THE BIG SCREEN
TROLLS (U)***
Once a year on the Trollstice, a race of disgruntled ogres called Bergens unlock their inner joy by feasting on shiny trolls. King Gristle Sr (voiced by John Cleese) and his drooling head Chef (Christine Baranski) lead the festivities but the Bergens’ reverie is cut short when the trolls, led by benevolent King Peppy (Jeffrey Tambor), escape to a new home. Twenty years later Princess Poppy (Anna Kendrick) has succeeded as ruler of the trolls, who sing, dance, enjoy group hugs and feverishly glue felt and paper into their scrapbooks. Everyone except for eternal pessimist Branch (Justin Timberlake), who lives in a Bergen-proof subterranean bunker. When the Bergen Chef discovers the new troll village and captures several of Poppy’s friends the princess pleads with Branch for assistance.
I, DANIEL BLAKE (15)***
Daniel Blake, a 59-year-old joiner has to spend 35 hours a week applying for jobs that he can’t take because of his medical condition, and this search for employment propels him into an online world that is completely alien to a man who has worked with his hands his entire life. Following an assessment by telephone, a letter from the Department for Work and Pensions reveals he is not entitled to sickness benefit. In order to qualify for jobseeker’s allowance, he has to agree to spend his week pointlessly looking for employment. Daniel meets feisty single mother Katie (Hayley Squires). Despite his woes, Daniel becomes a fatherly figure to Katie, completing simple DIY tasks to ensure her accommodation is tolerable. Cruel fate sinks its talons into both Daniel and Katie, and they are forced to make terrible choices to keep their heads above water.
JACK REACHER: NEVER GO BACK (12A)***
Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise) is living off the grid, embracing a nomadic lifestyle that allows him to move between lowrent motels as he brings down men and women in uniform who abuse their position. En route to a face-to-face meeting with his successor, Major Susan Turner (Cobie Smulders), Reacher discovers that she has been accused of espionage. When associates of Turner are slain before they can testify, Reacher realises that he has stumbled upon a wider conspiracy involving overseas shipments of weaponry. Jack Reacher: Never Go Back simmers pleasantly thanks to the on-screen chemistry between Cruise and Smulders, the latter rolling up her sleeves to inflict bruises in the accomplished action set pieces.
OUIJA: ORIGIN OF EVIL (15)***
Alice Zander (Elizabeth Reaser) is a charlatan fortune teller, who conducts choreographed seances with her daughters, 15-year-old Paulina (Annalise Basso) and introspective nine-year-old Doris (Lulu Wilson). The children perform various special effects to give the impression of spirits communicating with the living. One night, Paulina sneaks out to party with friends and they terrify one another by playing Ouija. A malevolent spirit gains control of Doris and begins to wreak havoc on the Zander household.
KEEPING UP WITH THE JONESES (12A)***
Jeff Gaffney (Zach Galifianakis) works in human resources at a company, his wife Karen (Isla Fisher) is an interior designer and they enjoy a simple life in a leafy cul-de-sac, where they exchange pleasantries with other residents. Out of the blue, travel writer Tim Jones (Jon Hamm) and food blogger wife Natalie (Gal Gadot) move in across the street, paying cash for their home without viewing the property. The Gaffneys clumsily infiltrate their neighbour’s home and discover that Tim and Natalie are government spies with gadgets galore and a licence to kill.