The latest releases reviewed
Donald Clarke and Michael Dwyer
SCREEN ICONS: ALAIN DELON ****
Now 71, the versatile Delon first proved that he was more than just a handsome matinee idol when he played Tom Ripley, the dissolute protagonist of René Clement's riveting Plein Soleil (above), the 1960 film version of Patricia Highsmith's The Talented Mr Ripley. Plein Soleil is one of five movies starring Delon in this fine boxset.
In Michelangelo Antononio's enigmatic The Eclipse/L'Eclisse, which won a special jury prize at Cannes in 1962, Delon plays a young stockbroker becoming involved in a tentative affair with a woman (Monica Vitti) upset after the break-up of her earlier relationship.
Un Flic (1972), the last of Delon's three thrillers for director Jean-Pierre Melville, is a tight, excitingly staged heist movie, with Delon as a Parisian police commissioner involved with the lover (Catherine Deneuve) of a criminal kingpin (Richard Crenna).
Released here under the prurient title Doctor in the Nude, Alain Jessua's psychological thriller Traitement de Choc (1973) features Delon as an amoral doctor running a health spa where a stressed-out retail manager (Annie Girardot) makes some alarming discoveries.
Completing the set is Jacques Deray's factually based cat-and- mouse thriller Flic Story (1975), which is set in Paris in 1947. Delon is a cop assigned to track down the country's most notorious criminal (Jean-Louis Trintignant) after he escapes from a mental asylum. MD
RUNNING WITH SCISSORS ***
Directed by Ryan Murphy. Starring Annette Bening, Joseph Cross, Gwyneth Paltrow, Brian Cox, Joseph Fiennes, Evan Rachel Wood, Alec Baldwin 16 cert
This singular adaptation of Augusten Burroughs's tale of dysfunction in the 1970s - his troubled mother, a self-declared poet, dumped the boy on her messianic analyst - works far better as a macabre comedy than a serious treatment of childhood trauma. Featuring hyper-groovy period detail and outrageous turns from Mommy Bening and Dr Cox, it is never less than fun. DC
THE ILLUSIONIST ***
Directed by Neil Burger. Starring Edward Norton, Jessica Biel, Paul Giamatti, Rufus Sewell 12 cert
Vienna at the turn of the century. A contained Norton plays a stage magician who finds himself under surveillance by Giamatti's police chief after falling for the fiancé of the crown prince. Much intrigue follows. The Illusionist, issued with standard extras, is a classy entertainment that, appropriately enough for the material, vanishes into the ether as soon as you think about it. DC
SHORTBUS ***
Directed by John Cameron Mitchell. Starring Sook-Yin Lee, Paul Dawson, Lindsay Beamish, PJ DeBoy 18 cert
Narcissistic down- town bohemians work through their carnal hang-ups in Mitchell's soapy, sexually explicit follow-up to Hedwig and the Angry Inch. The outbreaks of actual bonking may distress those offended by such things, but this remains a warm film packed with good humour and enthusiasm for life. DC
THE SCIENCE OF SLEEP ***
Directed by Michel Gondry. Starring Gael García Bernal, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Miou- Miou 15 cert
Gondry continues to astonish with this weird comedy detailing Bernal's obsession for Gainsbourg, the girl across the hall. Spending much time in the hero's dream life, the picture conjures up dazzling images, but is hampered by the director's stubborn refusal to impose any order. Extras include a featurette on the creation of the film's fanciful creatures.
THEM/ILS ***
Directed by David Moreau and Xavier Palud. Starring Olvia Bonamy, Michael Cohen 15 cert
Somewhere between an old dark house movie and a slasher flick, this impressive French production places a middle-class couple in a sombre pile somewhere near Bucharest and, after allowing night to fall, causes a party of hooded figures to invade their privacy. Sparse and economic, Them comes with interesting featurettes on the real case that inspired the story. Recommended. DC
SCHOOL FOR SCOUNDRELS **
Directed by Todd Phillips. Starring Billy Bob Thornton, Jon Heder, Jacinda Barrett, Michael Clarke Duncan 12 cert
Fitful remake of a 1960 British comedy finds Heder, the loveable nerd from Napoleon Dynamite, consulting Thornton for advice on how to win the girl and succeed at work. There are funny moments. But the longer the film progresses the thinner its premise is stretched. The DVD features a meandering commentary from director and writer. DC
