One to One: John and Yoko ★★★★☆
Directed by Kevin Macdonald. Featuring John Lennon, Yoko Ono, Jerry Rubin, Mike Douglas, Phil Donohue. 15A cert, gen release, 101 min
Fine documentary on John Lennon and Yoko Ono as they decompressed in a small New York apartment in 1971 and 1972. Macdonald, noting that the singer then spent much of his time watching telly, turns the film into a parallel history of the US during those years: Nixon, Jerry Rubin, the return of Charlie Chaplin from exile. The filmmakers have also masterminded a powerful remaster of the One to One benefit gig the couple staged at Madison Square Gardens in 1972. There is always room for a post-Beatles doc if it this good and this original. Full review DC
Fran the Man ★★★☆☆
Directed by Stephen Bradley. Starring Darragh Humphreys, Ardal O’Hanlon, Amy Huberman, Risteárd Cooper, Toni O’Rourke, Deirdre O’Kane. 12A cert, gen release, 84 min
This upgrade of a popular indie TV series focuses on Fran (dogged, amusing Humphreys), assistant manager of a small football club, who finds pressures mounting when they get drawn against Shamrock Rovers in the FAI Cup. The attempts to up the stakes with a plot involving an international match-fixing scheme are, shall we say, a little strained, but the script never lets up on worthwhile one-liners. The key technique here is – employing jargon from another sport – to flood the zone with as many classy comic actors as the budget can allow: O’Hanlon, O’Kane, Cooper. Full review DC
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The Return ★★★☆☆
Directed by Uberto Pasolini. Starring Ralph Fiennes, Juliette Binoche, Charlie Plummer, Marwan Kenzari. 15A cert, gen release, 116 min
Austere take on the closing section of the Odyssey with Fiennes’ Odysseus returning wearily to Binoche’s patient charismatic Penelope. Unfolding at a stately and contemplative pace, The Return couldn’t be further from Ray Harryhausen’s stop-motion spectacles or the brawny action of the Brad Pitt-headlined Troy. Instead, this minimalist adaptation of the gory closing chapters of The Odyssey eschews witches, monsters and goddesses in favour of PTSD. At its best, The Return recalls Pier Paolo Pasolini’s sublime, pared-back Medea, even if the gritty realism does leave one yearning for the supernatural. Full review TB
Holy Cow/Vingt Dieux ★★★★☆
Directed by Louise Courvoisier. Starring Clément Faveau, Maiwenne Barthelemy, Luna Garret, Mathis Bertrand, Dimitry Baudry. Limited release, 90 min
The plot sounds like an underdog comedy soon to be retooled as a Broadway musical. A recently orphaned teen in rural France is on a mission to make a prize-winning wheel of cheese. But Courvoisier’s remarkable debut feature has a very different, very curdled texture than, say, Kinky Boots or The Full Monty. Powered along by youthful exuberance and keen naturalism, Holy Cow has been a box-office sensation in France, where it outperformed Anora and The Brutalist. Cinematographer Elio Balezeaux finds winning tableaux in dung, well-used farm equipment, and sun-dappled pastures. An auspicious debut for everyone involved. Full review TB
