Cinema previews: On The Road | Husbands | Now Is Good | The Campaign | Looper | Sinister | Pusher

Rory Ford previews the best of this month’s film releases.

On The Road (12 Oct)

After innumerable failed attempts, Jack Kerouac’s autobiographical Beat classic finally makes it to the screen, helmed by Motorcycle Diaries director Walter Salles. Critics were split when the film premiered in Cannes earlier this year, with many praising its fidelity to the novel while complaining that the spirit of the original was missing. Still – an impressive ensemble cast features Control’s Sam Riley (as Kerouac stand-in Sal), Kristen Stewart, Viggo Mortensen, Steve Buscemi and Amy Adams.

Husbands (18 Oct)

After Gloria, this 1970 semi-improvised “comedy about life, death and freedom” as it was originally subtitled, is maverick director John Cassavetes’ most accessible film. It’s also his best. Three married men with kids (Cassavetes, Peter Falk and Ben Gazarra all giving career-highlight performances) are brought together for the funeral of a friend and – faced with their own mortality – go on a drinking binge in London and have anonymous sex with various women. A neglected classic.

Now Is Good (19 Sept)

The now (almost) all grown-up Dakota Fanning takes the lead in this adaptation of Jenny Downham’s novel Before I Die. She plays a 16-year-old diagnosed with leukaemia whose urgent “to do” list includes losing her virginity, which is problematic for her parents (Paddy Considine and Olivia Williams).

The Campaign (28 Sept)

The US presidential race is going to dominate the news for the next few months so this refreshingly stupid-looking political satire starring two of the funniest men in movies should provide a much-needed does of cynicism. Will Ferrell (drawing on his Dubya impression) plays a corrupt long-serving congressman challenged by a hopelessly naive family man (Zach Galifinakis from The Hangover).

Looper (28 Sept)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt cements his reputation as one of the breakthrough stars of 2012 by reuniting with his Brick director Rian Johnson for this sci-fi thriller. Levitt plays a “Looper”, an assassin in the year 2042 who kills targets sent back from 2072. Twisty time travel paradoxes ensue when he – understandably – hesitates to eliminate his older self (played by Bruce Willis).

Sinister (5 Oct)

Enormously creepy-looking paranormal thriller starring the ever-excellent Ethan Hawke as a true-crime writer who moves his family to a new house only to find that the previous owner slaughtered his wife and family while under the influence of a pagan deity. Hawke is remarkably choosy about what he appears in (and he’s demonstrated remarkably good taste) so his very presence in anything is as close as you can get to a seal of guaranteed quality these days.

Pusher (12 Oct)

Surprisingly good, London-set remake of the 1996 Danish movie produced by original director Nicolas Winding Refn and driven by an excellent performance from Richard Coyle in the title role. Model Agyness Deyn (as the stripper girlfriend) hasn’t exactly got the hang of this acting malarkey but director Luis Prieto imbues proceedings with an impressive energy that rescues this from an overly familiar mixture of dodgy geezers and pounding electro music.

ALSO RELEASED

• Savages (21 Sept) promises to be a typically overwrought Oliver Stone onslaught. Two unusually peaceful pot producers (Taylor Kitsch and Aaron Johnson) are forced to get their hands dirty when a Mexican drug cartel (headed by Benicio Del Toro and Salma Hayek) kidnap their mutual girlfriend (Blake Lively).

• Sparkle (5 Oct) is a remake of an obscure 1976 movie and features the late Whitney Houston. Three sisters form a girl group in the 1960s and become Motown sensations but soon the pressures of fame take their toll.

• Frankenweenie (17 Oct) is a Tim Burton animation about a boy who reanimates his beloved dog Frankenstein-style.

• Taken 2 (4 Oct) Liam Neeson returns as the retired CIA op with no love for terrorists but this time it’s him and his wife who are kidnapped.

• Ruby Sparks (12 Oct) is a whimsical romcom with Paul Dano as a novelist who creates his perfect woman (Zoe Kazan) then wills her into existence.