All is True (12A)***
Dir: Kenneth Branagh
With: Kenneth Branagh, Ian McKellen, Judi Dench
Runtime: 101 minutes
THIS fond imagining of Shakespeare’s retirement comes to you from director and star, Kenneth Branagh, and Ben Elton, who wrote the screenplay. Branagh plays England’s bard with Judi Dench as Anne Hathaway, the couple getting to know each other again after his many years in London. Returning to Stratford-upon-Avon turns out to be no easy task for the great man as he comes to terms with personal and professional loss. Elton’s script teases the audience into a game of what is true and what is not. Mostly enjoyable, but not without the odd toe-curling moment when the joke is too obvious. On the subject of obvious, check out Branagh’s nose, which has to be the worst fake conk in film since Nicole Kidman graced The Hours.
Boy Erased (15)***
Dir: Joel Edgerton
With: Lucas Hedges, Nicole Kidman, Joel Edgerton
Runtime: 115 minutes
BASED on Garrard Conley’s memoir, this Arkansas-set drama shines a light on so-called gay conversion therapy. Lucas Hedges plays Jared, the only son of preacher man Marshall Eamons and his wife Nancy (Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman turning out for fellow Aussie Joel Edgerton, who directs and stars as a course leader). When someone at college outs Jared to his parents they send him off to a centre where he will be told that being gay is a choice, and one he should not make. The film takes its time to hit an emotional peak, and it never quite reaches the level of rage one hopes for. Kidman is terrific, though, as a mom finding her inner steel magnolia.
Alita: Battle Angel (12A)**
Dir: Robert Rodriguez
With: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Connelly
Runtime: 122 minutes
WHAT sets Alita: Battle Angel apart from umpteen other teen targeted movies based on a series of graphic novels is a name in the credits: James Cameron, of Avatar, Titanic and Terminator no less. The blend of real and computer generated images familiar from Avatar reaches new heights here, and the story of a female warrior (Rosa Salazar) fighting to regain her purpose in life ticks all the boxes if a kick-ass heroine is what you are after. Otherwise, Robert Rodriguez delivers a by the numbers story of girl meets scientist (Christoph Waltz), girl meets boy, and girl cues up the inevitable sequel.
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