Anna And The King (12)
Directed by Andy Tennant Starring Jodie Foster, Chow Yun-Fat, Bai Ling
The story that inspired The King and I is given the historical epic treatment (without songs). There are well-judged performances from Jodie Foster as Anna Leonowens, the widowed English schoolteacher who travels to Siam, and from Chow Yun-Fat as the king who employs her to educate his 58 children. The mistake was to go for an epic running time which over-extends a familiar story.
Anywhere But Here (15)
Directed by Wayne Wang Starring Susan Sarandon, Natalie Portman, Shawn Hatosy
This conventional comedy-drama of family conflict features Susan Sarandon as a nervy teacher who, stifled by small-town life in Wisconsin, heads west for a new life in Beverly Hills, and the radiant Natalie Portman in a subtle portrayal of her 14-year-old daughter who is furious at having to leave the life she loves.
Ratcatcher (18)
Directed by Lynne Ramsay Starring William Eadie, Tommy Flanagan, Mandy Matthews
Scottish director Lynne Ramsay follows several award-winning shorts with her feature debut, a resolutely grim, dispassionately observed picture of an impoverished Glasgow family at the time of a protracted refuse collection strike in the mid-1970s. The film's focus is on a 12-year-old boy who is riddled with guilt over his role in the horseplay that led to another boy's drowning.
October Sky PG
Directed by Joe Johnson Staring Jake Gyllenhaal, Chris Cooper, William Lee Scott, Laura Dern
This mundane, well-intentioned and factually-based coming-of-age story is set in the 1950s, in a small US mining town where four schoolboys build miniature rockets as their entry in a competition for young scientists.