Top films to watch on TV this week
WEDNESDAY
Eddie the Eagle (2016) BBC1, 10.40p.m.
Since he was a boy, Eddie (Taron Egerton) has driven his father Terry (Keith Allen) to distraction with a burning desire to compete in the Olympics. He discovers a loophole in the rulebook that would allow him to become Britain’s first representative at the Winter Olympics in the ski jump since 1929. Aided and abetted by his mother Janette (Jo Hartley), Eddie heads to Germany to a ski-jumping training centre run by hard-drinking former competitor, Bronson Peary (Hugh Jackman), who was booted off the US team.
Loosely based on Eddie Edwards’ remarkable story of triumph against gravity, Eddie the Eagle is an unabashedly crowd-pleasing delight for all ages. Egerton, who went on to play another iconic bespectacled Brit, Elton John, in Rocketman, brings a sweetness and steely resolve to his plucky fish out of water.
THURSDAY
Sweet Charity (1969) BBC4, 9.00p.m.
Legendary choreographer Bob Fosse made an impressive feature-film directorial debut with this fun musical comedy. Shirley MacLaine stars as Charity Hope Valentine, a dancer in a seedy nightclub, who keeps looking for love in all the wrong places. When it finally seems like she has met her Mr Right, she decides to keep her past a secret from him for fear of putting him off, but will the truth come out?
The plot matters less than the terrific numbers, which include Big Spender, If My Friends Could See Me Now and Sammy Davis Jr’s showstopping The Rhythm of Life, while the supporting cast includes Broadway legends Chita Rivera and Stubby Kaye.
FRIDAY
Magic Mike (2012) BBC1, 11.35p.m.
Steven Soderbergh’s thoughtful drama has more to offer than just abs and dance moves. Adam (Alex Pettyfer) lives in Tampa Bay with his sister Brooke (Cody Horn). He lands a temporary construction job alongside nice guy Mike (Channing Tatum) but on his very first day, Adam is sacked. As he roams the town, Adam crosses paths again with Mike who introduces him to the local male nude revue bar, where delirious women thrust dollar bills at gym-toned Adonises.
It transpires that Mike is the club’s star turn and earns big bucks under the watchful eye of manager Dallas (an impressively sleazy Matthew McConaughey). A mishap affords Adam a chance to perform on stage and under his new moniker of The Kid, he becomes a firm favourite of the female clientele. But he finds that adulation comes at a price.
SATURDAY
Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003) Channel 4, 11.30p.m.
Peter Weir’s first movie since 1998’s The Truman Show is an amalgam of two novels by Patrick O’Brian. Russell Crowe takes the lead as Captain Jack Aubrey, skipper of HMS Surprise. He and his crew are on the trail of French vessels out to aid Napoleon in his dream of conquering our fair isle. In true Brit fashion, the sailors are forced to use every trick in the book to outwit their enemy – but not without losing a few of their number along the way.
It’s an epic romp from start to finish, and Crowe clearly gives the role of Aubrey his all. Paul Bettany, in his second collaboration with the Aussie superstar following A Beautiful Mind, is perfectly cast as the captain’s gentle pal and ship’s surgeon Maturin, while the supporting cast boasts the likes of Billy Boyd, James D’Arcy and David Threlfall.
SUNDAY
Miss Congeniality (2000) 5STAR, 9p.m.
Tomboy FBI agent Gracie Hart (Sandra Bullock) goes undercover at the annual Miss United States Beauty Pageant to apprehend a criminal mastermind known as “The Citizen”. Working closely with pageant consultant Victor Melling (a brilliant Michael Caine), Gracie is transformed from “Dirty Harriet” into winsome Miss New Jersey contestant Gracie Lou Freebush.
Miss Congeniality proudly wears its feel-good sash, trampling intelligent plotting under stiletto-ed foot. Forget world peace: the film’s dream is to entertain with a lightweight blend of pratfalls and romance, and Bullock is on sparkling form, compelling you to feel pangs of sympathy for Gracie at the same time as you laugh at her misfortune.
MONDAY
The Lavender Hill Mob (1951) Film4, 2.25p.m.
Unassuming bank worker Henry Holland (Alec Guinness) meets souvenir manufacturer Pendlebury (Stanley Holloway) and comes up with a devilishly good idea. Together, they can steal a million in gold bullion from Holland’s bank, melt it down, turn it into ornaments in the shape of the Eifel Tower, and smuggle it out of the country. They even recruit a couple of experienced criminals to help, but despite their best laid plans, the heist goes awry.
The Lavender Hill Mob is one of the best comedies to come out of the golden age of Ealing studios. As well as an ingenious plot and a witty script, it boasts a pre- Carry On Sid James in a supporting role, and even a blink-and-you’ ll-miss-her appearance by a then-unknown Audrey Hepburn.
TUESDAY
Man on Fire (2004) Film4, 11.25p.m.
Former CIA counter-terrorist operative John Creasy (Denzel Washington) moves to Mexico City where he reluctantly takes a job as a private bodyguard for precocious nine-year-old Pita (Dakota Fanning), whose family’s wealth makes her a target for kidnappers. Creasy surprises himself by striking up a tender friendship with Pita, so when the nightmare happens and the little girl is abducted and then killed, he makes it his life’s work to track down the men responsible.
Based on AJ Quinnell’s novel of the same name, Man on Fire is a film in two acts: an engrossing portrait of a broken man finding his way back to life through the eyes of a child; and a brutal revenge thriller. Both parts are compelling in their own ways, anchored by Washington’s affecting lead performance.