Mindhorn (2016)
Genre: Comedy
Director: Sean Foley
Starring: Julian Barratt, Essie Davis, Simon Callow, Andrea Riseborough, Kenneth Branagh, Steve Coogan, Russell Tovey, Harriet Walter, Simon Farnaby
Duration: 89 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

The British independent film Mindhorn stars Julian Barratt as Richard Thorncroft, an actor who enjoyed brief fame in the 1980s playing a TV detective who fights criminals with a bionic eyepatch that can literally “see the truth”.

An arrogant, boozy womaniser at the peak of his fame, Thorncroft threw his TV career away to try his luck in Hollywood. Fast-forward 25 years and he is now a balding, increasingly desperate washed-up actor living in poverty in London.

Adding insult to injury, his glamorous ex-girlfriend and Mindhorn co-star Patricia Deville (Essie Davis) is now a highly successful TV reporter on the Isle of Man, and happily married to Thorncroft’s former stunt double Clive Parnevik (Simon Farnaby).

But fate gives Thorncroft a chance at redemption when a mentally unbalanced fugitive killer on the Isle of Man, Melly (Russell Tovey), contacts police officer DC Baines (Andrea Riseborough) and demands to negotiate with Mindhorn himself. Obsessed with the TV show since childhood, Melly has come to believe the fictional detective is real and can help prove his innocence.

Directed by first-timer Sean Foley and produced by Steve Coogan and Ridley Scott, the film received very positive reviews after its premiere at the London Film Festival last year.

Alistair Ryder of Film Inquiry wrote: “Mindhorn is a cult comedy classic in waiting and is almost certainly the strongest contender for funniest film of 2017.”

Neil Smith of Total Film described the film as “a rib-tickling homage to the gumshoe shows of yesteryear, with an endearingly daffy mindset”.

Kim Newman of Empire, however was not so conviced. She said: “Though stuck with stretches of guff and looking all too convincingly like video-era rubbish TV, Mindhorn delivers regular proper laughs and eventually wrings just enough drops of pathos to scrape by.”

The film will be released in the UK and Malta on Friday.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 90%
Empire: 3 stars

The Promise (2016)
Genre: Drama
Director: Terry George
Stars: Christian Bale, Oscar Isaac, Charlotte Le Bon, Tom Hallander, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Shohreh Aghdashloo
Duration: 133 minutes
Class: 12A
KRS Releasing Ltd

Set during the last days of the Ottoman Empire and during the Armenian Genocide, The Promise follows brilliant medical student Michael (Oscar Isaac) who meets beautiful dance instructor Ana (Charlotte Le Bon) in late 1914. Their shared Armenian heritage sparks an attraction that explodes into a romantic rivalry between Michael and Ana's boyfriend (Christian Bale), an American photojournalist who's dedicated to exposing the truth.

Oscar Isaac and Charlotte Le Bon share more than Armenian heritage in The Promise.

As the Ottoman Empire crumbles into war-torn chaos, the trio’s conflicting passions must be deferred as they join forces to get themselves and their people to safety.

The Promise received average reviews although many hailed the historical element that is rarely portrayed on film.

Andrew Lowry of Empire wrote: “Undeniably effective, in its own blunt way, this deserves credit for shining light on a crime that’s –unbelievably and controversially – still denied to this day.”

Paul Asay of Plugged In was on the same wavelength. He said: “The Promise's painful portrait of the Armenian genocide isn't an easy one to watch. But the story it tells is worth hearing.”

Yet the critics’ consensus on Rotten Tomatoes begs to differ. It reads: “The Promise wastes an outstanding cast and powerful real-life story on a love triangle that frustratingly fails to engage.”

The film, released in North America last weekend, ended up in ninth place at the box office with $7 million in ticket sales. The film had a production budget of $90 million.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes: 49%
Empire: 3 stars

Lady MacBeth (2016)
Genre: Drama
Director: William Oldroyd
Stars: Florence Pugh, Christopher Fairbank, Cosmo Jarvis, Bill Fellows, Naomi Ackie
Duration: 89 minutes
Class: 15
KRS Releasing Ltd

Despite the title, there is nothing Shakespearian about this tale of murderous Victorian passion. It is instead based on Russian author Nikolai Leskov’s 1865 novel Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Florence Pugh is determined to get what she wants in Lady Macbeth.

The film transplants the action from Russia to Northumberland, England, in 1865. Resenting her arranged and loveless marriage to older colliery heir Alexander (Paul Hilton), 17-year-old Katherine (Florence Pugh) embarks on a passionate affair with a young worker on her husband’s estate,  Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), and resorts to murder when the romance is discovered.

The British independent film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in September 2016 and went on screens at the BFI Film Festival 2016 and Sundance Film Festival 2017, received positive reviews.

Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian described it as a “brilliantly chilling subversion of a classic” while  Tim Robey called the film “a lusty, jaw-droppingly amoral bodice-ripper”.

Critics praised Pugh’s performance and compared her role to that of Madame Bovary and Lady Chatterley. They also lauded director William Oldroyd, saying  that the film may serve as a comment on modern attitudes to oppression, prejudice and morality.

The film was released in the UK last weekend and is scheduled for release in the US in June.

Ratings
IMDB: 7.2/10
Rotten Tomatoes: 91%
Empire: 4 stars