Film reviews: Elena (12A)| Here Comes The Boom (12A)| My Brother The Devil (15)| People Like Us (12A)
A round up of what’s on at the cinema
Elena (12A)
* * * *
Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev returns to form with an elegant, noirish drama about middle-aged woman Elena (Nadezhda Markina) who is both wife and nurse to a wealthy businessman (Andrey Smirnov). Both bring pretty worthless children to this second marriage, and when her husband announces he will be cutting her son out of his will, it sets Elena on a murderous path.
On selected release, including Filmhouse, Edinburgh, 16-20 November
* *
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Hide AdA high school biology teacher (Kevin James) takes up cage fighting in a bid to save the cash-strapped school’s music teacher (Henry Winkler) from budget cuts. Since the movie restates the importance of inspirational teaching and a rounded education, you might argue that its heart is in the right place but its cruddy jokes definitely deserve detention.
On general release from Friday
My Brother The Devil (15)
* * *
British drama finds a fresh setting in the story of two teenage brothers from an Egyptian family growing up on an edgy London estate. The faces and some of the sexual nuances are fresh, and although it drifts into some familiar gang reflexes, director Sally El Hosaini has a good eye for detail that keeps this very watchable.
On selected release from Friday
People Like Us (12A)
* * *
After his father dies, salesman Chris Pine must find Elizabeth Banks, the stepsister he never knew he had, in this glossy family drama. This is the sort of role Tom Cruise played 20 years ago, except back then redemption required a bit more than handing over an inheritance and learning to be less smarmy. Banks is great, but when the chemistry between the step-siblings drifts weirdly and carelessly into incest territory, they are clearly not people like us.
On general release from Friday