novel has insurance man McMurray attracted by the alluring Stanwyck, who talks him into murdering her spouse, and all goes well until his boss Edward G. begins to suspect foul play. Sexual chemistry, labyrinthine plotting, tart wordplay, it's all here. Aclassic. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Drive Me Crazy (12) ** (John Schultz, US, 2000) Melissa Joan Ilart. Adrian Grenier. Stephen Collins. 91 mins. Iligh school fashion victim Nicole (Ilart) and earnest protest-loving Chase (Grenier) are dumped by their respective other halves. 'Ihough Nicole and Chase are polar opposites, they agree to date each other in order to arouse jealously in their exes. For a time they. yep. drive each other crazy, but then, surprise, surprise, they find that the true dream boats were closer than they'd ever imagined. Yawn. Glasgow: Showcase, UCI. Edinburgh: UCI. East Kilbride: UCI. Paisley: Showcase.

Earth (15) **** (Dcepa Mehta, Canada, 1998) Aadmir Khan, Nandita Das, Rahul Khanna. 105 mins. It's taken a long time for the second part of Indo-Canadian Mehta's trilogy about India to reach our screens. The previous film Fire, which deals with a lesbian relationship, is just out on video, while Water is causing an uproar in India where it's currently filming. Dealing with just as volatile subjects as the other films, Earth looks at the cataclysmic Partitioning of India in 1947. Powerful material which engages with its story of childhood friendships destroyed by national events. Glasgow: G171".

East Is East (15) ***** (Damien O'Donnell, UK. 1999) ()m Puri, Linda Bassett, Jordan Routledge. 96 mins. Based on Ayub Khan-Din's play, East Is East draws its perfectly balanced mix of belly laughs and tears from the Conflict within a multi-racial family living in Salford in the 70s. Head of the Khan household, George attempts to force his sons into arranged marriages in a belated effort to preserve tradition, but, born in England. the sons are having none of it. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The End Of The Affair (18) **** (Neil Jordan. UK’US, 2000) Ralph Fiennes. Julianne Moore, Stephen Rea. 101 mins. This is a diary of hate.’ explains narrator Bendrix (Fiennes), as he attempts to piece together the memories of his war-time affair with Sarah (Moore). the wife of high- ranking civil servant Henry (Rea). Jordan captures the rancorous tone and bitter intensity of Graham Grahame Greene's source novel in this potent adaptation, the impact of which is compounded by a trio of commanding performances. Stirling: MacRobert.

Erin Brockovich (15) ii“: (Steven Soderbergh, US, 2000) Julia Roberts, Albert Finney, Aaron Eckhart. 133 mins. Unemployed single mother Erin (Roberts) shoehorns her way into a filing clerk position with Finney‘s California law firm. There she accidentally uncovers a conspiracy to conceal the poisoning of the local community. which leads to the largest direct action lawsuit in American history. This might sound like a cliched John Grisham thriller, but it's based on a true story and Soderbergh's direction and Roberts' performance are faultless -— together they prove that mainstream American cinema can be something truly great. Edinburgh: Dominion, Lumiere. Extreme Screen: Everest & The Living Sea (U) ** 40 mins. Although the Iwerks experience impresses on a technical level, neither of these films transcend entertainment as lumbering fairground attraction. Everest is a dry-as-sand account of a recent expedition up the big yin. Filmed in the style of a Sunday afternoon docudrama, it also has the dubious honour of rendering a remarkable adventure mundane. A much better bet is the visually wondrous The Living Sea. an ‘edutaining' look at mankind's relationship with the sea (with voice-over from Meryl Streep). Edinburgh: UGC.

