The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
FILMS OF THE WEEK
Copshop – Saturday, Channel 4, 9pm, premiere
Self-anointed “high-end consultant” Teddy Murretto (Frank Grillo) has grubby fingers in numerous pies including the affairs of the recently murdered attorney general of Nevada. On the run from professional hitman Bob Viddick (Gerard Butler) after a car bomb fails to silence his loose lips, Teddy sucker-punches diligent Gun Creek police officer Valerie Young (Alexis Louder) during a public fracas to secure a holding cell for the night. The plan backfires when Viddick poses as a drunk-driver and is detained in the opposite cell. A tense stand-off heralds a hail of bullets when rival gunman Anthony Lamb (Toby Huss) arrives at the police station to kill Teddy. Copshop is a testosteronesoaked tale of law and disorder, which relies on wanton violence to divert attention from the occasional clunks of the script.
Quartet – Thursday, BBC4, 9pm
Dustin Hoffman takes a turn behind the camera to direct an impressive British cast in this comedy drama. Run with a gentle yet firm touch by on-staff medic Dr Lucy Cogan (Sheridan Smith), retirement home Beecham House heaves with eccentrics, including luvvie Cedric (Michael Gambon), who masterminds the annual fundraising concert attended by staff and wealthy donors. Three of the residents – Reginald (Tom Courtenay), Wilf (Billy Connolly) and Cissy (Pauline Collins) – once performed together as a celebrated quartet. The unexpected arrival of the group’s fourth member, Reg’s ex-wife Jean (Maggie Smith), sends shockwaves through Beecham House. Once Jean adjusts to the gentle ebb and flow of daily life at the home and rebuilds bridges that were previously burnt to a cinder, she rediscovers her passion for performance.
The Imitation Game – Friday, BBC1, 10.40pm
Alan Turing (Benedict Cumberbatch) sits in a police interrogation room with Detective Nock (Rory Kinnear), facing a charge of indecency with a 19-year-old unemployed man. In flashback, Alan arrives at Bletchley Park where a group of the country’s keenest minds try to break the Enigma code. Hugh Alexander (Matthew Goode), John Cairncross (Allen Leech) and Peter Hilton (Matthew Beard) work alongside Turing, but he ploughs his own furrow and raises eyebrows by recruiting Joan Clarke (Keira Knightley) to the team. The Imitation Game is a handsomely crafted tribute to a prodigy, whose invaluable contribution to the war effort was besmirched by bigotry. Oscar-nominee Cumberbatch is mesmerising, trampling over the egos of fellow code-breakers without any concern for their feelings.