Latest releases reviewed

THE QUEEN
Directed by Stephen Frears. Starring Helen Mirren, Michael Sheen, James Cromwell, Helen McCrory, Alex Jennings, Sylvia Syms PG cert
*****

Charting the growing chasm between democracy and the monarchy in Britain after the death of Princess Diana, Frears and screenwriter Peter Morgan judiciously blend the facts with informed imagination and conjecture for a fascinating, thoroughly entertaining and consummately acted movie that cuts to the human core of the story, as Tony Blair (Michael Sheen), the relatively inexperienced prime minister, sets about reconnecting the queen (Helen Mirren in a deservedly Oscar-winning performance) with her public. Michael Dwyer

THE PRESTIGE
Directed by Christopher Nolan. Starring Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Piper Perabo, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis 12 cert
***

Bale and Jackman play magicians whose initial relationship as friends and colleagues descends into bitter rivalry as they sabotage each other's acts and try to steal secrets. Set in late 19th-century London, Nolan's clever, entertaining film plays its own devious tricks on the audience. Michael Dwyer

BREAKING AND ENTERING
Directed by Anthony Minghella. Starring Jude Law, Juliette Binoche, Robin Wright Penn, Martin Freeman, Ray Winstone, Vera Farmiga, Rafi Gavron, Juliet Stevenson 18 cert
***

Extremes of wealth and poverty collide in London's King's Cross area when a landscape architect (Law), investigating burglaries at his office, is drawn to a widowed Bosnian Muslim refugee (Binoche) whose son is one of the thieves. Minghella's screenplay suffers from a few coincidences too many, but his film is absorbing and well observed. Michael Dwyer

SCENES OF A SEXUAL NATURE
Directed by Ed Blum. Starring Holly Aird, Eileen Atkins, Hugh Bonneville, Tom Hardy, Douglas Hodge, Adrian Lester, Andrew Lincoln, Ewan McGregor, Gina McKee, Sophie Okonedo, Eglantine Rembauville, Mark Strong, Catherine Tate, Polly Walker, Benjamin Withrow 18 cert
**

Blum's episodic film is essentially slight and sketchy as it observes disparate couples at various stages in their relationships over the course of a sunny afternoon on Hampstead Heath. The most interesting vignettes feature McGregor and Hodge as a gay couple who discuss adopting a child, and Hardy as a randy young man chatting up a fiery young woman (Okonedo). Michael Dwyer

SPECIAL
Directed by Hal Haberman and Jeremy Passmore. Starring Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Robert Baker 15 cert
***

Rapaport plays a traffic warden who, after signing on for a drugs trial, mistakenly believes himself to be possessed of super-powers. This low-budget flick is entertaining for its first 40 minutes, then quickly runs out of steam. Rapaport's wide-eyed ingenuousness just about keeps the drama alive, but Special would have worked better as a short. Donald Clarke

SNUFF-MOVIE
Directed by Bernard Rose. Starring Jeroen Krabbe, Lisa Enos, Teri Harrison, Alastair Mackenzie, Hugo Myatt, Joe Reegan 18 cert
**

A horror director lures a group of actors to his remote mansion with the intension of making the ultimate snuff movie. Rose, the director of Ivansxtc, has put together a twisty puzzle featuring endless nested stories and allusions to any number of pop-cultural phenomena. Sadly, the film is so cheaply made and poorly acted that it's best admired from a distance. Donald Clarke