Director: Mike Nichols
Running time: 102 minutes
****
How's this for irony that one of the few good films that Tom Hanks has done in, like, a million years was also one of the most overlooked? It's good pre
cisely because Hanks is playing against type as Charlie Wilson, the Texan congressman who sees life less like a box of chocolates and more like a game where the play is with strippers and the fuel is cocaine.
It is the early Eighties. When Wilson becomes aware of the situation in Afghanistan following the Soviet invasion, he attempts to unite Israel, Pakistan, Egypt and America to defeat the Soviets. He is joined by Philip Seymour Hoffman's CIA agent, with Julia Roberts as a wealthy Texan.
It's serious business, of course, but director Mike Nichols sees the appalling comedy in it all. The results are audacious and, at times, funny, thanks to writer Aaron 'West Wing' Sorkin's razor sharp dialogue.
PS I LOVE YOU (15) £19.99Director: Richard LaGravenese
Running time: 122 minutes
*
Gerry (Gerard Butler) and Holly (Hilary Swank) are a happily married couple in New York, despite the Scottish actor's laughable Irish accent. Gerry dies of a brain tumour. Grieving widow begins to receive letters from Gerry with tasks for her to complete, not as in "clean my boots" or "do the washing-up" but more like "go back to Ireland, where we first met".
This is supposed to be a chick flick with a difference. It is not. It is ridiculously sentimental and a bit creepy in its premise of a man haunting his partner from beyond the grave, making her do things to get over him. For a start, leaving her alone would probably help.
Based on Cecilia Ahern's bestselling book, it all meanders on and on, tripping over clichés at every turn until, of course, Holly finds love with another dependable, dashing fellow. PS, I Love You? PPS, I wouldn't bother.
The full article contains 339 words and appears in Scotland On Sunday newspaper.
