THE WEEK’S BEST FILMS

SATURDAY Catch Me If You Can (2002) (BBC2, 5.15pm) Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (2016) (STV, 5.35pm)

This funny and stylish romp is based on the true story of Frank Abagnale, who managed as a teenager to swindle the US government out of thousands of dollars by affecting a series of outlandish disguises: as an airline pilot, doctor, international playboy, even the assistant attorney general. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Abagnale, driven by fantasies of luring his family back together with his ill-gotten gains, and Tom Hanks is the dogged FBI agent on his trail. With plenty of fun along the way, the two leads also develop a poignant relationship. Director Steven Spielberg keeps a brisk tempo, underscored by John Williams’ funky, jazzy score, propelling the plot inexorably towards its fascinating conclusion.

This 1920s-set Harry Potter prequel finds zealots called the Second Salemers, led by Mary Lou Barebone (Samantha Morton) and her adopted son Credence (Ezra Miller), preaching hell and damnation in New York. British magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) arrives in the Big Apple at the height of this paranoia, carrying an enchanted suitcase with hidden pocket-dimensions full of endangered critters. So it’s a very bad time for a non-magical baker called Jacob Kowalski (Dan Fogler) to accidentally pick up Newt’s luggage and release otherworldly species in breach of the Statute of Secrecy. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is a visually sumptuous – if often surprisingly bleak – fantasy, with a charming lead performance from Redmayne.

SUNDAY Les Miserables (2012) (More4, 10pm)

In 19th-century France, convict Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) is granted parole and leaves behind his tormentor, Inspector Javert (Russell Crowe), to reinvent himself as a revered factory owner. One of Valjean’s workers, Fantine (Anna Hathaway), is cruelly cast out when the foreman learns she has an illegitimate daughter, Cosette (Isabelle Allen). Valjean discovers Fantine close to death and agrees to raise Cosette. Nine years later, revolutionary fervour runs through the grimy streets of Paris, inflamed by student Marius (Eddie Redmayne), who falls under the spell of Cosette (now played by Amanda Seyfried). Director Tom Hooper realises his dream of immortalising Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil’s powerhouse musical by having the actors sing live in every scene, bringing out the emotion of the tale.

While We’re Young (2014) (BBC2, 10.50pm)

Josh Srebnick (Ben Stiller) is a filmmaker who cannot muster the energy or enthusiasm to complete a documentary that has consumed the past 10 years of his life. He is stuck in a rut with his wife Cornelia (Naomi Watts), who offers support when she isn’t producing the pictures of her father, the legendary director Leslie Breitbart (Charles Grodin). By chance, Josh and Cornelia meet twenty-something aspiring filmmaker Jamie (Adam Driver) and his kooky girlfriend Darby (Amanda Seyfried), whose lust for life is infectious – but is there more to the younger couple than meets the eye? While We’re Young is an acutely observed comedy drama, which confidently dissects middle-aged malaise. Stiller and Watts are an attractive pairing, while Driver and Seyfried embrace their roles with fervour.

MONDAY Bridge of Spies (2015) (Film4, 9pm)

Rudolf Abel (Mark Rylance) is arrested in 1950s New York and labelled a Soviet spy. Lawyer James B Donovan (Tom Hanks) is asked to mount a credible defence for the sake of appearances, even though the odds are stacked against a fair trial. Sure enough, Abel is convicted but then a US pilot, Francis Gary Powers (Austin Stowell), is shot down over the Soviet Union. Consequently Donovan travels to Berlin to arrange a covert deal to exchange Abel for Powers. Scripted by Matt Charman and the Coen brothers, Bridge of Spies is a slow-burning tale of intrigue and bluff, and director Steven Spielberg’s fingerprints are evident on each assured set-piece. Hanks brings his natural warmth and likeability to Donovan but it’s his Oscar-winning co-star Rylance who lingers longest in the memory.

3:10 to Yuma (1957) (Film4, 2.25pm)

Based on a short story by Elmore Leonard, who would go on to write Get Shorty and Out of Sight, this Western stars Van Heflin as struggling farmer Dan Evans. He gets a chance to make some much-need cash by escorting captured stagecoach robber and murderer Ben Wade (Glenn Ford) to the nearest city, where will he be put on the train to Yuma to stand trial. But the mission becomes more complicated as Evans has to deal with Wade’s henchman as well as the prisoner’s mind games. The film was remade in 2007 with Christian Bale and Russell Crowe, but the original still stands up as a classic thanks to a suspenseful script, striking black-and-white cinematography and a strong performance from Ford, who plays against type as a villain.

WEDNESDAY Cowboys and Aliens (2011) (E4, 9pm)

Jake Lonergan (Daniel Craig) wakes disoriented in the desert with a gunshot wound and a large metal bracelet on his wrist. He struts into town and is unmasked as a killer with a sizeable bounty on his head. Arrested by the sheriff and bound for prison alongside Percy Dolarhyde (Paul Dano), Jake makes his escape during a devastating attack by extra-terrestrial craft. Percy is abducted and the boy’s father, Woodrow (Harrison Ford), vows to rescue his son and press-gangs Jake into accompanying his posse on the perilous mission. Cowboys and Aliens melds the western and science fiction genres with a blitzkrieg of digital effects. The mix doesn’t always gel, but it gallops along at a fair lick and director Jon Favreau (Iron Man) orchestrates the set-pieces with aplomb.

THURSDAY The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) (More4, 9pm)

In the aftermath of Black Monday, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) loses his job on Wall Street and is forced to sell penny stocks at a fly-by-night operation in Long Island. Blessed with the gift of the gab, Jordan excels and decides to open his own firm, Stratton Oakmont, with salesman Donnie Azoff (Jonah Hill). The dodgy business goes from strength to strength, but its “work hard, play harder” mantra attracts the attentions of FBI agent Patrick Denham (Kyle Chandler), who resolves to bring Belfort down. The Wolf of Wall Street is a lurid, exhilarating and blackly funny portrait of debauchery. Director Martin Scorsese pulls no punches in his depiction of Belfort’s wild excesses, and his brio, coupled with DiCaprio’s twitchy lead performance, means the lengthy running time flies by.

FRIDAY The Blues Brothers (1980) (ITV4, 9pm)

Everybody needs somebody in John Landis’s classic 1980 action comedy, based on characters created by actors John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. When Jake Blues is released from prison, he and brother Elwood pay a visit to the orphanage where they grew up, and learn that the building is under threat of closure due to non-payment of taxes. So the siblings concoct a hare-brained scheme to raise the money by reuniting their old band and staging a concert. En route, they cross paths with a deranged bandleader and the police, and a host of famous faces in cameo roles including James Brown, Cab Calloway, Ray Charles and Aretha Franklin. The plot unfolds at breakneck speed, reaching a crescendo with one of cinema’s greatest car chases.

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