Best on the box
Stuff’s James Croot’s top TV picks for the week ahead.
Hell or High Water, 8.30pm, Friday, Rialto
Filled with complex characters, rich dialogue and uncomfortable reflections of the plight of modernday Americans, David Mackenzie’s contemporary 2016 western is compelling. Much of the credit must go to Taylor Sheridan’s script. Boasting terrific performances from Chris Pine, Ben Foster and Jeff Bridges, this delivers a political message on institutionalised poverty with brio.
The Journey, 8.30pm, Saturday, Rialto
Screenwriter Colin Bateman’s ‘‘what if it happened this way?’’ scenario is the ideal showcase for two fabulous actors. Colm Meaney and Timothy Spall both deliver perfectly pitched performances, as real-life Northern Irish political rivals Martin Mcguinness and Ian Paisley, that draw the viewer in and let them decide who has the more reasonable position.
The Coronation, 8.30pm, Sunday, Prime
New documentary in which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II shares her memories of June 2, 1953, when after 16 months of planning she was crowned at Westminster Abbey. She also recalls what took place when her father, King George VI, was crowned in 1937.
Broke, 9pm, Sunday, Ma¯ ori TV
While the sporting metaphors are sometimes a little too overt and the repudiation of the idea that footballers should be role models a bit too strident, there’s a compelling, charming tale at the heart of this low-fi, low-key 2016 Aussie drama. Rookie writerdirector Heath Davis deserves the plaudits for assembling a terrific cast of Aussie acting talent and making clever and inventive sound and vision choices to enliven his narrative.
Amy, 8.30pm, Monday, Prime
Whether you agree with Tony Bennett that she was one of the few true jazz singers, or a self-saboteur who struggled to deal with fame, this 2015 documentary on the life and death of Amy Winehouse offers plenty of food for thought. Using his same ‘‘in their own words’’ method that saw 2010’s Senna become a benchmark in documentary cinema, director Asif Kapadia captures the highs and lows of a musically talented Jewish girl from North London. A powerful, thought-provoking and tragic cautionary tale.
Sicario, 8.55pm, Monday, Duke
Emily Blunt, Josh Brolin and Benicio Del Toro star in this 2015 thriller about an FBI agent who is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the US and Mexico. ‘‘A low-slung film about a dirty drugs war with Mexico which challenges and engages, ‘‘ wrote Screen International.