The Keeper of Lost Causes (15)

Directed by Mikkel Norgaard 

4/5

HAVING made crime thrillers their own on TV, the Scandinavians are now looking to reign supreme on the big screen too, as this gritty and engrossing whodunnit demonstrates. 

Based on the first Department Q novel by Jussi Adler-Olsen, it centres on Copenhagen detective inspector Carl Morck who finds himself demoted and in charge of a newly created cold-cases department. 

Together with his new assistant Assad, he starts investigating the disappearance of a woman who vanished from a ferry five years earlier. 

Directed by Mikkel Norgaard (Borgen) and adapted for the screen by Nikolaj Arcel, who penned the Swedish version of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, this is a beautifully taut and tense thriller. 

Dark and violent, it follows the unnerving and enthralling path taken by the irascible maverick lead, who not once cracks a smile. He’s played superbly by Nikolaj Lie Kaas, who nails his jaded demeanour. 

Fares Fares gives an equally fine performance as Assad, who is the very antithesis of his boss. Warm, upbeat and positive, he is Morck’s idea of a nightmare. 

Their dry, sparring banter is one of the many highlights of this noir-style Scandinavian version of New Tricks. 

It was like witnessing the beginning of a wonderful partnership that you want to see flourish again.

The good news is that a sequel has already been made.  

Maria Duarte

Mystery Road (15)

Directed by Ivan Sen

4/5

MYSTERY Road is very much more than a dramatic thriller. Appearing to be a contemporary western set in the Australian outback,

writer-director Ivan Sen’s film perfectly counterpoints the claustrophobia of small-time life with the vastness of the vacuum created by colonial hubris.

Centre-screen strides Aaron Pedersen playing Jay Swan, a stetson-wearing indigenous lawman who has more than a resemblance to the stereotypical loner.

Arriving from the city to the country, Jay soon learns that he has to suffer the prejudice of the colonial mentality and the wariness of his own community.

With double-dealing being the disorder of the day, Jay has to discover the killer of an aboriginal girl while fighting corrupt white coppers and trying to connect with his estranged and very wary family.

With great acting, superb photography and dialogue that’s kept to a minimum, the real mystery is why there aren’t more such films featuring Australia’s open secret — genocide.

Jeff Sawtell

The Grand Seduction (12A)

Directed by Don McKellar

3/5

IT’S impossible not to be seduced by this charming and quirky adaptation of the 2003 Canadian film Seducing Doctor Lewis. 

Brendan Gleeson is on delightfully fine form as he leads the jobless small fishing community of Tickle Cove in Newfoundland on a charm offensive to persuade doctor Paul Lewis (Taylor Kitsch) to take up permanent residence.

If so, a petrochemical factory will then come to the area and save it from financial ruin. Oh the irony. 

So the colourful folk of Tickle Cove embark on a grand seduction using every known tactic which, though it  proves fun, is borderline stalkerish. 

Maria Duarte

Million Dollar Arm (PG)

Directed by Craig Gillespie

4/5

US ARROGANCE and the lack of understanding of other cultures is highlighted magnificently in this uplifting comedy drama about cricket, baseball and the importance of family. 

Jon Hamm plays real-life US sports agent JB Bernstein, who staged a reality show in India in 2007 to find two ace cricketers he could turn into successful baseball pitchers in order to save his ailing business. 

He struck gold with teenagers Rinku Singh (Suraj Sharma) and Dinesh Patel (Madhur Mittal). 

The film’s first half is hilarious, with   Hamm like a fish out of water in India. Yet the lads, not speaking a word of English, are completely overwhelmed by a US culture which is totally foreign to them. It exposes Bernstein’s ruthless motivation and his lack of cultural comprehension. 

Inevitably, he is forced to change and invest in the care of his players, who became his de facto sons. 

With fine performances by Hamm and especially Alan Arkin as a cantankerous scout this hugely entertaining real-life tale certainly provides food for thought. 

Maria Duarte