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Latest releases reviewed

MILLION DOLLAR BABY *****

Directed by Clint Eastwood. Starring Clint Eastwood, Hilary Swank, Morgan Freeman 15 cert

The outline suggests a contrived hybrid of Pygmalion and Rocky: gruff, elderly boxing coach reluctantly takes on plucky young woman fighter. From that basis, however, Eastwood has made one of the finest American movies of recent years, a textbook primer in classical film-making, its screenplay crackling with wit and wisdom, and the three leads on exceptional form. It deservedly received four major Oscars this year, including best picture. Michael Dwyer

THE AVIATOR ***

Directed by Martin Scorsese. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cate Blanchett, Kate Beckinsale, John C Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Alan Alda, Ian Holm, Danny Huston, Gwen Stefani, Jude Law, Edward Herrmann, Willem Dafoe 15A cert

There's a great deal to admire in Scorsese's elaborately decorated study of the early years of Howard Hughes - an exciting Katharine Hepburn from Blanchett, delicious pastiches of Technicolor cinematography - but the film never even begins to engage emotionally. The DVD features yet another bloody feature on those ubiquitous warbling Wainwright siblings.
Donald Clarke

THE MACHINIST ****

Directed by Brad Anderson. Starring Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Michael Ironside 18 cert

Unrecognisably slimmed down to mere skin and bone, Bale is hypnotic as a troubled factory worker suffering from an extreme form of insomnia. He is paranoid to the point where the dividing line between reality and hallucination is blurred, perhaps irrevocably, in this intriguing psychological thriller.
Michael Dwyer

A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT/UN LONG DIMANCHE DE FIANÇAILLES ****

Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Uliel, Dominique Pinon, Jodie Foster 15 cert

In her second film for Amelie director Jeunet, Tautou plays a young Breton desperately seeking her fiance, who is presumed dead in the first World War. Jeunet adeptly blends anti-war polemic, detective story, melodrama, tender romance and quirky humour in this intimate epic graced with gorgeously lit, painterly visual compositions.
Michael Dwyer

ASSAULT ON PRECINT 13 ***

Directed by Jean-Francois Richet. Starring Ethan Hawke, Laurence Fishburne, John Leguizamo, Maria Bello, Gabriel Byrne, Brian Dennehy, Drea de Matteo 18 cert

Set in and around an isolated Detroit police station during a blizzard, this is a lean and taut thriller modelled on John Carpenter's 1976 film. As with any satisfying cover version, the new movie takes on its own distinctive style. Michael Dwyer

CRIMINAL ***

Directed by Gregory Jacobs. Starring John C Reilly, Diego Luna, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Peter Mullan 15 cert

The US remake of the Argentinian thriller Nine Queens is set over the course of a hectic day in the life of confidence tricksters in Los Angeles. It's not as witty, clever or intricately plotted as the original, although it should prove much more diverting for audiences unfamiliar with the earlier film. Michael Dwyer

CREEP *

Directed by Christopher Smith. Starring Franka Potente 18 cert

Incoherent, thrown-together horror film in which the scrumptiously appalling Potente flees something-or-other in the London Underground. The publicity materials pleads with reviewers not to reveal the terrifying denouement. So confusing was it that I couldn't do so even if I wanted to.
Donald Clarke

FIRST DAUGHTER

Directed by Forest Whitaker. Starring Katie Holmes, Michael Keaton, Margaret Colin 12A cert

Following recent developments in Celebrityland, any mention of Katie Holmes's name causes film fans to snigger about differences in height and over-effusive expressions of "love". A quick glance at this buttock-clenching comedy - in which Holmes plays the president's daughter - should successfully kill the laughter.

Donald Clarke