Empire UK

Ben Foster as the

infamous Lance

Armstrong.

The Program

★★★★
OUT OCTOBER 16 / CERT. TBC / 104 MINS.

DIRECTOR Stephen Frears
CAST Ben Foster Chris O’Dowd
Guillaume Canet Jesse Plemons
Lee Pace Dustin Hoffman

PLOT Steely eyed American cyclist Lance
Armstrong (Foster) powers his way to
seven Tour de France titles — while
British journalist David Walsh (O’Dowd)
doggedly tries to prove he’s a drug cheat.

99 Homes
★★★★
OUT SEPTEMBER 25 / CERT. 15 / 112 MINS.
DIRECTOR Ramin Bahrani
CAST Andrew Garfi eld Michael Shannon
Laura Dern

➞ Andrew Garfi eld dances with the
devil in this gripping American real estate
drama. He’s a construction worker and
single father who loses his home after
failing to keep up repayments. When
the shark who bought his home (Shannon)
offers him work he can’t afford to refuse.
It’s a heart-breaking authentic insight
into the devastation caused by the
2008 housing market crash. Some plot
developments are more convincing than
others but it’s still a compelling drama
with an impressive turn from Garfi eld
as well as Shannon and Dern as
Garfi eld’s concerned mother. AS

Mississippi Grind

★★★★

OUT OCTOBER 23 / CERT. 15 / 108 MINS.

DIRECTOR Anna Boden Ryan Fleck

CAST Ryan Reynolds Ben Mendelsohn

Sienna Miller

➞ It’s an inspired meet-cute when Gerry

(Mendelsohn) a soft-eyed realtor with

money issues encounters charismatic

chancer Curtis (Reynolds) at a poker

table. Winning big Gerry asks his new

lucky charm to help play his way down

the Mississippi to a big New Orleans

buy-in game; but the further they get the

more we see what they’ve already lost.

Minus the gloss of 21 and Ocean’s Eleven

Fleck and Boden (Sugar Half Nelson)

make the stakes feel higher more brutal.

And while it’s a bit of a slow burner

Mendelsohn is so compelling there’s

really no need for things to speed up.KP

Lessons In Love

★★

OUT SEPTEMBER 25 / CERT. 15 / 99 MINS.

DIRECTOR Tom Vaughan

CAST Pierce Brosnan Salma Hayek

Jessica Alba

➞ Cambridge prof Brosnan impregnates

and reluctantly marries fi lthy rich student

Alba who whisks him to a luxurious life

in Malibu where he becomes a devoted

father despite being in love with her older

sister Hayek. Complications ensue and

eventually alleged wisdom is attained.

We all like Brosnan and one is mortifi ed

to be ageist but for this to have been

even slightly romantic funny or bearable

the male lead — and everyone else

— wanted to be much younger. And to

add insult to injury we’re expected to

buy Malcolm McDowell all of ten years

older as Brosnan’s father. It’s just sad. AE

DID

YOU

KNOW?

The iconic

black bra

Jessica Alba

wore in

2005’s Sin

City was

sold at

auction on

eBay for

$1025. Now

there’s

support.