The latest releases reviewed
NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN
****
Directed by Joel and Ethan Coen. Starring
Josh Brolin, Javier Bardem, Tommy Lee Jones, Woody Harrelson, Kelly
Macdonald, Tess Harper 18 cert
The setting is west Texas in 1980, as a cold-blooded
killer (Bardem) doggedly pursues a Vietnam veteran (Brolin) with a
stash of cash. The consequences are powerfully gripping as the
Coens ratchet up the tension in this visceral modern western
(adapted from Cormac McCarthy's novel) that ranks with their best
work. It won four Oscars, including best picture.
MICHAEL DWYER
THE KITE RUNNER
***
Directed by Marc Forster. Starring Khalid
Abdalla, Homayoun Ershadi 15 cert
Forster's film of Khaled Hosseini's novel is most
effective in the first half, when it introduces two boyhood friends
in late 1970s Kabul and as it establishes its themes of betrayal
and redemption. Later stages, set in the 21st century, feel quite
rushed and truncated, but the film remains compelling.
MICHAEL DWYER
NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS
**
Directed by Jon Turteltaub. Starring Nicolas
Cage, Jon Voight, Harvey Keitel, Ed Harris, Diane Kruger, Helen
Mirren, Bruce Greenwood, Justin Bartha PG cert
Whatever else you might say about the new Indiana
Jones epic, you could never accuse it of being as cheesy as the
National Treasure series it helped spawn. The second flick, in
which boffin Cage discovers ancient secrets about the presidency,
makes no sense whatsoever. But Mirren is good value as Cage's mum,
and it does move at a reasonably jaunty pace.
DONALD CLARKE
