This latest ship of fools
script and more interesting characters if they are thinking of stretching out the series to yet another instalment. (Cert 15; 132mins) JESSICA CHASTAIN’S character in Miss Sloane requires a storm warning. Her ruthless Washington lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane is a human whirlwind, ripping through everything in her path.
Chastain is the best thing about an entertaining film that weaves unsteadily between a John Grisham-style thriller and the moral outrage of a 1970s Oscar-winner like Network.
Lobbying is described as “the most morally bankrupt profession since faith healing” but Sloane is displaying worrying signs of developing a conscience. She decides to join an ethical lobbying company led by Rodolfo Schmidt (Mark Strong). Her seemingly impossible task is to win Senate support for an amendment to the laws on gun ownership.
The hunger to make a difference and outwit her opponents helps to make Sloane a charismatic figure and the film does rehearse some of the big debate over gun control in America.
It is a little glib and contrived but not enough to spoil the fun. (Cert 15; 82mins) WRITER/director Hope Dickson Leach makes an impressive first feature in The Levelling, an emotionally-charged family drama notable for its sensitivity and quiet assurance.
Ellie Kendrick from Game Of Thrones is excellent as Clover, a young vet who returns to the family farm in Somerset after the sudden death of her brother. Her father Aubrey (David Troughton) is determined to carry on as normal and barely acknowledges what has happened. As Clover discovers more about her brother’s death and the state of the family business, old resentments bubble to the surface.
The Levelling is equally unsparing but even-handed in its characterisation of a father and daughter as two stubborn individuals desperately seeking a way to reconnect. (Cert 15; 130mins) THE Last Face might have its heart in the right place but everything else is all over the map. Sean Penn’s romantic drama attempts to address the troubles of war-torn Africa through the tempestuous love affair between dishy doctor Miguel (Javier Bardem) and glamorous international aid organiser Wren (Charlize Theron).
The cheesy dialogue makes your toes curl while everything else feels like a finger-wagging lecture on the failings of Western democracies to make a difference across the African continent. It’s a fair point but the cynic in you almost expects Bono to wander in.
The central romance is far from engaging with little spark between the stars. A big disappointment. (Cert 12A; 114mins) FRANçOIS Ozon must be one of the world’s busiest and most versatile film directors.
Period drama Frantz arrives in the UK just as his erotic thriller L’Amant Double is about to have its world première at Cannes. Frantz is set in a small German town in the bitter aftermath of the First World War. Anna (Paula Beer) mourns her fiancé Frantz who was killed in combat. One day she sees Adrien (Pierre Niney) leaving flowers at Frantz’s grave. He claims to have been a good friend.
The two strangers grow closer as Adrien becomes a comforting presence to Frantz’s grief-stricken parents but there is an air of mystery that surrounds him. Mostly (Cert 18; 114mins) IT TAKES one violent act to destroy an earthly paradise in Tomcat, an intense Austrian drama.
French horn player Stefan (Lukas Turtur) and orchestra manager Andreas (Philipp Hochmair) are a blissfully happy gay couple and the envy of their many friends.
When Stefan kills their beloved cat, it plunges the relationship into crisis. Overlong but acutely observed, it is cleverly understated and consistently intriguing.