STATE CINEMA
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.
Star War: The Rise of Skywalker (M) Yes, the Force is strong with this one. However, it is how this Force is deployed by Star Wars:
The Rise of Skywalker that will leave some lingering doubts in the minds of passionate devotees of the franchise. Saddled with the daunting task of bringing the official Skywalker Saga to a definitive close, this ninth episode keeps switching between alternating states of good-natured incoherency and controlled panic. The balance struck between storytelling, spectacle and genuine emotion generates both real excitement and a sombre realisation that this is the end of something that has meant so much to so many for over four decades.
But does the great stuff come too late in a movie that spends so much time struggling to be any good? To be frank, the answer is yes.
Mrs Lowry & Son (PG) While he eventually came to be regarded as one of the significant British artists of the 20th century, painter L.S. Lowry copped a caning from critics for a naive style and lack of high-falutin’ pedigree. It is doubtful the haters got to him when you consider what he had to put up with at home. As we come to learn in this hyperbolically drab recounting of Lowry’s formative years at the easel, the fiercest objections to the artist’s output came from inside his own four walls. In the mid-1930s period depicted here, Lowry (Timothy Spall) is lugging himself around Lancashire for his day gig as a rent collector, then returning home at night to care for his crabby, persnickety curmudgeon of a mum, Elizabeth (Vanessa Redgrave). Decently acted, but stodgily written and directed, this is bleak, one-note stuff.
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 semi-silly thriller of sorts is certainly going to test this devotional stance to the limit.