1 The Nice Guys (15)
(Shane Black, 2016, US) 116 mins.
Following in the tradition of Chinatown, LA Confidential, Boogie Nights and Who Framed Roger Rabbit, this comedy noir exposes Los Angeles’s sleazy underbelly but can’t help celebrating it, too. It would be pretty grim if it wasn’t so damned funny. Ryan Gosling and Russell Crowe prove to be a fine double act as bottom-feeding private investigators, clumsily unravelling a late-1970s conspiracy involving porn stars, politicians, pollution and much slapstick violence – all with Gosling’s teenage daughter in tow.
2 Love & Friendship (U)
(Whit Stillman, 2016, Ire/Fra/Net/Fra) 93 mins.
This delightfully playful Jane Austen adaptation gives Kate Beckinsale the role of her career. Her Lady Susan is both captivating and ghastly: an 18th-century widow with no money and a daughter to marry off, who plays her cards with breathtaking calculation. The supporting cast is a treat (Tom Bennett’s posh clot nearly steals the film) and the story moves at a frolicsome clip.
3 Versus: The Life And Films Of Ken Loach (12A)
(Louise Osmond, 2016, UK) 93 mins.
Perfect timing for a Loach bio-doc, following his Palme d’Or last month for I, Daniel Blake. Scenes from the shooting of that film are intercut with the story of a career characterised by struggle, passion and unwavering principles, which have often made Loach more of a pariah than a national treasure.
4 Only Yesterday (PG)
(Isao Takahata, 1991, Jap) 118 mins.
A relatively overlooked Studio Ghibli gem, sensitively told and beautifully animated, with a Tokyo woman at its centre, whose return to the country prompts memories of her 1960s childhood.
5 The Measure Of A Man (PG)
(Stéphane Brizé, 2015, Fra) 93 mins.
Vincent Lindon gives a heartbreaking performance as a laid-off factory worker navigating the landscape of modern unemployment. The soul-destroying process of assessments, applications and disappointments is rendered with unshowy compassion.
