The Negotiator (15) ***
Dir: Brad Anderson
With: Jon Hamm, Rosamund Pike
Runtime: 107 minutes
JON Hamm’s transition from TV to movie star post Mad Men has been a long one, with no picture proving a good fit. That changes with this Middle East-set spy thriller. Hamm plays a former high-flying diplomat, now a broken man looking at life through the bottom of a glass. A decade on from leaving the service he is told to go back to Beirut to secure the release of a high value asset. Why him? With a screenplay by Tony Gilroy (Bourne, Michael Clayton), The Negotiator is a knotty piece that demands careful attention, but Hamm is an easy watch.
GFT and Filmhouse, Edinburgh, till August 16
Under the Tree (15) ***
Dir: Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson
With: Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson, Edda Björgvinsdóttir
Runtime: 89 minutes
TWO sets of neighbours, warring over one tree. It’s a familiar enough tale, though this time it plays out in Iceland, to astonishing effect. Atli (Steinþór Hróar Steinþórsson) has split from his partner and moved home. With the feud going on between his parents and next door, home is hardly a haven, and that is before things take a turn for the worse. Hafsteinn Gunnar Sigurðsson’s impressive piece begins as a biting comedy before becoming progressively bleaker by the minute. There is real sadness at the root of this piece.
GFT till August 16
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