Madame Bovary (2014)

Directed by Sophie Barthes, this is a superb adaptation of the 1856 novel by Gustave Flaubert. 

Emma Bovary (Mia Wasikowska) finds her marriage to a village doctor stifling and lifeless. She seeks more exciting distractions, with disastrous consequences.  

Wasikowska is excellent, as is the supporting cast. My only criticism is that Emma's character seems to change too quickly, with her downward spiral beginning rather suddenly after years of quiet restraint. This sort of character development can be handled more subtly across a novel but can seem rushed in the 118-minute running time of a film.

12 Years a Slave (2013)

Harrowing biographical drama directed by Steve McQueen and based on the 1853 memoir of Solomon Northup. 

Chiwetel Ejiofor stars as Northup, delivering a remarkably potent and sensitive performance as a man trying to retain his dignity and composure as he is systematically put through hell.

Kidnapped in Washington DC and sold into slavery, Northup is transferred between cruel owners. We see him treated in an especially barbaric manner by sadistic plantation owner Edwin Epps (Michael Fassbender).

It’s difficult to endure in places – especially when Northup is forced into acts of cruelty against his fellow slaves – but Ejiofor is so compelling that you keep watching anyway.

Man on the Moon (1999)

Directed by Miloš Forman, this is a brilliant biopic of the wildly original comedian Andy Kaufman. 

Jim Carrey is superb in the main role, but he’s expertly assisted by Paul Giamatti (as Kaufman’s best friend) and Danny DeVito (as Andy’s manager). The film traces Kaufman’s career, but it escapes the trapping of bog-standard biopics by embracing the playful qualities of the comedian’s work. 

Courtney Love plays his girlfriend well, but isn’t really given enough lines.

The famous R.E.M. song is the theme tune.

Cinderella Man (2005)

Powerful biopic of world heavyweight boxer James J. Braddock, directed by Ron Howard. 

Russell Crowe plays the poor New Jersey man who tries to fight his way out of poverty for the sake of his wife (Renée Zellweger) and children. Paul Giamatti portrays his coach and manager, with empathy and depth. 

It’s a compelling saga, and Crowe judges the role perfectly. I like the fact that it’s also a love story in which the love is never in question. As with all Ron Howard films, the storytelling is lucid, with plot and character to the fore. 

The boxing scenes are extremely well filmed, with a brutality that makes them difficult to watch.

The Ides of March (2011)

Political drama adapted from Beau Willimon’s play Farragut North. It’s directed by George Clooney, who plays a liberal-minded governor running for president. Stephen Meyers (Ryan Gosling) is his junior campaign manager, reporting to the skilled but cynical Paul Zara (Philip Seymour Hoffman). And Evan Rachel Wood is the young intern whose affair with the governor threatens to bring down the entire campaign. 

It’s a fascinating insight into the politics behind the politics. Because it’s from a play, it’s strong on dialogue and character. There’s an escalating tension that’s brilliantly handled by everyone involved. There’s a theme about idealism being eroded by the cynical realities of the political system, and Gosling is superb as a representation of that conflict. Also at their best are Paul Giamatti as a rival campaign manager, Marisa Tomei as a reporter for the New York Times and Jeffrey Wright as the Democratic Senator from North Carolina.

Duplicity (2009)

Former CIA and MI6 secret agents Claire (Julia Roberts) and Ray (Clive Owen) work as corporate spies. They become romantically involved and decide to pair up as a team. The stakes are raised when they have the chance to earn themselves $35 million, but the problem is that they simply cannot trust each other. There are hints of The Thomas Crown Affair, but it’s less skilfully handled. 

It’s nearly an engaging comedy thriller, but the “funny” bits really aren’t funny enough. Also, there are so many bluffs and double-bluffs that it can be tricky to follow. Ultimately, the whole scam scenario is so unlikely that it’s difficult to believe. 

Owen and Roberts always appeal but they can’t really shine in such a self-consciously tricksy, disjointed narrative. In fact, the film’s flaws are built in from the very beginning: the characters have a deliberate coldness to indicate their professionalism and mutual distrust. But that coldness makes them – and their story – a lot harder to like. One solution would have been to spice up their encounters with a little more passion (which worked in The Thomas Crown Affair), but Duplicity, which has a “12” certificate, opts not to take that route. 

On the plus side, it’s refreshing to see a thriller that doesn’t include any guns or killing.

Confidence (2003)

Thriller about a group of con artists (led by Edward Burns) who get mixed up with a creepy crime boss called The King (Dustin Hoffman) and plan an elaborate banking scam. 

James Foley’s direction is flashy and a little tricksy, but the story – although complex – is a good one. Also, the acting is uniformly strong. Paul Giamatti and Rachel Weisz are both effective as members of the con team, while Andy García is convincing-but-underused as Special Agent Gunther Butan. 

The plotting can be difficult to keep up with, but it just about holds together if you don’t ask too many “But what if…” questions about timing and motivation.

Sideways (2004)

Comedy drama that’s rather lacking on the comedy front. 

Miles (Paul Giamatti) and Jack (Thomas Haden Church) are friends who go on a wine-tasting trip around California. Miles is divorced and Jack is about to marry. Then they meet Maya (Virginia Madsen) and Stephanie (Sandra Oh), and things become much more complicated.

It reminded me a little of a Woody Allen film, not least because of the light jazz soundtrack, but it’s not as well plotted or well-written and there’s definitely something missing. Plus, the music is annoyingly intrusive throughout. I found it difficult to believe that the two friends were actually friends, so little chemistry did they display. 

Things improve a little when they begin their new relationships, but it’s difficult to warm to characters who have been deliberately shown in such an unappealing light. And it just needed more laughs.

Cosmopolis (2012)

A super-rich, super-powerful businessman in search of a haircut travels across New York City in a hi-tech limousine. Strange, scary, violent things happen. He’s joined at various points by expert advisors – on financial markets, on modern theoretical thinking, and (by Juliette Binoche) on buying art.

This disturbing film is David Cronenberg’s adaptation of Don DeLillo’s short novel from 2003. It’s difficult to work out if it’s more Cronenbergian than DeLillo-esque. The former’s deliberately ugly visuals and horror elements are distinctive. The latter’s ultra-dry, play-like dialogue is also prominent, although it’s less funny here than it is on the page – even though (or perhaps because) the film adaptation is fairly faithful to the novel.

Robert Pattinson stars as Eric Packer and Sarah Gadon plays his “wife”, although their marriage is more of a farcical abstraction than a reality – another of the deliberately absurd elements that push the narrative into surreal and existential territory.

The problem with the film is that it succeeds so well in its aim to be cold and cerebral that you wonder what you might actually gain from watching it. If the characters don’t care about anything, why should we care about them? And therefore it starts to feel as shallow and empty as its subject matter.