Hilary & Jackie Directed by Anant Tucker Starring Emily Watson, Rachel Griffiths, David Morrisey, James Frain
There are fine performances from Watson, as the flamboyant English cellist, Jacqueline du Pre - who died of multiple sclerosis in 1987 at the age of 42 - and from Griffiths, as older sister Hilary, in this uneven, oddly structured biopic. Another asset is the music, which includes du Pre's celebrated recording of Elgar's cello concerto - and a duet which begins with Beethoven and segueways into the Kinks' You Really Got Me.
The Negotiator Directed by F. Gary Gray Starring Samuel L. Jackson, Kevin Spacey, J.T. Walsh
The always reliable and watchable Jackson and Spacey spark off each other and considerably enliven a sleek, well-staged but over-stretched thriller in which both actors play expert negotiators in hostage situations. The twist is that Jackson, insisting that he's been framed for the murder of his partner, takes hostages in his own police headquarters in Chicago, and Spacey has to talk him out of it.
Home Fries Directed by Dean Parisot Starring Drew Barrymore, Luke Wilson, Catherine O'Hara, Shelley Duvall.
Going directly to video here, this dark-humoured romantic yarn is set in an American small town where Barrymore's character becomes pregnant by her older, married lover. Wilson plays his stepson who falls for Barrymore, without either of them knowing of the other's relationship to the older man. Despite the best efforts of the two leads, the result is slight and quite self-consciously quirky in its calculated eccentricity.