Film reviews: Think Like A Man | Chernobyl Diaries | Lay The Favourite | A Thousand Kisses Deep

By SIOBHAN SYNNOT
Published on 17/06/2012 00:00

SCOTLAND on Sunday’s film critic Siobhan Synnot casts her eye over the latest cinematic releases.

Think Like A Man (12A)

Rating; ***

Another battle of the sexes rom com, with four couples embodying a range of stereotypes who turn to a self-help book for relationship advice. It’s more appealing than the similarly themed What To Expect When You’re Expecting, but it’s hard to believe that any of the successful drop-dead gorgeous women involved need to consult a manual to keep a man. And at almost two hours, the film overestimates the appeal of its limited laughs. Someone needs to think like an editor.

Selected release from Friday

Chernobyl Diaries (15)

Rating; **

Brad Parker’s low-budget horror is set in the abandoned site of the famous nuclear reactor disaster. Six young people decide to take a tour and spend a promising half hour setting up the creepiness until darkness falls. When they return to their van, the engine dies and they are stranded for the night in a wasteland where not everything has been wiped out by radiation. A shameless repackaging of boilerplate horror clichés, the fallout here is boredom.

On general release from Friday

Lay The Favourite (15)

Rating; **

Stephen Frears steers a gambling farce set in Las Vegas. Bruce Willis, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rebecca Hall and Vince Vaughn should add up to a winning hand, but the strained comedy is shrill and smart-alecky, and the details of the betting subplot close to impenetrable. The result is a busted flush.

On general release from Friday

A Thousand Kisses Deep (15)

Rating; **

Jodie Whittaker stars in a time-travelling melodrama as a woman who revisits key moments in her life to undo a disastrous relationship with a caddish musician (Dougray Scott). Not a bad idea, but written by two Russians with the fluency of a Babelfish translation.

On general release