Stop-Loss

(15) Co-writer/director Kimberley Peirce’s drama follows decorated US sergeant Brandon King’s (Ryan Phillippe) return to small-town Texas home after combat service in Iraq. King looks forward to returning to civilian life, only to be trapped by the US Army’s stop-loss policy which allows the US government to continue to call soldiers back for further tours of duty. King justifiably reacts adversely against recall, bringing him into conflict with his authority-accepting friend, Steve (Channing Tatum).

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The Eye

(15)

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Review - Three And Out

(15)

The unlikely story of a London Tube train driver who seeks a would-be suicide to throw himself under his train so that he can claim a bonus from his employers seems a peculiar subject even for a black comedy. And so it turns out to be. Director Jonathan Gershfield does his best, extracting what comedy he can, but the screenplay defeats him. Mackenzie Crook in the lead role fails to makes his essentially unsympathetic character likeable.

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Forgetting Sarah Marshall

(15) Jason Segel appears full-frontally naked on screen and only has himself to blame. He co-wrote this defiantly ribald, immensely entertaining comedy, with producer Judd Apatow, the man behind last year’s hits The 40 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up and Superbad.

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Travels with my father the 'spy'

Stuart Urban’s film about his dad’s wartime adventures led to some welcome family bonding, he tells Alex Kasriel

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Military DVD film

A DVD highlighting the Jewish contribution to the armed forces over 250 years has been produced by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicemen and Women.

The 30-minute film, sponsored by the Pears Foundation, goes from the battles against the French in 1759 to the British Jews who fought in World War Two. It includes rarely seen archive footage and the testimonies of ex-servicemen and women. Five Jews received the Victoria Cross for heroism in the First World War, and three in World War Two.

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‘Tube-suicide can be funny as well as awful’

Director Jonathan Gershfield’s has annoyed the country’s train drivers with his new film comedy.

People diving under trains is not exactly a likely comedic theme, but this grim subject forms the plot of new British movie Three and Out.

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In Bruges

(18)

Writer-director Martin McDonagh’s blackly comic debut feature leaves few politically correct sacred cows unstoned. Hitmen Ray (Colin Farrell) and Ken (Brendan Gleeson) have been sent to the medieval Belgian town of Bruges to lie low while they wait to be contacted after pulling off a hit in London. Ken enjoys sightseeing, Ray hates the place, and their constant verbal sparring fuels a highly enjoyable odd-couple relationship.

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Mike Leigh's secret

An illuminating new book on the director of Secrets and Lies and Vera Drake reveals how Habonim helped him

Mike Leigh On Mike Leigh
Edited by Amy Raphael; Faber £16.99

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Happy-Go-Lucky

(15)

It is time to break out the thesaurus for Mike Leigh’s blithe new comedy. It is not just eponymously happy, but also joyous, joyful, cheerful, life-affirming and feelgood, as well as being his finest and funniest film to date. And it is blessed with an unforgettable, deservedly award-winning performance by Sally Hawkins as Poppy, a kooky young primary-school teacher.

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