Mia Madre (15)
four stars
Dir: Nanni Moretti
With: Margherita Buy, John Turturro
Runtime: 107 minutes
WITH her mother dying in hospital and a movie to make, Margherita does not have her troubles to seek, and that’s before American star Barry Huggins (John Turturro) and his enlarged ego arrive in Rome. Nanni Moretti’s drama, in which he also stars, is a moving portrait of a woman on the edge of a nervous breakdown who refuses to give up just yet. Margherita Buy is terrific in the lead, possessing a face one never tires of watching in close up, and Turturro delivers a wickedly funny portrait of an actor who cannot get enough of himself.
Glasgow Film Theatre, from tomorrow
Palio (12A)
four stars
Dir: Cosima Spender
Runtime: 91 minutes
FROM Rome to Siena and a documentary about the Palio horse race, a contest begun in medieval times that draws crowds in their thousands today. Homing in on a young contender’s fight to take the champion’s crown, Cosima Spender’s film is a gripping, sensual riot of colour and passions.
Glasgow Film Theatre and Filmhouse, Edinburgh, from tomorrow
Captive (12A)
two stars
Dir: Jerry Jameson
With: Kate Mara, Michael K Williams
Runtime: 97 minutes
JERRY Jameson’s Atlanta-set drama, based on a true story, begins with an almighty plug for a Christian self-help book and grows ever more obvious from there as we follow the story of desperate Ashley (Kate Mara), a former addict trying to stay clean, as her life collides with that of a killer on the run (played by David Oyelow). An odd, and not in a good way, preachy piece.
Lessons in Love (15)
two stars
Dir: Tom Vaughn
With: Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek
Runtime: 95 minutes
PIERCE Brosnan plays Richard, a lecturer on the romantic poets who likes to take his work home with him. Enter sisters Kate and Olivia (Jessica Alba and Salma Hayek), plus good old fate, to teach him some lessons about lurve and fidelity. Contrived and ridiculous, and that is before Malcolm McDowell, 72, turns up as 62-year-old Brosnan’s father, but the ever charming former 007 offers some compensation as the silliness mounts.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here