COMING SOON
Teflon yarn fails to grip It’s a real nice piste of work
DARK WATERS (12A) ★★★
THESE meticulously researched, gritty whistleblower yarns usually bag a few gongs at the Oscars.
But this account of a recent environmental scandal isn’t quite as rousing as past winners Erin Brockovich and Spotlight.
An understated Mark Ruffalo plays Cincinnati attorney Rob Bilott who risked his career to pursue an arduous legal battle with Teflon manufacturers DuPont. Character actor Bill Camp also impresses as Wilbur Tennant, the Parkersburg cattle farmer who correctly linked his mountain of dead cows and his family’s failing health with the chemical dump next to his farm.
Anne Hathaway is the only actor with her eye on an Oscar in the supportive wife role.
Still, the facts are shocking enough to make you think about chucking out your frying pan. away
NEXT WEEK: When the men are cheer serving in Afghanistan, their wives in themselves up by forming a choir and
Military Wives. Sharon Horgan song. Kristin Scott Thomas are both on Diesel
THE WEEK AFTER: A bionic Vin
– the is gunning for revenge in Bloodshot a Valiant first instalment in a series set in Comics “shared cinematic universe”.
DOWNHILL (15) ★★★
THE poster may be a little misleading.
The sight of Will Ferrell in salopettes promises a riot of pratfalls and zingy one-liners – a skithemed follow-up to his ice skating comedy Blades Of Glory.
There are funny moments, but most of them are intentionally uncomfortable.
In this slow burning comedy/drama, Ferrell and a brilliant Julia Louis-Dreyfus play Pete and Billie, a wealthy American couple a skiing holiday in the Austrian Alps with their two sons.
After some minor marital bickering, things come to a head on after a scary incident at a café.
To clear a heavy snowfall from the slopes, the resort has engineered a small avalanche.
The family watch with terror from the balcony as snow cascades towards them.
When the white stuff smashes into the balcony, Billie protects her boys while Pete, who isn’t stuck between the table and a wall, scarpers.
Is this cowardice or instinct?
Can we even make moral decisions in moments of life and death?
These questions haunt the rest of the holiday. Refreshingly, the film doesn’t look for easy answers.