The latest releases reviewed
SYRIANA ****
Directed by Stephen Gaghan. Starring George Clooney, Matt Damon, Jeffrey Wright, Chris Cooper, William Hurt, Mazhar Munir, Christopher Plummer 15 cert
Gaghan's compelling, thought-provoking geopolitical thriller recalls his Traffic screenplay in its multi-layered structure of interlocking narrative strands, in this case dealing with oil, politics, corruption and covert activity in the US and the Middle East. The large principal cast is exemplary. Michael Dwyer
THE THREE BURIALS OF MELQUIADES ESTRADA ****
Directed by Tommy Lee Jones. Starring Jones, Barry Pepper, Dwight Yoakam 15 cert
Jones turns director with a moody, intriguing western in which he plays a Texas ranch foreman forcing a volatile young border guard (Pepper) to escort the corpse of a Mexican immigrant to the dead man's hometown. Lighting cameraman Chris Menges produces a succession of striking widescreen compositions. Michael Dwyer
A COCK AND BULL STORY ****
Directed by Michael Winterbottom. Starring Steve Coogan, Rob Brydon, Gillian Anderson, Stephen Fry, Shirley Henderson, Jeremy Northam 15 cert
Winterbottom's wickedly funny comedy follows the problems of a film crew working on a production of the unfilmable Tristram Shandy and coping with the demands of a vain star (Coogan) and a limited budget. It's all played with gusto by a fine ensemble cast. Michael Dwyer
THE MATADOR ***
Directed by Richard Shepard. Starring Pierce Brosnan, Greg Kinnear, Hope Davis, Philip Baker Hall, Adam Scott, Dylan Baker 15 cert
Brosnan turns in his most droll and breezy - and self-effacing - performance to date, as a seedy, boozy, washed-up hitman drawing a morose businessman (Kinnear) into his messy life and work in this spirited, blackly comic tale. Michael Dwyer
PROOF ***
Directed by John Madden. Starring Gwyneth Paltrow, Anthony Hopkins, Jake Gyllenhaal, Hope Davis 15 cert
Predicated on the assumption that a very thin line separates genius and madness, Madden's film of David Auburn's award-winning play features Paltrow as a young woman who fears she has inherited not just her father's gifts as a mathematician, but his insanity, too. It benefits considerably from the commitment and conviction of its four leads. Michael Dwyer
THE PINK PANTHER **
Directed by Shawn Levy. Starring Steve Martin, Kevin Kline, Jean Reno, Beyoncé Knowles, Emily Mortimer PG cert
This remake of the 1960s comedy is, of course, a bad film. Martin, in particular, is useless. But, thanks to its hectic, scatter-fire delivery of lowbrow jokes, it manages to be slightly less tedious than it sounds. Post-modernists will be happy to hear that one of the featurettes is entitled Deconstructing the Panther. Donald Clarke
FAILURE TO LAUNCH **
Directed by Tom Dey. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Zooey Deschanel, Kathy Bates 12 cert
Two annoyed parents hire a professional nest-clearer (Parker) to lure their layabout son (McConaughey) out of the family home and into the real world. Romance, inevitably, follows. There is some funny stuff from the supporting players, but the two leads barely fizzle, never mind sparkle. For romcom completists only. Donald Clarke
TWO FOR THE MONEY *
Directed by DJ Caruso. Starring Al Pacino, Matthew McConaughey, Rene Russo, Armand Assante, Jeremy Piven 15 cert
Once again a shouty Al Pacino plays Mephistopheles to some callow Faust. This time he's a sports betting advisor and the perennially dull McConaughey is his charge. The two comically dreadful central performances aside, there is little in this sluggish morality play to interest domestic viewers. Donald Clarke
ROMANCE & CIGARETTES *
Directed by John Turturro. Starring Susan Sarandon, James Gandolfini, Kate Winslet, Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, Mary-Louise Parker, Christopher Walken, Eddie Izzard 18 cert
Turturro gets all the key characters to burst into song and dance whenever the narrative flags, which is very often indeed in this threadbare tale of marital infidelity. A shrill and shapeless karaoke melodrama, the film is wildly self-indulgent and stridently overacted. Michael Dwyer
DATE MOVIE *
Directed by Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltz. Starring Alyson Hannigan, Adam Campbell, Jennifer Coolidge, Eddie Griffin, Fred Willard 15 cert
Date Movie seeks to do for the romantic comedy what the Scary Movie franchise did for the horror film. Sadly, it fails in even that humble ambition. The DVD comes with an optional "laugh track", which should prove useful in identifying what moments are supposed to be funny. Donald Clarke
