Pick of the week
Barbie
The biggest film of last year is also arguably the smartest. Director Greta Gerwig and her co-writer Noah Baumbach have managed to make a big-budget, Mattel-approved film highly critical of a toy that has become a bete noire for feminists, while also celebrating the doll’s simple optimism and independent spirit. Margot Robbie finds exactly the right level of perky as Barbie, who lives in an eye-wateringly pink fantasy land with her devoted Ken (Ryan Gosling). But an existential crisis takes her and Ken to the real world, where something called the patriarchy is in control. With giddy musical numbers and sharp comedy, it’s a movie that has its cake, eats it, then orders another one.
Friday 29 March, 11.40am, 8pm, Sky Cinema Premiere
***
When Harry Met Sally
“I’ll have what she’s having.” Writer Nora Ephron’s one-liner (delivered by director Rob Reiner’s mother) is one of many killers in a romcom of enduring wit. Billy Crystal’s Harry and Meg Ryan’s Sally meet as students on a ride-share from Chicago to New York, then spend the next decade dancing round the question: can men and women be friends or does the sex part get in the way? Whichever side you come down on, it’s huge fun to watch the couple get close then draw away, forever afraid of losing a valued friendship on the off-chance of love.
Sunday 24 March, 10.30pm, BBC One
***
Trainspotting
Adapted imaginatively from Irvine Welsh’s episodic novel, Danny Boyle’s hyperactive drama takes his group of Edinburgh heroin addicts and brings them to comic if painful life. Ewan McGregor plays Renton, our guide to a world of excruciating but hilarious misadventures, petty crime, random violence – courtesy of the heavy-drinking Begbie (a truly terrifying Robert Carlyle) – and gut-wrenching drug experiences. Featuring a stonking soundtrack (Underworld, Iggy Pop, Lou Reed) and Boyle’s inventive box of visual tricks, it’s a perfect blend of horror and humour.
Thursday 28 March, 10.45pm, Film4
***
The Beautiful Game
Her Wicked Little Letters is just out in cinemas, but Thea Sharrock already has another quirky comedy ready to go. This is also based on a true story, as it revolves round the Homeless World Cup. Bill Nighy is his usual wryly comic self as Mal, the manager of the England team – young men who all have tragic backstories – as they head to the next tournament in Rome. Mal’s secret weapon is Vinny (Micheal Ward), who nearly made it as a pro but is a now bundle of self-centred resentment. The social issues are only touched on, but the moral of togetherness is loud and clear.
Friday 29 March, Netflix
***
The Robe
The heavenly choirs you hear at the start are a giveaway that we’re in biblical territory. But Henry Koster’s sweeping sword’n’sandals yarn sidesteps Jesus himself (he only appears in the distance or off camera) to tell an origin story for Christianity, through the life of Roman tribune Marcellus (Richard Burton). Sent to Jerusalem, he has a religious epiphany after touching Christ’s cloak and, aided by Greek slave Demetrius (Victor Mature), rails against imperial persecution of the new religion’s followers.
Friday 29 March, 9.20am, BBC Two
***
Kung Fu Panda
The fourth instalment is being released this week so, as if by magic, the original 2008 animation appears on our screens. It’s a fun family adventure full of cute animals and lightly worn violence. Jack Black voices Po, a young panda who works at his father’s noodle restaurant but dreams of being a martial artist. Then unexpectedly he finds himself anointed as the Dragon Warrior, a mythical fighter of great power who is expected to save the town from vengeful snow leopard Tai Lung (Ian McShane). Unfortunately, Po is overweight, unfit and clumsy – but he will do anything for a rice ball …
Friday 29 March, 12.30pm, Channel 4
***
Footloose
Herbert Ross’s 1984 drama is part of an era of films (Flashdance, Top Gun) that were musicals in all but name – without the oddity of people randomly bursting into song. A near-constant soundtrack of pop bangers – Holding Out for a Hero, Let’s Hear It for the Boy, Footloose itself – is the prop for the story of a small town that has banned rock’n’roll and dancing. Obviously, the kids are not alright about that and, led by new boy Ren (Kevin Bacon), they rebel against their parents through choreographed toe-tapping and minor driving offences.
Friday 29 March, 2am, Channel 4
