Parting Shots (15) General release

Despite the fact that he's been making films for nearly 40 years, Michael Winner doesn't quite seem to have got the hang of it yet. Shot and performed with all the pizzazz of a 1970s ITV sitcom, this black comedy about a photographer (Chris Rea), diagnosed with terminal cancer, deciding to murder all his old enemies before he goes, will surely figure strongly in "worst of" lists at the end of 1999. Cameo appearances by a host of familiar faces (John Cleese, Ben Kingsley and Joanna Lumley among them) contribute to the overall impression that this is some kind of vanity project, although the finished product suggests that Winner has little enough to be vain about.