV’s The Crowded Room)

‘Querelle’

Inspired by the writings of Jean Genet and shot in lurid, expressionist staged colour, Querelle is an intense homoerotic tale of masculinity and the last film of controversial German auteur Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

Artificial in its world of gay fetish imagery and an uncompromising portrayal of gay male sensibility, Querelle (Brad Davis) sails into the port of Brest with a stash of opium he wants to offload. Adored from afar by a lieutenant (Franco Nero) aboard ship, he finds his way to Feria, a bar and brothel for sailors run by Madame Lysiane (Jeanne Moreau). Her lover Robert (Hanno Pöschl) is, reportedly, Querelle’s brother. It is Lysiane’s husband Nono (Günther Kaufmann) who is the drug distributor.

As menacing as Genet’s poetic prose, Querelle is a lurid confusion of a narrative. Visually captivating, it’s a tale of sex, passion and murder. Fleeting moments last a life time in Genet’s transitory world resulting in an intensity of emotion and connection. Yet for all it’s surreal beauty, Fassbinder’s film is not easy – through its exaggeratedly theatrical presentation, there’s a Brechtian emotional distancing. Awkward, at times tortured, dialogue compounds.

Rating: 55%

Director: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Fear Eats the Soul, Veronika Voss)

Writer: Rainer Werner Fassbinder (Fear Eats the Soul, Veronika Voss), Burkhard Driest (The Brutalisation of Franz Blum, Slow Attack) – based on the novel by Jean Genet

Main cast: Brad Davis (Midnight Express, Chariots of Fire), Jeanne Moreau (Jules and Jim, Diary of a Chambermaid), Franco Nero (Tristana, Django Unchained)

’Pain Hustlers’

A strong performance from Emily Blunt fails to elevate yet another exploration of the Pharma industry and its perfidious behaviour.

Broke and living out of a motel room, Liza Drake (Blunt) and her daughter Phoebe (Chloe Coleman) are certainly struggling. But a chance meeting with Pete Brenner (Chris Evans) changes her life as the savvy single-mum talks her way into working for the wealthy Dr Neel (Andy Garcia) and the pharma sales business. With no experience but a gift for charm and hard-nose nous, she’s soon on the road to massive financial success working within a dysfunctional and corrupt health care business.

In focussing on Drake, director David Yates succeeds in highlighting the grift and corruption of the business in rewarding doctors who prescribe certain drugs, untrained medical sales reps who sell the drugs. But it’s financial addiction rather than opiate addiction that forms the core of the narrative – and coming at the end of a number of recent films and miniseries about the likes of OxyContin and the Sackler family, Pain Hustlers suffers. The edge to its commentary as a result is diluted.

Rating: 61%

Director: David Yates (Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix, The Legend of Tarzan)

Writer: Wells Tower – based on the book by Evan Hughes

Main cast: Emily Blunt (A Quiet Place, Oppenheimer), Chris Evans (Captain America – The First Avenger, Knives Out), Andy Garcia (Ocean’s Eleven, The Mule)

’Jackie Brown’

A quieter, less violent narrative from Tarantino than his usual offerings, Jackie Brown is a sassy caper as a flight attendant finds herself an informer against a local arms dealer.

An older woman with a criminal past, Jackie Brown (Pam Grier) smuggles cash from Mexico into the US for Ordell Robbie (Samuel L. Jackson). But the ATF and a team led by Ray Nicolette (Michael Keaton) have him in their sights – and pick up Brown with $50,000 in her bag. With Robbie paying bail, Brown faces jail time – unless she turns state evidence. The arms dealer looks to cover his bases – with bail bonder Max Cherry (Robert Forster) and Brown suspecting she may be in danger. To protect herself, she plots a sting with Cherry that’ll put her out of harms way.

Tarantino draws out the unfolding of the story, throwing in a soulful ’70s soundtrack along with extra characters to add action and humour (including a convincingly vulnerable Robert De Niro as Robbie’s not-so-bright, recently released henchman) but there’s a level of poignancy and vulnerability not normally associated with the director.

Robert Forster – nominated for best supporting actor Oscar in 1998

Rating: 74%

Director: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill I & II)

Writer: Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill I & II) – based on a novel by Elmore Leonard

Main cast: Pam Grier (Foxy Brown, Larry Crowne), Samuel L. Jackson (Pulp Fiction, The Banker), Robert Forster (The Descendants, Mulholland Drive)