Chariots of Fire (1981)

A drama based on the true story of two British athletes in the 1924 Olympics. Eric Liddell (Ian Charleson) is a devout Scottish Christian running to honour God, while Harold Abrahams (Ben Cross) runs to overcome prejudice about his Judaism. Their stories are told in parallel, until they converge.  

Nigel Havers, Ian Holm, John Gielgud also star.

The film hasn’t dated especially well, but the synth soundtrack by Vangelis is excellent and I like the fact that the sci-fi synth tones jar with the 1920s visuals. 

Overall, I was disappointed. I'd expected something much more stirring and inspirational. Instead, the drama seems flat and the middle of the film really sags. The slow-motion effect is wildly over-used, becoming clichéd and almost almost comical. And, unfortunately, when Harold wins his all-important race it’s filmed and directed in a way that seems oddly anticlimactic.

Crazy Heart (2009)

A moving drama about a country singer "Bad" Blake (Jeff Bridges) whose career is on the way down and who is struggling with addiction. But when Bad meets a divorced young journalist named Jean (Maggie Gyllenhaal), things start to change. 

It’s a touching romance that never gives in to mere sentimentality. The two leads are remarkable, with a very real chemistry. The music is excellent, too. Bridges seems every bit the grizzled country singer. You can truly believe him, whether he’s at his public best on stage or at his private nadir, passing out drunk in his hotel room. 

There are parallels with A Star Is Born, and particularly the Streisand/Kristofferson version from 1976, but Crazy Heart seems like a more credible attempt to present a fading performer in a desperate situation.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Cold War spy thriller adapted from the 1974 novel by John Le Carre. 

Gary Oldman is George Smiley, leading an all-star cast that also includes Kathy Burke, Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, John Hurt, Toby Jones and Mark Strong. 

The plot follows Smiley’s efforts to track down a double agent within the British secret service. I found it often too complicated to follow. I also got annoyed with the unrelenting greys and the deliberately grim visuals. Most of the “drama” comes from flashbacks or reported speech, making it less than compelling. I could appreciate that it was an expertly made film but it was too focused on mood and style to ever pull me in.

Water for Elephants (2011)

Romantic drama directed by Francis Lawrence. 

Robert Pattinson stars as a young veterinary medicine student, Jacob Jankowski, who joins a travelling circus in 1931. He meets the sadistic ringmaster (Christoph Waltz) and falls in love with his wife (Reese Witherspoon). 

It’s compelling. The circus crew live and travel on a train, and their micro-world is conveyed well. Waltz is convincingly multi-faceted and menacing. The love story is touching without being schmaltzy. And the CGI animals seem completely real. 

The one flaw – and it’s a big one – is the slightly cheesy framing device in which we see Jankowski as an old man (Hal Holbrook), looking back on his life and narrating the story. Why was this considered necessary?

Also, the title makes no sense. Maybe it works in the novel (by Sara Gruen), but it jars a little for this adaptation.

Shutter Island (2010)

US marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) is sent to a Boston Harbour island. With his companion (Mark Ruffalo), he is looking into the disappearance of a patient from the Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane. But he’s quickly swept into a deeper mystery about what’s really going on at the asylum. 

Directed by Martin Scorsese, this is a genuinely terrifying psychological thriller. Leonardo DiCaprio is superb as a complicated character making a horrible discovery. 

It’s closer in tone to Cape Fear than anything else I’ve seen by Scorsese. What seems to be a noirish thriller acquires extra depths as it becomes stranger and even more disturbing. It’s difficult to say any more without giving away the big twist. 

The superb cast also includes Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams and Max von Sydow.

Cast a Giant Shadow (1966)

Google: “In this fact-based film, distinguished U.S. Army Col. David Marcus (Kirk Douglas) is enlisted by the Israelis to perform the difficult task of preparing their fledgling nation for battle against the Arabs. Before long, he feuds with the local leaders, quits his post and goes back home to his pregnant wife (Angie Dickinson) in the United States. However, Marcus, who is Jewish himself, soon has a crisis of faith and decides to return to duty to help the untrained Israelis form an army.”

The film is slow and laboured. The sound quality is poor and the dialogue isn’t synchronised quite right. There’s a disjointed, awkward feel. 

