Latest releases reviewed

VENUS ****

There are echoes of Pygmalion and shades of Lolita in this witty, bitter- sweet picture scripted by Hanif Kureishi. The Oscar-nominated O'Toole is on prime form as an irascible, ageing actor who finds himself unexpectedly drawn to the sassy 19-year-old grandniece (Whittaker) of his best friend (Phillips).

BREAKING AND ENTERING ***

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 the film is absorbing and well observed.

MR BEAN'S HOLIDAY *

Going through a succession of grotesque facial contortions, Atkinson returns as the incompetent protagonist, this time wreaking havoc on the French Riviera - and at the Cannes Film Festival - in a slight, tired comedy.

THE NUMBER23 *

On his 32nd birthday, a dogcatcher (Carrey) is given an illustrated novel, The Number 23, in which he discovers uncanny echoes of his own life. The movie, which is obsessed with numerology, hopelessly strives for significance and is sorely lacking in the dramatic tension it struggles to create.