Life Of Crime (15)
Directed by Daniel Schechter
3/5

GIVEN it’s adapted from crime-caper maestro Elmore Leonard, the only mystery is why Life Of Crime proves so disappointing.

In it, Jennifer Aniston plays Mickey — the  abused wife of  wealthy and boorish philanderer Frank (Tim Robbins), who’s seeking to trade her in for a younger model (Isla Fisher).

Meanwhile, two comic crooks Louis and Ordel (John Hawkes and Mos Def) decide to kidnap said spouse and hold her to ransom, only to learn she’s worthless.

The repugnant accomplice of the pair is a neonazi arms dealer (Mark Boone Jr) whose only role is to provide a straight man for our anti-heroes to caricature.

Thus it’s not difficult to conclude what follows, with Mickey attracting Louis and all conspiring to do each other down. Farce — guess what? — ensues.

Jeff Sawtell

Before I Go To Sleep (15)
Directed by Rowan Joffe
3/5

WHAT would we be without our memories and how would we function?

Those are some of the questions at the heart of this taut and chilling thriller which teams up Nicole Kidman once again with Colin Firth, her co-star in The Railway Man.

Kidman plays Christine, a woman who wakes up every day not knowing who or where she is. That’s due to an accident, according to the stranger in her bed who’s apparently her husband Ben (Firth).

Apart from being told she isn’t 27 but 40, she receives a daily phone call from a Dr Nasch (Mark Strong), who claims he is treating her and reminds her of the video diary she has been keeping.

Director Rowan Joffe has done a sterling job in adapting S J Watson’s bestseller — a reproduction, bar some cinematic changes, which is largely faithful to the novel.

The end result is a superbly gripping old-fashioned thriller with some jaw-dropping twists.

The A-list cast is outstanding, particularly Kidman who gives Christine a heart-breaking vulnerability and fragility in her desperate search for the truth about the trauma that caused her amnesia.

Like her, we are none the wiser as to who she can or cannot trust, guaranteeing an  absorbing and slowly terrifying experience.

Maria Duarte

The Hundred Foot Journey (PG)
Directed by Lasse Hallstrom
3/5

THE imperious Helen Mirren heads the cast in this rather corny yet surprisingly enjoyable gastronomic rom-com for the masses, set in the French countryside.

Mirren plays Madame Mallory the haughty owner of a Michelin-starred French restaurant who declares war on the Indian eatery run by the Kadam family that opens up just next  to her establishment.

All gloves are off as Mirren and Om Puri, who plays Papa Kadam, endeavour to sabotage each other’s businesses.
Both are in fighting fettle but Papa’s son Hassan (Manish Dayal), a genius chef, commits the ultimate betrayal by going to work for Madame Mallory.

Based on Richard Morais’s novel, this is another sumptuous-looking film by Lasse Hallstrom which will make your mouth water. All the food has been lovingly and seductively shot.

But all the cultural stereotypes and mystic nonsense are a little harder to swallow.

Maria Duarte

The Guest (15)
Directed by Adam Wingard
2/5

PART horror film, part home invasion thriller — with a nod to ’80s and John Carpenter’s output — this proves to be the most entertaining film of the week, probably not for the right reasons.

Downton Abbey’s newly buffed-up Dan Stevens plays David, a soldier who befriends the Petersons, the family of a fallen comrade.

He’s the perfect guest but when people start mysteriously dying in the town the Petersons’ teenage daughter Anna (Maika Monroe) starts wondering if David is responsible and begins investigating his background.

Stevens is impressive, switching from charming to cold and sinister in a fraction of a second and the first half of The Guest is wonderfully tense and unnerving as you see David slowly winning over the family.

Yet the film turns into a ridiculous Terminator-style bloodbath at the end.

I expected more from director Adam Wingard and his writing partner Simon Barrett, who have an innate ability to reinvent genres.

But this is just very silly, though it’s fun with it.

Maria Duarte