John Wayne, Topol, Frank Sinatra and Yul Brynner all appear, but no amount of star charisma can make the script work. I do like Senta Berger as Magda Simon. She has a certain warmth and charm that is lacking elsewhere. Kirk Douglas is watchable, too, but seems much too chirpy most of the time, adding to a feeling that the whole affair is rather shallow.

On the plus side, there are a few good lines. For example, when David asks his wife why she’s up so late, she replies: “I worry better when I’m awake.”

Rain Man (1988)

Excellent drama directed by Barry Levinson. 

Charlie Babbit (Tom Cruise) is a car dealer having business problems. He’s selfish and brash. After his father dies, Charlie learns that he has been denied an inheritance but also finds out that he has a brother, Raymond (Dustin Hoffman), who lives in a mental institution and who is described as an “autistic savant”. Charlie essentially kidnaps him, hoping to get his share of the will. But then his relationship with his brother begins to develop. 

Tom Cruise delivers his best ever performance because the script and direction are so strong that even he can’t mess them up. Hoffman is extremely compelling, too. You wonder, however, what autism organisations make of his portrayal. Is it accurate or does it simplify and mislead? 

The film works as a “road movie”, with the car trip being a central motif. Ultimately, it’s a touching character study.

3-Iron (2004)

An extremely unusual romantic drama.

Jae Hee plays a young drifter who breaks into people's homes while they are away. But rather than steal from them, he cleans their clothes and fixes their appliances. While living this strange existence he encounters a housewife (Lee Seung-yeon), who is being mistreated by her husband, and they fall in love. 

You think you know where things are going, but the realist style of the first half then gives way to something magical and completely unexpected. It becomes a story with no single interpretation. Instead, you are left debating what really happens and how.

It's different and charming. There's a thread of very black humour running through it as well – particularly in the use of the golf clubs that give the film its title.

Wonder Boys (2000)

Google: “A college professor tries to overcome his writer's block and finish his novel while dealing with divorce, his affair with the chancellor's wife, a thieving student and his expectant publisher.”

The disheveled Michael Douglas is excellent in the main part, and his mid-life crisis is highly watchable. I wasn’t too keen on the queasy blend of comedy and drama, which sometimes feels awkward. The presence of a dank Tobey Maguire doesn't help.

The soundtrack is for men of “a certain age”: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen and Van Morrison all feature. 

Directed by Curtis Hanson and adapted from the 1995 novel by Michael Chabon, this is a celebrated film that doesn't quite live up to expectations.

The Beach (2000)

An adaptation of the popular novel by Alex Garland. 

A young American traveller called Richard (Leonardo DiCaprio) goes in search of a mythical island – and finds it. There, he joins an idealistic community led by Sal (a believable Tilda Swinton). But he soon discovers that this is far from the paradise he dreamed of.

DiCaprio is superb in the main role. His mixture of arrogance and vulnerability seems very real. 

I’m less keen on some of the stylings from director Danny Boyle, such as when Richard imagines he’s within a video game and the film becomes one. But the story and acting are so strong that you are swept along by the plot anyway.

Taken 2 (2012)

The baddies who kidnapped Liam Neeson’s daughter in the first film want their revenge for the people Liam Neeson killed. So Liam Neeson goes off again, fighting brutal killers. But this time they have his wife... 

It’s formulaic, racist and trashy, but nevertheless extremely well-paced and fairly exciting. As the rather OCD, over-possessive Bryan, Neeson has a presence that holds your interest – even when the plot is unbelievable. And it is often unbelievable, such as his daughter’s incredible driving ability (even though she hasn’t yet passed her driving test). 

In terms of the title, they could have tried harder. How about these alternatives?
• Taken to the Cleaners (Bryan’s daughter is kidnapped at a launderette)
• Taken for Granted (Bryan’s “very particular set of skills” are overlooked)
• Taken Out (Bryan kills even more people)
• Taken Seriously (fewer car chases and shoot-outs; more soul-searching drama)
• Taken Over (the final instalment)

Never Let Me Go (2010)

Based on Kazuo Ishiguro's novel, this is possibly the most depressing film I’ve ever seen. 

1978. Three young friends, Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, are at a mysterious boarding school called Hailsham. One day, a teacher tells them that they only exist to be organ donors. They will “complete” (i.e., die) in early adulthood when they are no longer strong enough to donate further organs. The film is split between their childhood at Hailsham and their adulthood – in 1985, and then in 1994 – once the donor process begins. Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and Andrew Garfield star. 

