This week, in cinemas: Icy fairy-tale adventures in The Huntsman: Winter’s War; an unlikely Oxbridge maths genius in The Man Who Knew Infinity; and an Amblin-inspired sci-fi in Midnight Special.
The Huntsman: Winter’s War
★★★
What it’s about: You remember the mighty-morphin’ mirror from Snow White And The Huntsman? Well, it’s back for a second run in this kinda-prequel / kinda-sequel. Snow White is elsewhere this time, so Chris Hemsworth’s Huntsman and his bestie, Jessica Chastain’s Sara, have to deal with Freya (Emily Blunt) and her lust for revenge.
What we thought: "Visual inventiveness and spectacular casting can’t quite salvage a muddled fantasy epic that, if it were a magic mirror, would be held together with gaffer tape."
Midnight Special
★★★★
What it’s about: Mud and Take Shelter director Jeff Nichols expands his canvas with a sci-fi road-trip yarn that leads across America’s deep south and back in time to the era of Close Encounters and Starman. Jaeden Lieberher is a young boy with special powers; Michael Shannon is his devoted dad. The government wants them both.
What we thought: "Soulful sci-fi. A tribute to ’80s classics, but with a 21st-century twist: Close Encounters of a new kind."
Dheepan
★★★★
What it’s about: Ex-Tamil Tiger fighter Sivadhasan (Jesuthasan Antonythasan) emigrates at the end of Sri Lanka’s Civil War in Jacques Audiard's latest. Arriving in one of Paris’ tougher estates, he and his family find the locals less than welcoming.
What we thought: “A heartening reminder that a little hope can sometimes be wrested from the deepest despair."
The Man Who Knew Infinity
★★★
What it’s about: The true-life story of an Indian teenager (Dev Patel) who becomes an unlikely maths genius at Cambridge under the eye of his demanding don (Jeremy Irons). A Beautiful Mind meets Slumdog Millionaire, basically.
What we thought: “Well intentioned and played, this shows flashes of what could have been, but is ultimately let down by its timidity towards the maths.”
I Am Belfast
★★★
What it’s about: A cinematic essay from hallowed film writer Mark Cousins about his home town, the historical and occasionally troubled city of Belfast. Think Terence Davies’ Of Time And The City, only a bit further west.
What we thought: “Visually striking and touchingly sincere, this moving mosaic lacks the trenchancy to match its assured sense of place.”
Boulevard
★★★
What it’s about: In one of his last screen performances Robin Williams plays a diffident bank clerk who picks up a male prostitute on his way home from his dad’s deathbed. Cue a re-evaluation of his marriage, life, the universe and everything.
What we thought: "The late, great Robin Williams brings great nuance in a slight but sensitive story about a man facing a life-changing choice. It’s a worthy legacy for a beloved actor.”