PICK OF THIS WEEK’S FILMS

STAN AND OLLIE (PG)

Based on a script by director Wash Westmoreland and his late husband Richard Glatzer, Colette lovingly details the true story of the French novelist who challenged the supposed limitations of her gender in early 20th-century Paris. During the film, one male writer argues that irrefutable facts should never get in the way of a good yarn. “It is the hand that holds the pen that writes history,” the author suggests. Westmoreland crafts his pages of feminist history and creative endeavour into a handsomely appointed battle of words between Keira Knightley’s dutiful wife turned trailblazer and Dominic West’s egotistical and domineering husband. British composer Thomas Ades’ orchestrations underscore the hard-fought battle for parity and respect.

Director Jon S Baird calls lights, camera, action on a golden era of studio system Hollywood in his affectionate and heart-warming biopic of the English and American comedy duo, who shared the screen for almost 30 years. Stan and Ollie is a handsomely crafted valentine to a double act who earned legions of adoring fans with pratfalls and slapstick. The film focuses predominantly on the UK leg of a 1953 theatre tour, which was dominated by Hardy’s failing health. A lean script replays some of the couple’s greatest hits, including the 1932 short County Hospital, which finds Oliver in bed with a broken leg and Stan wreaking havoc with a jug of water, a bed pan and a bag of hard-boiled eggs and nuts. These moments of nostalgic recreation are joyful and Baird revels in the connection between the two performers, convincingly played by Steve Coogan and John C Reilly, concealed beneath layers of latex prosthetics.

THE FRONT RUNNER (15)

Politics and sleaze have become depressingly frequent bedfellows in recent years, ushering us into an era where the press and social media scrutinise the moral fibre of our public servants. Director Jason Reitman’s sharp-suited drama The Front Runner unfolds several years before Monica Lewinsky’s dress-stained global consciousness. Co-written by Matt Bai and Jay Carlson, the film focuses on three tumultuous weeks in the late 1980s, when political journalism abruptly shifted focus from manifestos to the personal life of Senator Gary Hart from Colorado (Hugh Jackman) after he refuses to answer questions about an extramarital affair. The script fails to delve deeply into the emotional meat of that volatile period when media executives openly professed: “It’s up to us to hold these guys responsible.”