What makes it work is that the plot functions as a romantic love triangle, but it’s set against an extremely subtle dystopian backdrop. There’s a lot that isn’t explained – such as why they barely seem to resist or even question their destiny. Is that because of brainwashing or did the film just avoid the most obvious issues? As it stands, their resigned behaviour just adds to the sense of grim fatalism, which is probably intentional. 

The bleakness comes from the way it’s shot as well as the overall message. It leaves you almost no glimmer of hope. In its own it's way quite brilliant, but ultimately I regretted watching it.

Mamma Mia! (2008)

Deeply strange film of the stage musical that’s built around songs by Abba. But whereas in the stage show the songs are all performed by the cast, the film mixes cast vocals with “pop video” sequences to jarring effect. 

It’s possibly the weirdest film I’ve ever seen. 

The flimsy “plot” is simple: a girl called Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is getting married and wants to invite her father. But she’s unsure which of three possible contenders he is. So she invites them all to the Greek island hotel owned by her mother in order to find out.

Meryl Streep is surprisingly good in the main role, and sings pretty well. Pierce Brosnan comes across oddly and sings badly. Colin Firth is likeable but given little to go on in terms of the script. 

Most notable are the visuals. The lighting doesn’t look real and I don’t think it’s even meant to. It creates a kind of multi-coloured hyper-reality of its own. Some of the casting is peculiar, too. Julie Walters seems an odd choice for one of Streep’s best friends, and her “fun-loving” character is coarse and difficult to endure. Even worse is Sky (Dominic Cooper), Sophie’s unappealing fiancé.

I spent most of the film in shock, unsure what I was meant to be thinking or feeling. The Abba songs are great, of course, but did they need to be used to soundtrack a fairly banal romantic comedy?

Amy (2015)

Brilliant documentary directed by Asif Kapadia, piecing together the life and death of Amy Winehouse. As with his film Senna, there are no “talking heads” to provide a master narrative. Instead, it’s a mixture of home videos, archive footage and songs in performance. 

It’s fairly harrowing, as you might expect, to see this talented young singer so quickly spiral into the hell of fame and addiction. The saddest aspect is that she simply didn’t appear to have the support around her that she  so desperately needed. Her husband (Blake Fielder) was imprisoned for assaulting a pub landlord. Her father (Mitchell Winehouse) had abandoned her family when Amy was a child, then returned in the role of manager/Svengali after Amy’s success took off. You are encouraged to wonder how much these two individuals were steering her down the wrong path for their own gains. 

Does it teach you anything new about Amy Winehouse? Not really. But I’d never really considered the strangeness of her songwriting before. Seeing the lyrics spelled out on screen as she sings them reveals just how odd they are.

All the President’s Men (1976)

Adapted from the 1974 non-fiction book by Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, this tells the story of how two Washington Post journalists broke news of the Watergate scandal that ultimately brought down US president Richard Nixon. 

Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford are both at their very best playing the journalists. It’s a fascinating glimpse into another era. In this pre-internet world, they spend most of their time talking to people, phoning people, typing, scrawling in notebooks, chain-smoking and drinking coffee. In our current period of misinformation politics and double-think social media, the 1970s seem relatively straightforward and innocent. 

You wonder if this film could even have been made now: there are no tech giants, no billionaires dictating how people communicate, no car chases, no shootings and no “love interest” – just two writers trying to uncover the truth.

The Other Boleyn Girl (2008)

Trashy historical drama. 

Scarlett Johansson plays Mary Boleyn. Natalie Portman is her more famous sister Anne, the second wife of Henry VIII. The story details the two sisters and their ill-fated relationships with the king, who desperately craves a male heir. 

It’s a work of fiction, adapted from a novel by Philippa Gregory, rather than a slice of history. This allows it to explore what might have happened rather than what probably happened.

There are some entertaining moments. Portman is unusually strong in her role, while Johansson is typically weak. There are also solid performances by Kristin Scott Thomas and Eddie Redmayne. What lets it down is Eric Bana as Henry VIII. For the plot to work, he needs to be charismatic and magnetic. Bana is none of these things. You cannot believe that this rather weedy figure has so much influence because he completely lacks gravitas.