Cocaine Bear ★★★☆☆
Directed by Elizabeth Banks. Starring Keri Russell, O’Shea Jackson Jr, Alden Ehrenreich, Brooklynn Prince, Isiah Whitlock Jr, Margo Martindale, Ray Liotta. 18 cert, gen release, 95 min
A bear goes mad after swallowing a parcel of cocaine. He is, if you will, a cocaine bear. Banks and her team are attempting a big-studio take on a class of exploitation flick that barely exists anymore. Severed limbs fall from the skies. Intestines are chewed up with ursine abandon. You could make a comparison with what Sam Raimi once did in The Evil Dead, but the effect is closer to the blood-pumping Black Knight sequence in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Filmed largely in Ireland, the film is fun, though not quite as fun as it thinks itself to be. Full review DC
What’s Love Got to Do with It? ★★★☆☆
Directed by Shekhar Kapur. Starring Lily James, Shazad Latif, Shabana Azmi, Emma Thompson, Sajal Aly, Oliver Chris, Asim Chaudhry, Jeff Mirza, Alice Orr-Ewing. 12A cert, gen release, 109 min
Perfectly nice Working Title romcom concerning a documentarian (James) making a film about her long-time pal (Latif) as he embarks on an arranged marriage. The filmmakers, like their heroine, clearly seek to offer a balanced take on the tradition — opening non-Muslim viewers up to their own prejudices while admitting the restrictions. This proves tricky to manage while observing the templates of the genre. But the flick does, however, transport you happily back to the world Working Title fashioned from English cloth in the 1990s with Four Nottings and a Bridget. Full review DC
Joyland ★★★★★
Directed by Saim Sadiq. Starring Ali Junejo, Rasti Farooq, Alina Khan, Sarwat Gilani. 15A cert, gen release, 126 min
In inner-city Lahore, a severe patriarch heads the middle-class Rana family. Life changes when his younger son falls in love with a transgender dancer. The visuals are as impressive as the cast — cinematographer Joe Saade finds colour and luminescence in darkened interiors. Fairy lights and fake fireflies make dreary rooms as splendid as the fairground rides and Bollywood-style musical numbers found in the film’s louder moments. Mostly, Joyland is a film of huge heart and empathy. Mirroring the hapless hero’s journey, it’s an unexpected romance. Full review TB
Broker ★★★★☆
Directed by Hirokazu Koreeda. Starring Song Kang-ho, Gang Dong-won, Bae Doona. 15A cert, gen release, 130 min
Koreeda’s latest finds the Japanese master travelling to Korea for the tale of shifty individuals who lift abandoned children from “baby boxes” and sell them to childless couples. The winner of the Ecumenical Jury Award at the 2022 Cannes Film Festival finds warmth and empathy in the unlikeliest and most unethical places. All of the black-and-white hats associated with American screenwriting are unceremoniously discarded in favour of complicated motivations and rich backstories. Hong-Kyung-Pyo’s sunny cinematography and a lively soundtrack add to the sense of delight. Full review TB
