The latest releases reviewed

NOTES ON A SCANDAL
Directed by Richard Eyre. Starring Judi Dench, Cate Blanchett, Bill Nighy, Andrew Simpson 18 cert
****

Working from Patrick Marber's incisive adaptation of Zoe Heller's novel, Eyre directs a taut psychodrama with perfectly judged performances from Dench as a lonely, insecure teacher and Blanchett as the younger new colleague with whom she becomes obsessed.

FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION
Directed by Christopher Guest. Starring Catherine O'Hara, Parker Posey, Eugene Levy, Harry Shearer, Christopher Guest, Jennifer Coolidge, Michael McKean, Bob Balaban, Fred Willard 12 cert
***

In Guest's witty spoof on the film business, the cast members of a tacky, low-budget melodrama are transformed for the worst when they get a whiff of Oscar nominations. His merciless satire features admirably straight-faced performances from the spirited ensemble cast.

MUSIC AND LYRICS
Directed by Marc Lawrence. Starring Hugh Grant, Drew Barrymore, Campbell Scott PG
**

Flashes of knowing humour help compensate for yet another conventional romantic comedy in which opposites attract. Grant lays on some deadpan charm as a faded pop singer working the nostalgia circuit and falling for the younger woman (Barrymore) who helps him write a song for a teen music diva.

Set in the Avenue Montaigne area of Paris, this pleasant soufflé of a movie is populated by characters steeped in culture, trying to resolve personal or professional problems, and spending a lot of time sitting and talking in restaurants. That world is viewed through the impressionable eyes of de France's perky young outsider. Michael Dwyer