Drive (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780504/

Ryan Gosling is exceedingly cool as a car mechanic with hazardous extra-curricular activities.  The plot is engaging and much of the violence impressive, but there’s too much focus on the romance and overall it was a bit too obviously deliberate in its eighties style for me. Definitely worth a watch.

Three stars

The Guard (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1540133/ 

Brendan Gleeson is magnificent as the ‘Guard’ (Irish policeman) in this darkly comic crime thriller.  His abrasive and confrontational attitude is delightful, and wonderfully balanced with Don Cheadle’s straight-laced orthodox US cop.  The character also benefits from a cracking crescendo of a criminal plot with a finale that doesn’t disappoint.

Five stars

50/50 (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1306980/

This ‘cancer comedy’ tells the moving but humorous story of a young man’s cancer diagnosis and treatment.  It’s sensitively executed, evoking laughter and tears in equal measure.  Seth Rogen provides perfectly pitched best-friend banter, whilst Joseph Gordon-Levitt is superb as the patient – sometimes stoic, sometimes desperate, always likeable and real.

Five stars

Conan the Barbarian (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816462/ 

Barbaric action at its finest! Conan’s quest of vengeance sees him face (and ultimately overcome) countless sticky situations, including elements borrowed from fantasy, sci-fi and adventure classics.  Dialogue is at a minimum and action at a ferocious and brutal maximum, served with plentiful swordplay, bloodsplatter and battles roars. Also: phwoar!

Four stars

30 Minutes Or Less (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1622547/

Jesse Eisenberg and his sidekick bumble from one far-fetched spectacle to the next in an attempt to appease some (completely implausible) bad guys before they blow him up.  Disappointingly unfunny and missing the sense of urgency required by a ‘deadline’ movie, rendering the preposterous antics just plain ridiculous.

Two stars

Crazy, Stupid, Love. (2011)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1570728/

With its cracking cast I’d hoped this might be funny enough to forgive its romantic foundations.  Unfortunately it fails to raise itself above the soppy quagmire of ten-a-penny romcoms.  The numerous semi-related ‘love’ stories are clumsily interlinked and the three-star humour can’t prevent the movie drowning in its own slush.

Two stars