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Film round up

Sicario (15)
Directed by Dennis Villeneuve
4/5

WHEN you learn from the opening credits that “sicario” is Mexican drug-cartel slang for “hitman,” your heart might sink at the prospect of yet another US lawmen versus murderous Mexican narcotics gangsters action thriller.

Fortuitously, such expectations are unfounded. Unsentimental direction and a cynical but terrifyingly credible screenplay by Taylor Sheridan and ideally cast players are free from the predictably patronising narrative and character cliches of similar genre thrillers.

Emily Blunt is excellent as FBI agent Kate Macer who, surviving an operation where dozens of rotting corpses are discovered behind the wall of a cartel death house, is assigned to a covert CIA invasion in the escalating war against narcotics on the Mexican-US border and assigned to bring a major cartel leader to book.

It appears her recruitment is because the CIA cannot investigate within US borders without the attachment of a domestic agency. Scary stuff, indeed.

Macey soon suspects that the mission may have a secret agenda and loses trust in both team leader Matt Graver (Josh Brolin) and dubious cartel consultant Alejandro (Benicio Del Toro).

Villeneuve and his cast transform familiar tropes like narcotics, corruption, bloody violence, undercover US acts against foreigners and fatally flawed characters into a riveting thriller offering vivid thrills and action and a provocative, worryingly credible storyline.

Review by Alan Frank

Red Army (15)
Directed by Gabe Polsky
5/5

A GOOD documentary should entertain everyone and not simply cater for cinemagoers that enjoy the subject.

Which makes Gabe Polsky’s documentary about the celebrated Soviet Red Army ice hockey team of the 1970s and 1980s all the more striking to those like me with no particular interest in sport.

At the start, Ronald Reagan vividly establishes the period as he rants against the then Soviet Union in a vintage news clip.

Polsky, a US citizen of Russian descent, goes on to fascinate with his unique portrait of vintage Soviet ice hockey.

He learned about the unusual role sport played in the Soviet Union while at Yale University and the fact that the Red Army team was designed “to prove the superiority of the Soviet system.”

Enthralling and never preachy, Polsky’s film is a riveting blend of newsreel footage, interviews and features legendary coach Anatoly Tarasov as the intriguing catalyst to the Soviet team’s justified fame.

A surprise treat.

Review by Alan Frank

A Haunting in Cawdor (15)
Directed by Phil Wurtzel
2/5

A YOUNG, troubled woman finds herself battling her own psychological demons as well as those of Macbeth in this supernatural horror which is reminiscent of The Gallows.

In it, Vivian Miller (Shelby Young) arrives at The Cawdor Barn theatre, run by failed Broadway director Lawrence O’Neil (Cary Elwes), to carry out her jail sentence. Along with other detainees she’s then forced to take part in the summer production of “the Scottish play,” landing the role of Lady Macbeth. The plot thickens when she watches a mysterious video she finds and, guess what, inadvertently unleashes a cloaked evil presence.

Writer-director Phil Wurtzel’s slow-burning horror is very moody and atmospheric but it lacks the heart-stopping thrills you’d expect.

Despite solid performances by Young and Elwes it’s all been seen before, including the twist at the end.

Review by Maria Duarte

Regression (15)
Directed by Alejandro Amenabar
2/5

IN A fictional Minnesota town in 1990, we’re told, reports of satanic ritual induced panic in the US. There, John Gray (David Dencik) confesses to abusing his 17-year-old daughter Angela (Emma Watson).

Unconvinced, and sensing satanic subtexts, police detective Bruce Kenner (Ethan Hawke), engineers the involvement of Professor Kenneth Raines (David Thewlis) who employs regression therapy to extract the truth from Angela.

Memories — false, induced or otherwise — are the driving force for writer-director Alejandro Amenabar’s diabolically driven shocker.

Yet his direction rarely creates enough driving force to move the narrative out of first gear and make it really compelling.

Some visual shocks punctuate the stolid storytelling as Hawke works hard on his formulaic role, while Watson might be wise to seek another Harry Potter sequel. OK for horror-film addicts.

Review by Alan Frank

Leading Lady (12A)
Directed by Henk Pretorious
2/5

AN ASPIRING British actress persuades a grumpy South African farmer to help her prepare for a major film role in this rather surreal rom com-by-numbers, in which Irish actress Katie McGrath portrays idealistic drama school teacher Jodie.

She’s desperate to play the lead role of an Afrikaans war heroine in the new Hollywood film directed by her boyfriend (Gil Bellows).

She convinces the monosyllabic Kobus Willemse (Bok van Blerk) to assist her and in exchange she agrees to stage and direct his farm’s annual concert. This fish-out-of-water, opposites-attract tale surprisingly charms — despite bordering on the crass — thanks to the onscreen chemistry between McGrath and van Blerk.

McGrath proves just as captivating a leading lady as she did villainness in the BBC’s Merlin series. She just deserves a better showcase for her talents.

Review by Maria Duarte

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