The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
FILM SOF THE WEEK
Book Club – Saturday, C4, 10.20pm
Best friends Diane (Diane Keaton), Vivian (Jane Fonda), Sharon (Candice Bergen) and Carol (Mary Steenburgen) merrily reunite each month over glasses of chilled white wine to discuss a book chosen by one member of the coterie. Hotel manager Vivian elects to introduce her shocked pals to Christian Grey’s notorious Red Room in erotic thriller Fifty Shades Of Grey. It inspires them in different ways, as doting wife Carol tries to invigorate her marriage, while Sharon is persuaded to try internet dating. Vivian has a chance encounter with old flame Arthur (Don Johnson) and recently widowed Diane is swept off her feet by airline captain Mitchell (Andy Garcia).
The Commuter – Monday, C5, 11.05pm
Former NYPD detective Michael Mccauley (Liam Neeson) heads home on New York City’s busy Metro-north Railroad. An enigmatic woman called Joanna (Vera Farmiga) strikes up a cryptic conversation. She intimates there is a brown paper bag containing $25,000 hidden in one of the toilets and Michael can earn a further $75,000 if he agrees to find a passenger called Prynne, who is travelling to Cold Spring station in Zone 7. Curiosity piqued, Michael takes the cash then hesitates when he consults his rusty moral compass. The Commuter is a high-octane action thriller aboard an evening rush-hour train.
Cape Fear – Wednesday, BBC1, 11.40pm
Brutal rapist Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is released from jail after a long stretch and hunts down the man he blames for his incarceration – lawyer Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte), who was so horrified by Cady’s crimes, he failed to mount much of a defence. Cady becomes increasingly unhinged as he plots revenge on Bowden and his family. Many movie buffs still prefer the more restrained original 1962 film, which starred Gregory Peck and Robert Mitchum (who both have cameo roles here). However, judged on its own merits, Martin Scorsese’s remake is a stylish thriller with a terrifying performance from De Niro.
Man Up – Friday, BBC1, 12.10am
On a train to London, 30-something singleton Nancy (Lake Bell) bumps into a girl called Jessica (Ophelia Lovibond), who is meeting a blind date under the clock at Waterloo station. The nervous lovebirds will recognise each other by holding copies of a bestselling self-help book. When the train pulls into the station, Nancy discovers Jessica has left her book behind so she gives chase and crosses paths with the blind date, Jack (Simon Pegg). On the spur of the moment, Nancy decides to pose as Jessica and see where the meeting leads. Surprisingly, she gets on well with Jack, but there are skeletons in both of their closets.