Swimming with Men (12A) **
Dir: Oliver Parker
With: Rob Brydon, Jim Carter, Thomas Turgoose
Runtime: 97 minutes
THE mid-life crisis, male variety, is the subject of Oliver Parker’s drippy comedy. Eric (Rob Brydon) has left his wife and is searching for meaning in his suburban London life when he encounters a gaggle of men in the local pool. Arranging themselves in Busby Berkeley-style formations, they look like synchronised swimmers. But men don’t do that kind of thing, do they? And if they did, wouldn’t it be hilarious? The answer to that last query is, alas, no. Swimming with Men wants to be The Full Monty, but despite the likeable Brydon and others, it's about as funny as a verruca.
Mary Shelley (12A) ***
Dir: Haifaa al-Mansour
With: Elle Fanning, Douglas Booth
Runtime: 121 minutes
SAUDI director Haifaa al-Mansour offers a fresh perspective on the Frankenstein author in this otherwise unadventurous drama. This is a feminist retelling of Mary’s life, one that examines the personal trials she had to overcome before becoming an artist in her own right. Al-Mansour’s straightforward telling of the tale, with the occasional lurch into melodrama, makes for a plodding couple of hours. A fine performance by Elle Fanning in the title role goes a long way to compensate, more than rescuing Mary from the fate of being a footnote in the Shelley-Byron bromance.
GFT and Cameo, Edinburgh
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