Fairytale: A True Story (U) *tt (Charles Sturridge, UK, 1997) Florence lloath, Elizabeth Iiarl, Paul McGann. 98 mins. In telling the story of two Edwardian girls who cause a sensation when they capture a photographic image of fairies, Fairytale manages to be more coherent and less

downbeat than the similar Photographing Fairies. A carefully judged film that provides moving entertainment for the family audience. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. Final Destination (15) *ink (James Wong, US, 2000) Devon Sawa, Ali lAlI'TCT, Kerr Smith. 98 mins. After a premonition Alex (Devon Sawa) manages to save a bunch of his classmates from a plane crash. As the survivors gruesomely pop their clogs one-by-one. it becomes apparent that death is playing catch-up. Disposable horror hokum, but the pace, irreverence and sick, black humour ensure the most entertaining teen slasher since the original Scream. General release.

Frequency (15) **~k (Gregory Hoblit, US, 2000) Dennis Quaid, Jim Caviezel, Elizabeth Mitchell. 118 mins. A film of two innings: first, the sentimental story of a long-dead, baseball-loving New York fireman (Quaid) and his 36-year-old cop son (Caviezel), who due to freak weather conditions are somehow able to communicate via ham radio across a tinte- span of 30 years; second, an over-heated murder mystery involving the brutal slayings of young women in 1969. Scriptwriter Toby Iimmerich‘s intriguing concept opens up all sorts of fascinating possibilities, then plumps for the least interesting. General release.

Galaxy Quest (PG) tits: (Dean Parisot, US, 2000) Sigourney Weaver, Tim Allen, Alan Rickman. 102 mins. In the film. Galaxy Quest is a Star Trek-style series which ran for a short time years ago and has subsequently developed cult status. To earn a crust the miserable cast make personal appearances at conventions and shopping mall openings. But a naive bunch of aliens mistake them for real heroes and enlist the cast's help in battling a real-life evil enemy. What follows is. on the surface. an entertaining display of straightforward, fish- out-of-water comedy. but underlying it is a gently scathing attack on fan culture, and America‘s pathological need for heroes. Glasgow: ()deon Quay. Motherwell: Moviehouse.

Gangster N01 (18) *~k* (Paul McGuigan, UK, 2000) Malcolm McDowell, David Thewlis. Paul Bettany. 103 mins. Mr McDowell is the eponymous Gangster, an abominable, irredeemably evil thug who is prompted to recount his 30-year rise to infamy when old rival Freddie Mays (David 'I'hewlis‘ giving it ‘suave') is released from prison. From there we flashback to 1908 when young Gangster (Paul Bettany) is hired as muscle for Freddie. Stylish. funny and shocking in (mostly) the right places. McGuigan's follow-up to 771(’.“('l(1/l()ll$¢’ is reminiscent of late ()(ls films such as Performance. Glasgow: ()deon Quay. Gladiator (15) iii (Ridley Scott. US. 2000) Russell Crowe, Richard Harris. Joaquin Phoenix. 150 mins. Just before dying Caesar Aurelius (Harris) charges General Maximus (Crowe) with cleaning up his beloved, but politically corrupt Rome. Aurelius' sort, Commodus (Phoenix), doesn't take kindly to this and has his rival executed. But Maximus survives and, as a gladiator. works his way back to Rome intent on revenge. Parallels must be drawn with Spartieus‘ and Ben Ilur; we've not seen a Roman epic in a long time. Scott's is a handsome spectacle and exciting enough. but that's all it is. General release.

A Goofy Movie (U) *i* (Kevin Lima. US, 1996) With the voices of Bill Farmer. Jason Marsden, Jim Cummings. 74 mins. After a school prank backfires, Goofy decides to take troublesome son Max off on a bonding fishing trip. Max is trying his best to be cool. but that isn't easy when your dad's this particular Disney star. An incident-packed journey provides plenty of laughs which should keep restless kids and aecotnpanying adults amused. Kilmarnock: ()deon.

Hana-Bi(18)***t('I‘akeshi Kitano, Japan. 1998) Beat 'I'akeshi. Kayoko Kishimoto, Ren ()sugi. 103 mins. Kitano. a mega-star in Japan. returns to the director's seat for Hana-Bi, in which he stars as a cop suffering bouts of guilt. Ilis wife is dying in hospital, his partner has been paralysed during a stakeout and he's so far in debt to the Yakuza that he's contemplating robbing a bank. The title, in Japanese. means

'fireworks'. out this film doesn‘t explode like 'I‘akeshi's earlier films, Violent Cop and Sonatine. Instead, a more subdued atmosphere floats over a work that skilfully draws together its visual and emotional plains. Edinburgh: Filmhouse.

