WHAT WE DID ON OUR HOLIDAY
There are not many film-makers who dare put out old-fashioned family comedies nowadays but I am delighted to report that writers and directors Andy Hamilton and Guy Jenkin have come up with a gem in What We Did On Our Holiday.
Not that it starts well. The opening scenes in which a shambolic mum (Rosamund Pike) and dad (David Tennant) cajole their offspring into their car for a trip to Scotland are stilted and awkward.
However, our inward groans soon turned to laughs out loud as the movie found its sense of direction.
The film's premise is that the estranged parents have joined together to take their children to the 75th birthday part of their terminally ill grandfather (Billy Connolly).
Connolly gives a gem of a performance but the brilliance of What We Did On Our Holiday is that nearly all of the best lines are delivered by the kids.
Little Harriet Turnbull ,who plays the youngest, Jess, has particularly wonderful comic timing.
The movie occasionally gets weighed down by its pathos but, as soon as it appears to be wandering off piste, the children are there to save the day.
Rating: 8.5/10
Certificate: 12A
Showing at: Multiplexes
IDA
A riveting Polish film, set in the 1960s, about a young novice who discovers terrible secrets about her family's past a week before she is due to take her vows.
Rating: 8/10
Certificate: 12A
Showing at: Derby Quad
THE EQUALIZER
Denzel Washington raises the bar of what would have been a standard violent Hollywood thriller with a performance of panache. Edward Woodward fans will find this unrecognisable from the 80s TV classic.
Rating: 7.5/10
Certificate: 15
Showing at: Multiplexes
