Mindhorn (15)
Four stars
Dir: Sean Foley
With: Julian Barratt, Andrea Riseborough
Runtime: 89 minutes
CALLING all cars: genuinely funny British comedy on the loose, approach with enthusiasm. A hit at the Glasgow Film Festival, Sean Foley’s comedy stars Julian Barratt (The Mighty Boosh) as a washed-up actor once famous for being a telly 'tec in the Eighties called Mindhorn. Summoned from unemployment by a killer who believes he is real, Mindhorn throws his ageing self back into the role with relish. Barratt, who also wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby (Bunny and the Bull), is a cheesy delight as the hammy Mindhorn, while the cast is stuffed with big names, including Steve Coogan, Kenneth Branagh and Simon Callow, being delightfully daft. A giggle.
A Dog’s Purpose (PG)
Two stars
Dir: Lasse Hallström
With: Josh Gad, Dennis Quaid
Runtime: 100 minutes
I BOW to few people when it comes to soppiness over dogs, but one of them is Lasse Hallstrom, the director of Hachi: A Dog’s Tale, and now this heartstrings-tugging mushfest. A Dog’s Purpose spans the lives of several dogs, showing what they meant to their humans. All the pooches are voiced by the likeable Josh Gad (Frozen, Beauty and the Beast). How can one voice suit so many dogs you may wonder? Therein lies the conceit behind Hallstrom’s drama, one audiences may find a bit of a cheat. When explaining it to children later it might help if you are Buddhist. Ain’t that always the way?
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