David Suchet

Based on a notorious true story, this film takes a muted approach that matches the Victorian period and attitudes, which somewhat undermines the vivid emotions of the characters. It's a fascinating story about a woman caught in her society's harshly restrictive rules about women, and the script by Emma Thompson captures some strong observations, interaction and personal feelings, but the film is so dark and repressed that it ultimately feels a bit dull.

In the mid 19th century, Effie Gray (Dakota Fanning) has been courted by noted art critic John Ruskin (Greg Wise) since she was only 12 years old, and he has waited for her to come of age to marry her. But as she moves in with his suffocating parents (Julie Walters and David Suchet) in London, Effie soon realises that she's trapped in a hopeless situation. While he's loving, John simply refuses to touch her, which makes her doubt her own intellect and femininity. She's befriended by Lady Eastlake (Thompson), who knows a thing or two about cold marriages and helps her make a plan. Then Effie and John travel to Scotland with John's protege, the painter Everett Millais (Tom Sturridge), and Effie begins to understand that there might be other possibilities out there.

Since the film is made in Victorian style, it leaves all of the heaving passion far beneath the surface. It's obvious that Effie (and the audience) are craving a bit of lusty bodice-ripping, but any action remains behind closed doors, only hinted at in the clever dialogue. This makes the film realistic and intriguing, but difficult to get a grip on. And instead of the scandalous love triangle of historical record, the film plays out more as a drama about a young woman working out a complex escape from male-dominated society. Even so, it's a compelling journey, with some remarkable twists and turns along the way, and the complex characters add plenty of detail.

Continue reading: Effie Gray Review

In The In-Laws (based on the 1979 film of the same name), like most other Michael Douglas vehicles, his gaunt face is rarely off the camera. Wisely, director Andrew Fleming inserts a hilarious Albert Brooks as the perfect remedy for Douglas's self-absorption.

Continue reading: The In-Laws (2003) Review

As part of its bid to make 24-hour news an institution, CNN sent producers Robert Wiener (Michael Keaton) and Ingrid Formanek (Helena Bonham Carter) to Baghdad in August 1990 to cover the brutal Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The HBO film Live from Baghdad is the story of how Wiener and CNN overcame adversity to become the only network to continue broadcasting from Baghdad during the U.S. air strikes.

Continue reading: Live From Baghdad Review

With its overblown script striving for maximum wackiness and cheap laughs, the espionage-and-matrimony comedy "The In-Laws" walks a thin line between funny and dumb in an inebriated stupor. Butt-crack gags and unlikely explosions are the order of the day. But a threesome of smarter-than-the-screenplay comedic performances keep the flick punchy enough to earn fairly steady smiles.

Albert Brooks stars as an anxiety-ridden podiatrist who considers a little foot fungus one of the most dangerous things in the world. Needless to say, he's in way over his head when, while trying to micro-manage his daughter's wedding plans, he stumbles onto a covert operation of international intrigue being led by the father of the groom (Michael Douglas), a loose-cannon undercover CIA agent.

Brooks provides a running narrative of amusing neuroses as he's knocked out and dragged along on a mission so he doesn't blow Douglas's cover as the screwy spook tries to prevent an effeminate French arms dealer (David Suchet) from selling a stolen nuclear stealth submarine. With masked insanity in his eyes and caffeine in his bloodstream, Douglas rides a comically uneven keel as the obnoxious daredevil spy of questionable sanity who does everything by the seat of his pants, including trying to negotiate with bad guys in a restaurant bathroom while having his first dinner with his future in-laws.

Continue reading: The In-Laws Review