Latest video releases reviewed
THE INTERPRETER ***
Directed by Sydney Pollack. Starring Nicole Kidman, Sean Penn, Catherine Keener, Jesper Christensen, Yvan Attal, Earl Cameron 12 cert
The first movie to be set and shot inside the United Nations, Pollack's quite efficient thriller has some well staged sequences but lacks tension in its long, slack central section. Its principal asset is Kidman, porcelain-skinned and intriguingly enigmatic as a UN translator who overhears an assassination plot. Michael Dwyer
TROUBLE WITH SEX ***
Directed by Fintan Connolly. Starring Aidan Gillen, Renee Weldon, Gerard Mannix Flynn, Eamonn Morrissey, Declan Conlon, Susan Fitzgerald 18 cert
Connolly's mellow romantic drama features the expressive Gillen as a lonely, unattached Dublin bar manager tentatively getting involved with a fast-rising young lawyer (radiantly played by Weldon). The consequences are explored and developed with honesty and credibility. Michael Dwyer
NOTRE MUSIQUE **
Directed by Jean-Luc Godard. Starring Sarah Adler, Nade Dieu, Rony Kramer, Jean-Luc Godard 12A cert
After a genuinely impressive montage of violent images, we move to Sarajevo, where a hugely important film director - played by one J-L Godard - stomps about the place spouting gibberish to anybody who'll listen. Then a Native American turns up to whinge about imperialism or something. Oh please! Godard's 1960's classics are currently being re-issued in gorgeous DVD packages. Seek them out instead. Donald Clarke
COACH CARTER **
Directed by Thomas Carter. Starring Samuel L Jackson, Rob Brown, Robert Ri'chard, Rick Gonzalez, Nana Gbewonyo, Antwon Tanner 12A cert
When the boys in the high school basketball team start failing their exams, Coach Sam Jackson locks the gym and cancels the next game. The parents are not happy. If you are interested in this true story then the less boring (and less time consuming) option would be to check out the Man Behind the Movie featurette on this DVD. The film itself is a total drag. Donald Clarke
