CROWHURST

Spielberg turns Cline’s homage to pop culture into a satirical swipe at the monetisation of the health and criminal justice systems.

He also includes warnings about online trust and celebrity, and a critique of corporate exploitation of the young. But none of this is allowed to weigh down the fun or the thrills and it’s full of optimism for the youth of tomorrow.

Demonstrating his enduring ability to entertain while embracing the latest technology and remaining relevant to a modern audience, Spielberg proves beyond doubt that he is still Hollywood’s number one player.

Opens next Wednesday Cert Running time

This year’s second biopic about doomed British amateur yachtsman Donald Crowhurst is a far more compelling kettle of fish than Colin Firth’s washed-out turn in The Mercy.

Following in the wake of its big-budget rival this is closer to a horror film and is a dark vision of isolation, weakness and madness. In 1968, the weekend sailor and amateur inventor took up the challenge to become the first person to singlehandedly circumnavigate the globe without stopping.

As Crowhurst, Justin Salinger gives us a less sentimental and more sympathetic interpretation of the man who sails into a hell of his own creation when he resorts to cheating.

Punctuating the many eerie silences with popular song and hymns, a rendition of Jerusalem is demoniacally satirical. Crowhurst doesn’t rely on CGI to impress – it floated my boat.

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