The Hangover

Director Todd Phillips struck gold with puerile teen romp Road Trip in2000. He’s essentially still making the same film but the characters and situations have aged at roughly the same rate as the audience.

The Hangover sees a group of friends suffer amnesia after a hedonistic stag night in Vegas. They must piece together events from random clues, retrieve the groom and try to get to the wedding in one piece. Needless to say the laughs revolve around bodily functions, nudity and injury but it’s a fairly decent two-hour diversion to everyday life.

Last Chance Harvey

Harvey and Kate live on different continents, have different lives and are nonplussed by each other when they first meet. Sounds like familiar rom-com territory so far. The difference here is that the two leads can act and they have a natural on-screen chemistry.

This screenwriting-by-numbers movie is far from groundbreaking: it’s just done well. There’s nothing more salacious than a lingering kiss and yet the poignancy of the back-stories makes for some truly heart wrenching scenes, as Harvey tries to wriggle his way back into his daughter’s life.

Best of all, it’s wrapped up in a neat 90-minute package.

Slumdog Millionaire

It’s not often that I come out of the cinema with a cheesy smile on my face but Slumdog Millionaire had me grinning like a Cheshire cat.

This is a rags-to-riches, road trip tale of two brothers from a Mumbai slum whose lives take very different paths. Jamal ends up on an iconic game show and is assumed to be cheating when the money starts stacking up. Danny Boyle delicately weaves the touching and intricate tale of his childhood into the narrative and this resolves any doubts about the improbability of a slum dweller knowing the answers. Superb.

The Wrestler

I’ve racked my brain and I can honestly say this is one of the saddest films I’ve ever seen. Mickey Rourke is an acting revelation as a washed-up wrestler who tours the community centre circuit on the back of a golden career twenty years previously.

The parallels drawn between the ‘Ram’ and his love interest are what make this a truly great film. Cassidy works in a strip club competing with younger girls for customers. Both are past their sell-by-date, pulling in the loose change by performing for baying crowds. However, only one of them succeeds in getting out. Staggering.