Film

Four new films to see this weekend

Bee Gees and The Mole Agent streaming, The Racer on general release, The Prom on Netflix and limited release

Meryl Streep and James Corden in The Prom

Donald Clarke's face
Donald Clarke
Fri Dec 11 2020 - 06:00

THE PROM ★★★☆☆
Directed by Ryan Murphy. Starring Meryl Streep, James Corden, Jo Ellen Pellman, Nicole Kidman, Keegan-Michael Key, Andrew Rannells, Ariana Debose, Kerry Washington, Tracey Ullman, Mary Kay Place. Limited release/Netflix, 141 min
Four near-has beens (Streep, Corden, Kidman, Rannells) hatch a comeback plan that involves travelling to Edgewater, Indiana, to rally behind a gay high-schooler (Pellman) whose plans to attend her prom with a girl prompt the head of the PTA (Washington) to cancel the event altogether. For the most part, The Prom has its cake and eats it as a self-effacing comedy about a divided America in which LGBTQ-supporting celebrities are lightly satirised by LGBTQ-supporting celebrities. TB

THE BEE GEES: HOW CAN YOU MEND A BROKEN HEART ★★★★☆
Directed by Frank Marshall. Featuring Barry Gibb, Robin Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Andy Gibb, Noel Gallagher, Chris Martin, Justin Timberlake, Eric Clapton. VOD, 110 min

Maurice, Barry and Robin Gibb arriving in Dublin Airport for a concert at the RDS in August 1998. Photograph: Paddy Whelan.

Lovely documentary on a band who, though once the biggest in the world, still feel underappreciated. Marshall breaks no new ground in his structure. An interesting variety of celebrities are on hand to mine different schools of expertise. "When you've got brothers signing together that's an instrument nobody else can buy," Noel Gallagher says. But it is the testimony of the Gibb brothers – three of the four speaking from beyond the grave – that gives the films it emotional oomph. There are no stories in pop like it. DC

THE RACER ★★★☆☆
Directed by Kieron J Walsh. Starring Louis Talpe, Iain Glen, Tara Lee, Matteo Simoni, Karel Roden, Timo Wagner. 15A cert, gen release, 97 min

READ MORE

Louis Talpe and Iain Glen in The Racer

The latest film from Walsh, nearly a veteran of Irish TV and film, has a lot to say about the gruesome politics of professional cycling. Set amid the opening Irish stage of the 1998 Tour de France, The Racer concerns itself with an older, struggling support rider (Talpe) as he tries to arrange his last years in the sport. The doping and the dishonesty come, post-Armstrong, as no surprise. Some of the characterisation is thin, but the action sequences are terrific. DC

THE MOLE AGENT/EL AGENTE TOPO ★★★★☆
Directed by Maite Alberdi. Starring Sergio Chamy, Rómulo Aitken, Marta Olivares. VOD, 84 min

Sergio Chamy in The Mole Agent

A PI sends an elderly man to work undercover in a Chilean nursing home. We didn't get a James Bond film in 2020, but who needs 007 when we have Alberdi's charming hybrid drama-documentary? DOP Pablo Valdes' omnipresent camera makes the viewer wonder exactly how much everybody onscreen knows. But the film never hides its artifice or playful devices. Besides, there's no faking the hero's emotional impact at the home and the lovely, heart-tugging friendships we witness along the way. TB