Top films to watch on TV this week
WEDNESDAY
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011) ITV2, 6.35p.m.
When we catch up with Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint), they are still on the hunt for horcruxes, the objects in which Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) has hidden parts of his soul to render him immortal. Unfortunately, the dark lord has worked out what they’re up to and amasses his followers for one final showdown at Hogwarts school.
If you thought Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 could have done with a little more magic and a little less teenage angst, never fear – the brains behind the movie saga were saving up all the action for Part 2.
Not only does it feature thrilling set pieces galore, it pulls off the even more impressive feat of bringing the boy wizard’s tale to a hugely satisfying conclusion.
THURSDAY Rocky (1976) ITV4, 11.40p.m.
Forget the increasingly overblown sequels – the original, Oscar-winning Rocky is a surprisingly sweet, low-key underdog story.
Sylvester Stallone wrote himself his best role as Rocky Balboa, a struggling boxer from working-class Philadelphia who combines fighting with a day job running errands for a loan shark. His luck changes when reigning heavyweight champion Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers) decides to celebrate America’s bicentennial by giving an unknown a shot at the title.
With the support of coach Mickey (Burgess Meredith) and shy pet store employee Adrian (Talia Shire), Rocky sets out to prove he can go the distance. It’s impossible not to root for the ‘Italian Stallion’, especially when Bill Conti’s stirring score kicks in.
FRIDAY
Rebecca (1940) Talking Pictures TV, 2.25p.m.
Alfred Hitchcock’s wonderfully atmospheric version of Daphne Du Maurier’s gripping tale stars Joan Fontaine as the timid new wife of widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier).
His country estate Manderlay remains in the iron grip of the frighteningly efficient housekeeper Ms Danvers (the brilliant Judith Anderson) and the memory of the master’s late wife, Rebecca.
As the new Mrs de Winter struggles to win the approval of the staff, she can’t help but feel that her husband is also still pining for her glamorous predecessor
– and Mrs Danvers is quick to exploit her new mistress’s insecurities. But was Rebecca really as perfect as everyone seems to believe?
SATURDAY
Jaws (1975) ITV, 10.50p.m.
It’s now 46 years old, but Steven Spielberg’s first blockbuster has lost none of its bite. Roy Scheider heads the cast as Brody, a police chief on New England’s Amity Island whose relatively idyllic existence is turned upside down when a great white shark starts snacking on the locals.
The mayor is reluctant to close the beaches in case it scares off the tourists, so with the aid of a wealthy expert (Richard Dreyfuss) and a salty hunter (Robert Shaw), Brody heads off to find and kill the beast.
It’s a masterpiece of direction, combining genuine thrills with three-dimensional characters, and although the shark itself is a bit of a let-down, by the time we get a good look at it, we’re having too much fun to care. John Williams’ iconic score just adds to the tension.
SUNDAY I, Tonya (2017) BBC2, 10p.m.
As a girl, Tonya Harding (Margot Robbie) learns to ice-skate at the behest of her domineering mother LaVona (an Oscar-winning Allison Janney). LaVona is far from impressed with Jeff Gillooly (Sebastian Stan) as a potential son-in-law but she is powerless to stop her daughter from falling under Jeff ’s spell.
Tonya trains hard and becomes the first American athlete to land a triple axel jump in competition but the judges refuse to give her the high marks she thinks she deserves.
In stark contrast, rival Nancy Kerrigan (Caitlin Carver) is lavished with praise. As frustration grows, Tonya’s bodyguard Shawn Eckhardt (Paul Walter Hauser) and Jeff hatch a loopy plan.
I, Tonya is a blackly humorous biopic, which illuminates a grubby episode in sporting history with considerable aplomb.
MONDAY The Greatest Showman (2017) Film4, 9p.m.
Arguably 2018’s biggest sleeper hit, this musical stars Hugh Jackman as the legendary PT Barnum, a tailor’s son who falls under the spell of the privileged Charity Hallett (Michelle Williams). They live modestly until PT blags a $10,000 bank loan for a museum of living curiosities.
The exhibits include bearded-lady Lettie Lutz (Keala Settle), dwarf Charles Stratton (Sam Humphrey) and high-flying trapeze siblings WD and Anne Wheeler ( Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Zendaya). Sardonic newspaper critic James Gordon Bennett (Paul Sparks) denounces the enterprise as “a primitive circus of humbug”, but the public disagrees, as does investor Phillip Carlyle (Zac Efron).
The Greatest Showman is a joy-infused blast of pure pleasure that calibrates every swoon of romance and doff of a top hat with masterful precision.
TUESDAY Goodbye Christopher Robin (2017) Film4, 6.50p.m.
Simon Curtis’s handsome drama exposes the anguish and resentment that festered beneath the Hundred Acre Wood. AA Milne (Domhnall Gleeson) returns to London from the trenches, where he witnessed hundreds of his countrymen cut down in their prime.
Angered by the senseless loss of life, Milne abandons the capital for a quaint house in Ashdown Forest, where a walk with his young son Christopher Robin ( Will Tilston) fires his imagination.
Milne develops the Winnie-the-Pooh stories, which magically bring to life his son’s menagerie of stuffed toys, but while the books become a success, Christopher Robin struggles to deal with his newfound fame.