Film choice

Mr Smith Goes to Washington (1939, b/w)

TCM, 6.15PM ★★★★★

 The films of Frank Capra (It’s a Wonderful Life) are often dismissed as idealistic and sentimental. But there is another side to his work, much of which stays just the right side of the fine line that divides the American Dream from the American Nightmare. James Stewart plays a goofy country bumpkin who is shoehorned into a dead man’s shoes in the Senate. The film was nominated for 11 Oscars.

Inside Man (2006) ITV4, 11.50PM ★★★★

 This is a devilishly clever heist movie from director Spike Lee that hinges on a battle of wits between an ice-cool criminal (Clive Owen) and an unflappable hostage negotiator (Denzel Washington). The story has more twists than a Chubby Checker record but it opens with an elaborate New York bank robbery during which nothing, seemingly, is stolen. Jodie Foster, Willem Dafoe and Christopher Plummer also star.

Haywire (2011) FILM4, 11.05PM ★★★

 This slick spy thriller marked Steven Soderbergh’s 25th feature as a director. Mixed-martial-arts fighter and first-time actress Gina Carano stars as a super-soldier who’s on a mission to flush out a double agent who left her left for dead. Colleagues who fall under suspicion include her former partner (Channing Tatum), a drippy strategist (Ewan Mcgregor) and a dapper Irish colleague (Michael Fassbender).