STATE CINEMA

Ford V Ferrari (M) Its pacing? At a cinematic lap speed of 152 minutes, not exactly fast. Its temperament? In harking back to an era where motor racing was a gentlemanly pursuit, nowhere near furious. Nevertheless, Ford V Ferrari is as fine a movie about cars, car racing and car drivers as you could ever hope to see these days. In fact, it is about a whole lot more than a life lived on four wheels. Even nonpetrolheads who’s rather watch a doco about public transport will likely find themselves both totally engrossed and entertained.

Downton Abbey (PG) The consensus was, after weaving a slow passage through the history books of the early 20th century, the Downton Abbey phenomenon had run its race. While there is not a lot riding on this featurelength movie reactivation of the smash-hit TV series, it is a pleasure that it is just as much of a class act on the big screen as it was on the box.

Official Secrets (M) An admirably conscientious take on the story of Katherine Gun (Keira Knightley), a low-level British intelligence analyst who rattled her higher-ups in 2003 by leaking documents showing Prime Minister Tony Blair and his Cabinet were dodgily accelerating moves to go to war with Iraq.

The Good Liar (MA15+) The Good Liar is a movie for people who think they could watch British acting legends Helen Mirren and Ian McKellen in just about anything. This deceptively inconsistent, semi-silly thriller of sorts is certainly going to test this devotional stance to the limit.

Fisherman’s Friends (M) A quaint, lowkey slice-of-life comedy-drama from Britain loosely inspired by the true story of some folksinging fisherman who went from warbling in the open air for the love of it to entering a studio with a seven-figure record deal. It’s a nice enough yarn in its own right, but the movie is carrying of lot of formulaic excess baggage that keeps the pacing slow and expectations low. The music is an irresistible delight throughout.