‘The Lost King’

Engaging and compelling in its straightforward telling, The Lost King (based on a true story) is an archaeological detective story driven by the curiosity of an ‘ordinary’ everywoman.

A chance attendance at a theatre production of Richard III at a local Edinburgh theatre sees interest in the much maligned king piqued in Philippa Langley (a captivating Sally Hawkins). So much so she joins a local Richard III society which leads her to a conference in Leicester, the believed final resting place of the king killed in the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. Much enquiry from the amateur historian leads to obsession and her raising funds to work in collaboration with the University of Leicester and lecturer Richard Buckley (Mark Addy) to identify its location.

There’s few fireworks from director Stephen Frears. Instead, he offers a flawed but spirited story of one woman’s self-belief and determination to take on the scepticism of the academic experts as they increasingly downplay her achievements.

Rating: 64%

Director: Stephen Frears (Philomena, The Queen)

Writer: Steve Coogan (Philomena, The Parole Officer), Jeff Pope (Philomena, Stan & Ollie) – based on the book by Philippa Langley and Michael Jones

Main cast: Sally Hawkins (Maudie, The Shape of Water), Mark Addy (Downton Abbey, Barney’s Version), Steve Coogan (Philomena, 24 Hour Party People)

‘Philomena’

Shocking truths gently told, Philomena finds an Irish grandmother publicly acknowledging a truth kept secret for 50 years.

A young Irish girl, pregnant, is packed off to the convent in shame. A virtual slave to the harsh life of punishment, Philomena Lee witnesses the adoption of her son, Michael, without any opportunity of saying goodbye. Wracked with remorse ever since, she finally reveals the truth to daughter, Jane (Anna Maxwell-Martin – The Duke, TV’s Motherland). It’s the catalyst for political journalist Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan – Stan & Ollie, 24 Hour Party People) to investigate a human interest story as to just why the convent has been less than helpful in supporting Philomena (Judi Dench – Mrs Brown, Belfast) find her son.

Director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Florence Foster Jenkins) wisely allows the two leads and their sparky chemistry dictate the pace of an emotionally engaging narrative.

Nominated for 4 Oscars in 2014 – best film, actress, adapted screenplay and original score.

Rating: 69%

‘A Very English Scandal’

British politics are rocked every decade or so with a sex scandal – the Profumo affair in the 1960s is, to date, the highest profile with the most far-reaching of consequences. But former leader of the Liberal Party Jeremy Thorpe’s trial, in 1979, accused of conspiracy to murder ex-lover Norman Scott is certainly up there.

The BBC’s three-part miniseries written by Russell T. Davies sees a revelatory Hugh Grant as the manipulative, duplicitous, odious, yet seemingly charming Oxford educated politician, a sitting Liberal Party MP for North Devon from 1959. He first makes contact with Norman Josiffe in the early 1960s. Thorpe was already a star in ascendency and seen as a future leader of the Liberals. Josiffe was a naive, unstable and neurotic stableboy.

Yet, within a year or so, at a time when homosexuality was illegal in Britain, Thorpe had secretly set up Josiffe in a London bedsit on call for his sexual satisfaction. But the older man soon tired of the arrangement.

Over the next decade or so, Norman Josiffe popped in and out of life in London and North Devon. Just how manipulative he was, or whether a victim, is moot – Ben Whishaw is magnificent as the fey, delicate Norman Scott (a name change due to a successful but short modelling career in Dublin). There’s no question about Thorpe. His quest for power is laid bare – even to the extent of deciding to marry (Monica Dolan) to help his political career. It’s at this stage that Thorpe, in conversation with fellow MP and closest friend, Peter Bessell (Alex Jennings), raises the view that Scott’s death may be beneficial to the Liberal Party as well as its leader.

And so the compelling, salient narrative develops. At its centre is the repercussions of the relationship – so short in terms of time on screen – but A Very English Scandal and its director Stephen Frears contextualises events. It was a time of upheaval and social demand for change, with the very real threat to the two-party political system (it’s immediately prior to the rise of Margaret Thatcher). The Liberal Party under Thorpe was on the cusp of genuine political power. Lunchtime conversations and snippets of Thorpe in action in the House of Commons relate to the moves to legalise homosexuality, Britain’s joining of the European Common Market, immigration. But that’s all background noise to the central premise.

It’s a fascinating slice of political history and insight into a certain aspect of privilege and the English establishment at the time. It’s also a very English engagement.

Rating: 72%

‘Florence Foster Jenkins’

Disappointing. The wealthy socialite who was never told she could not sing by acolytes and sycophants could have been a rich source for Meryl Streep and director Stephen Frears. It took the misguided recital at Carnegie Hall in 1944 in front of a public audience for the realisation to hit home. It reportedly killed her, suffering a heart attack a mere two days after scathing reviews.

It’s Streep who is miscast. Here she is in her mannered, actorly, slightly manic Julie & Julia mode. Suffering from syphilis for more than 50 years, the side-effect of the disease and its treatment (mercury) would have left Florence more than skittish. Eccentricity verging on madness (at a minimum) would have been the order of the day. In failing to nail this, Florence Foster Jenkins falls somewhat flat.

Instead, we get a safe, modest entertainment that certainly has its moments – Simon Helberg is a revelation as Cosme McMoon, Florence’s pianist and Hugh Grant (Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral) gets his best role in years. But it says a lot when the film is at its best when Florence is washing dishes or not on screen at all.

Nominated for 2 Oscars in 2017 (Streep, costume design).

Rating: 48%

Director: Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena)

Writer: Nicholas Martin (TV’s Big Bad World, Soldier Soldier), Julia Kogan

Main cast: Meryl Streep (Julie & Julia, Silkwood), Hugh Grant (Notting Hill, Four Weddings and a Funeral), Simon Helberg (A Serious Man, TV’sThe Big Bang Theory)

‘The Program’

An extraordinary tale of lies, deception and systemic drug abuse in sport that allowed American cyclist Lance Armstrong rule his domain for years.

Like the film, Armstrong, clinically played by Ben Foster is cold and manipulative. And director Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena) perfectly  captures the drive and sheer competitiveness of the seven-times winner of the Tour de France as Irish journalist David Walsh (Chris O’Dowd) becomes convinced his victories are fuelled by banned substances.

But The Program left you wanting it to go that extra mile – to dig a little deeper into the sport itself and just why the now disgraced Armstrong managed to avoid exposure for so long.

Rating: 57%

Director: Stephen Frears (The Queen, Philomena)

Writer: John Hodge (Trainspotting, The Beach) – based on the book by David Walsh

Main cast: Ben Foster (Contraband, Kill Your Darlings), Chris O’Dowd (Calvary, St Vincent), Guillaume Canet (War of the Buttons, Joyeux Noël)