The Scotsman

ALSO SHOWING

- Alistair Harkness

Solo: A Star Wars Story (12A)

As with the excellent Rogue One, the buzz around this Han Solo origins story has been terrible. The departure of original directors Phil Lord and Christophe­r Miller (The

Lego Movie) suggested risk and irreverenc­e had been sacrificed for safety and profit, especially when Ron Howard replaced them. But after die-hard fans had Phantom

Menace-style meltdowns over The Last Jedi’s contentiou­s treatment of Luke Skywalker, Howard’s hiring now seems like a canny move. He served his apprentice­ship with George Lucas, after all, starring in

American Graffiti (alongside a very young Harrison Ford) and directing the Lucas-penned fantasy adventure film Willow (not a great movie, but still...). Given the way that these spinoff sagas seem intent on embracing the past rather than overturnin­g it, a talented caretaker is maybe all that’s required to provide the requisite fan service demanded so vociferous­ly online.

Solo: A Star Wars Story certainly does that. Want to know the origin of that surname? Check. Want to find out how he meets Chewbacca? Check. Want to see how he wins the Millennium Falcon? Check. Want a plot built around a throw-away line of dialogue in the original film? Double check. Indeed, in a film that also shows why Han always, always shoots first, there’s really not much to complain about here.

Even the casting is fine. Alden Ehrenreich does a fair job of capturing the spirit of Solo without doing a slavish impression of Ford, embracing the cocky attitude and the wry sense of humour to play the selfstyled scoundrel whose reluctance to admit he’s the good guy doesn’t stop his heroism shining through. He’s compliment­ed by man of the moment Donald Glover, who delivers the film’s real star turn as the roguish, licentious Lando Calrissian.

Story-wise, it’s essentiall­y an action-packed heist film, with setpieces that echo sequences from the original trilogy mixed in with daring escapades anew, all designed, like the aforementi­oned Rogue One, to join the dots between hitherto unexplored story points in the saga’s over-arching mythology. If if offers nothing new, it does what it does with craft and skill. It’s the cinematic equivalent – to paraphrase one character – of a comforting hug from a Wookiee.

On Chesil Beach (15)

Starring Saoirse Ronan and Billy Howle, this Ian Mcewan-scripted adaptation of his 2007 novella picks over the wreckage of a doomed marriage by jumping back-andforth in time to locate the cause and effect of its rapid dissolutio­n, all the while using the coital calamity of the couple’s wedding night as sort of car-crash-in-slow-motion narrative through-line. Sadly, like the newly formalised relationsh­ip at its core, this approach doesn’t always make for the happiest of unions. The performanc­es are fine, but it’s really just another stilted piece of prestige cinema.

The Breadwinne­r (12A)

Marking the third Oscar-nominated film in a row for Irish animation studio Cartoon Saloon (The Book of

Kells, Song of the Sea), this affecting adaptation of Deborah Ellis’s bestsellin­g children’s novel – about a young Afghan girl forced to dress as a boy in order to earn a crust for her family in Taliban-controlled Kabul – does a good job of making an accessible family film about resilience in the face of terror.

Edie (12A)

Scottish-set tale of an octogenari­an widower (Sheila Hancock) making up for lost time by travelling to the Highlands to climb Suilven. Though Hancock is good in the role, and Kevin Guthrie is quite charming as her young guide, the film’s faux crowdpleas­ing tone is condescend­ing in ways its eponymous heroine surely wouldn’t tolerate. ■

 ??  ?? Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the latest Star Wars film
Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo in the latest Star Wars film

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