Moonlight Mile

2002/US/116min Dir: Brad Silberling
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Sarandon

Examining the age-old struggle between heart and mind, Midnight Mile is the story of a young man who finds himself staying with his fiance's parents after her sudden death. While grieving with them, and fighting a legal battle to bring her killer to justice, he begins to fall for another woman.

Set in 1970’s New England, it begins on the day Diana Floss is buried and follows Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhall) as he struggles to come to terms with his fiance’s untimely death, and examines his duty to her memory. Deciding to be a model son-in-law to Ben (Dustin Hoffman) and JoJo (Susan Sarandon), he's drawn into their lives as each deals with anger, loss and depair. JoJo, a writer who can no longer write and Ben, with whom Joe decides to proceed with a real-estate venture, to honor a pledge made to Diana before her death.

As he helps with the funeral preparations and the start of a long legal odyssey, he falls for a kooky clerk, Bertie (Ellen Pompeo), at the post office and must confront the decisions he's made.
The film avoids melodrama and instead tells a story of emotional honesty laced with gentle humor and occasional subtle allusions to The Graduate, another of Hoffman’s films.

Dustin Hoffman doesn’t disappoint but it is Susan Sarandon who, in the role of her career, defines the film with her self-indulgent bluntness and clear-eyed bravery. Despite initial appearances, this film is of a rare breed: a Hollywood film that respects us enough to think and feel for ourselves.

Robb Keayes

The Matrix Reloaded

2003/US/138min Dir: Andy&Larry Wachowski
Cast: Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, Laurence Fishburne

The second in the Wachowski brothers' Matrix trilogy (the final episode — The Matrix Revolutions — is due out later this year) is an even stronger dose of the philosophical kung fu formula and surpasses its predecessor as such.

It’s interesting, funny and has just the right amount of effects to enhance the dialogue rather than replace it. The car/bike chase, for which a highway was specially built, is particularly spectacular. In addition to heroes Neo (Keanu Reeves), Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) and Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne), there are hundreds more evil Agent Smiths (Hugo Weaving) since he can now replicate himself with a clever trick involving three fingers and some black jelly.

The Matrix, we learn, is a more complex place than we thought and, as programs (eg. characters like Smith) evolve, getting more so. The principal philosophical upgrade of Reloaded is the question of whether apparently chaotic, 'free' components of the matrix aren't just another level of control.

Black is the preferred dress code, though the delicious Marlena (Monica Bellucci) and the all-white twins (Neil and Adrian Rayment) are striking exceptions to this rule.

Another splash of colour is the Oracle, 64-year-old, now late, actress Gloria Foster, whose puzzle-posing ironically helps Neo – and us – understand the problem that is the matrix better.

The answer however, the real one, has to wait until Revolutions. See it — them — on the big screen.

Helen Kay

Also playing

The Core

The Earth’s core is about to stop spinning, causing massive natural disasters that will wipe out life on Earth. A team of fit, attractive scientists armed with the latest disaster movie plot elements are sent to the center of the earth in a manned drill bit to prevent catastrophe. Great escapism..

2003/US/134min
Dir: Jon Amiel Cast: Aaron Eckhart, Hilary Swank, Delroy Lindo

City of God

The story of Cidade de Deus, a housing project that in the 80's was one of the most dangerous places in Rio de Janeiro. Narrated through the eyes of one Busca-Pe', too poor to escape the violence but too smart to be ensnared by it. In Portugese.

2002/Brazil/130min
Dir: Fernando Meirelles
Cast: Alexandre Rodrigues, Douglas Silva, Seu Jorge

Banger Sisters

Lavinia and Suzette, former rock groupies and best friends, reconnect after 20 years. One is still as wild as ever, while the other has adopted a more conservative lifestyle. Hollywood formula at its finest saddled with an inexcusable script, but tolerable if you just can’t get enough Goldie Hawn.

2002/US/100min/
Dir: Bob Dolman Cast: Goldie Hawn, Susan Sarandon, Jeoffrey Rush

Gangster No1

Chronicles the rise and fall of a particularly ruthless English gangster in the late 60s. A brutal black comedy and ultra-hip crime flick in one — a genuine Pearly King of a movie. Razor-sharp dialogue and superb performances make this an exercise in style and attitude.

2002/UK/Germany/105min Dir: Paul McGuigan
Cast: Malcolm McDowell, Paul Bettany, David Thewlis

Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle

Stylish, sexy Angels investigate a series of murders that occur after the theft of a witness protection profile database. Their nemesis’ are Demi Moore, a ‘fallen angel’ who was once their ally and the infinitely bizarre Crispin Glover as the Creepy Thin Man.

2003/US/ Dir: McG Cast: Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu

Dragonfly

Costner continues to masquerade as a misplaced leading man in this dreadful supernatural romantic thriller charting Dr. Joe Darrow's (Costner) bizarre quest to communicate with his dead wife. The result: an unbalanced, emotionally-charged spookfest of a movie.

2002/US, Germany/104min Dir: Tom Shadyac Cast: Kevin Costner, Susanna Thompson, Joe Morton

Under Suspicion

The leading duo of Gene Hackman and Morgan Freeman will pin you to the seat in this remake of Claude Miller's 1981 Garde Vue; a mesmerizing mind teaser about a police chief (Freeman) who tries to goad a prominent tax attorney (Hackman) into confessing to the rape and murder of two little girls.

2000/US/110min
Dir:Stephen Hopkins Cast: Gene Hackman, Morgan Freeman, Monica Bellucci

Sweet Home Alabama

There is certainly nothing sweet about this new offering from Reese Witherspoon. This meandering, badly-scripted piece of fluff will appeal predominantly to those who enjoyed her previous Legally Blonde outings.

2002/US/108min
Dir: Andy Tennant Cast: Reese Witherspoon, Candice Bergen, Josh Lucas

People I Know

Al Pacino plays Eli Wurman, a New York publicist who may or may not have witnessed a starlet's murder. All this might arouse interest had not Pacino turned in a performance of such rambling, mumbling incoherence. Verdict: he's not a person you want to Know, nor is this a movie you want to see.

2001/US/100min
Dir: Daniel Algrant Cast: Al Pacino, Kim Basinger, Ryan O'Neal

Extreme Ops

Not a Special Forces schlock fest but a snowboard movie with a wafer thin 'plot'. Those able to tune out and ignore the wooden acting and disposable dialogue will feast on the breathtaking action segments, dramatic backdrops, and cracking rock/techno soundtrack.

2002/US/94min
Dir: Christian Duguay Cast: Devon Sawa, Bridgette Wilson, Rufus Sewell

Holy Smoke

Director Jane Campion's (The Piano) quirky comedy/drama follows the battle of wills between a young, brainwashed Australian girl (Kate Winslet) and a top cult 'deprogrammer' (Harvey Keitel). A chance to see Keitel wandering the desert in bright red dress and lipstick.

1999/US, Australia/115min
Dir: Jane Campion Cast: Kate Winslet, Harvey Keitel, Julie Hamilton

All or Nothing

Mike Leigh again dips his writing/directing brush in the grimy ink of life 'up North' (of England). The acting excellent, but even the uplifting ending can't shake the thought that these miserable fat people would have been better off jumping out of their tower blocks years ago.

2002/UK, France/128min
Dir: Mike Leigh Cast: Timothy Spall, Lesley Manvill, Alison Garland