New film releases reviewed

Dir: James Marsh

With: Eddie Redmayne, Felicity Jones, David Thewlis

Runtime: 123 minutes

"HE is strange, clever, goes to Ban the Bomb marches." Thus is the student Stephen Hawking introduced to the woman who will become his wife in this moving, sensitively drawn biopic of the cosmologist. James Marsh's film covers the life of Hawking from shortly before the diagnosis of motor neurone disease, through to his first marriage and onwards to world renown. Played by Eddie Redmayne and Felicity Jones as Hawking and his wife Jane, The Theory of Everything is a tale of scientific endeavour mixed with a deeply touching love story. It is easy to have misgivings about non-disabled actors playing the part of disabled people; heaven knows, disabled actors need the work. Added to that, Marsh's film glides rather too smoothly over the dips in the marriage. That said, Redmayne is outstanding as the astrophysicist who in his Twenties was given just two years to live, Jones is quietly magnificent as the woman by his side, and Marsh (Man on Wire) confirms his reputation as one of the more gifted storytellers in British cinema.

See The Herald Magazine this Saturday for an interview with Eddie Redmayne

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death (15)

three stars

Dir: Tom Harper

With: Helen McCrory, Jeremy Irvine, Phoebe Fox

Runtime: 98 minutes

THREE years ago, Susan Hill's chiller made another jump from page to stage to cinema screen. Such were the reviews and audience reaction it was inevitable the titular lady of the title would return to heebie-jeebie duties. This time around the action has moved to the Second World War and War Horses's Jeremy Irvine rather than Daniel Radcliffe is the chap at the centre of spooky goings on, with Helen McCrory and Phoebe Fox doing their considerable bit as teachers leading a group of London children to the countryside for their own safety. Alas for the little ones, and the adults with them, their new lodgings are Eel Marsh House, once the stomping ground of the woman in black. Can her evil presence still be felt, and what does she want this time? All fairly by the numbers, but the scares are top notch. Something tells me we shall be meeting the lady again.

Dying of the Light (18)

two stars

Dir: Paul Schrader

With: Nicolas Cage, Anton Yeltsin

Runtime: 92 minutes

PAUL Schrader, writer and director of Dying of the Light, wrote American Gigolo and Raging Bull, but please do not let that fool you into going to this overheated to the point of sheer bonkers spy drama. Unless, that is, you have a fondness for Nicolas Cage in over the top mode, in which case fill your boots. Cage plays Evan Lake, a CIA agent taking care of business from his war on terror past with the aid of a young gun colleague (Anton Yeltsin). The cliches pile up from the off, the dialogue is about as over-boiled as Christmas sprouts, while the twists and turns grow ever more ridiculous. Never mind the dying of the light, logic does not fare too well either.

Enemy (15)

three stars

Dir: Denis Villeneuve

With: Jake Gyllenhaal, Sarah Gordon

Runtime: 90 minutes

IF in the mood to start the new year with something strange, head for Enemy. Adapted from the novel by Jose Saramago and directed by Denis Villeneuve (Prisoners), this doppelganger drama finds Jake Gyllenhaal continuing his walk on the wilder side of cinema after his outstanding performance in Nightcrawler. Enemy is not as audience-friendly as that crime drama. At times it seems to go all out to baffle as history lecturer Adam sees a film that stars his double and sets out to trace the actor concerned. Just when the interplay between Adam and Anthony and their respective other halves cannot grow any more bizarre, up pops Isabella Rossellini to give the piece an added air of Blue Velvet-style strangeness. With weirdness suiting Gyllenhaal so well, one cannot wait to see what he does next.

Glasgow Film Theatre, January 2-8; Filmhouse Belmont, Aberdeen, January 23