Hercules (L') *‘k'kt (John Musker & Ron Clements, US, 1997) With the voices of Tate Donovan, James Woods, Danny DeVito. 91 mins. British cartoonist Gerald Scarfe's designs marry his customary grotesquery with Uncle Wall's softer characterisations. Hades (a magnificently splenetic James Woods) wants to exact revenge on Zeus by destroying his son Hercules. but luckily our hero has Pegasus as his steed and Phil the grumpy satyr (Danny DeVito) as his coach. Classical purists might grumble, but this is one of the studio‘s most dynamic and entertaining features. Glasgow: Odeon Quay.

The Hi-Lo Country (15) iii (Stephen Frears, US, 1999) Woody llarrelson, Billy Crudup, Patricia Arquette. 114 mins. Having successfully mastered the American crime movie with (irifters, Stephen Frears tries his hand at the Western. Unfortunately, his latest film fails to transcend the clichés that litter a genre in which there now seems little new to say. The drama, solidly elegiac in tone, is set in the post-World War Two New Mexico community of Hi-l.o, where two cattlemen defend the traditional ways of the cowboy in the face of encroaching mass commercialisation. Edinburgh: Filmhouse. The Hunchback of Notre Dame (PG) iii (William Dieterle. US, 1939) Charles Laughton, Maureen ()‘Hara. Cedric Ilardwicke. 117 mins. Not exactly pin-up material, laughton woos his gypsy love in and around the Notre Dame and wins much audience sympathy in the process. Stylisth and atmospherically directed. You might not remember Quasimodo's name, but his face rings a bell. Glasgow: ()deon.

The Hurricane (15) ink (Norman Jewison, US, 2000) Denzel Washington, John Hannah. Deborah Kara Unger. 140 mins. An engaging and wholly Oscar-worthy turn from Washington isn‘t enough to salvage

index FILM

Jewison's controversial biopic of the boxer Rubin Carter. The facts of Carter's triple murder case have been massaged into cinematic shape to the extent that gaping holes mar the film ‘s narrative. a cowardly tactic that simplifies and finally discredits its message about institutionalised racism in America. The nuts and bolts of the case are glossed over in favour of a fawning glorification of Carter, who is painted as a quasi-mythic martyr saint. Glasgow: Odeon. Edinburgh: Odeon.

In All Innocence (En plein coeur) (15) **** (Pierre Jolivet, France, 2000) Virginie Ledoyen, Gérard Lanvin, Carole Bouquet. 101 mins. Middle-aged lawyer Michel (Lanvin) is seduced by gorgeous Cecile (Ledoyen) after she's accused of breaking into a jewellery shop. Adapted from Georges Simenon's novel, this is plot driven French cinema in the style of

L 'Appartement and Place V 'ndUme, but with enough of a social edge to hint at 90s French films with a political conscience: The Bait and [a Maine. In fact, the film 's story comes as readily from class contrasts as the expected sexual enticements. Edinburgh: Lumiere.

The Incredible Journey (U) irki (Fletcher Markle, US, 1963) 80 mins. This is the Disney film in which two dogs and a cat are separated from their owners but are united in their longjourney home. All live action, no computer generated animals, this is quaint, out-dated perhaps, but it remains wholesome family entertainment. Edinburgh: St Bride’s.

Inspector Gadget (U) iii (David Kellogg, US, 1999) Matthew Broderick. Rupert Everett, Joely Fisher. 79 mins. Disney's take on the French kids' cartoon follows the part human, part gizmo Gadget's (Broderick) quest to become a proper, respected cop. Unfortunately, the dastardly Claw (Everett) has a scheme for world domination, which includes creating an evil doppelganger of the trenchcoated wonder.

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