Sep 22 2011 Runcorn and Widnes Weekly News
THE CHANGE-UP (15)
OVERWORKED lawyer Dave Lockwood (Jason Bateman) is on the verge of securing the vice presidency at his firm. Dedication to his job has dulled his marriage to wife Jamie (Leslie Mann) and taken him away from his three children. Dave’s best friend Mitch Planko (Ryan Reynolds) is a fast-talking, jobbing actor, who ricochets from one meaningless sexual encounter to the next. One drunken night the two bemoan their lots and proclaim ‘I wish I had your life’ as they urinate in a fountain. The next morning Dave and Mitch are trapped in each other’s bodies. Mitch as Dave must complete a multi-million-dollar contract negotiation, while Dave as Mitch must star in an adult film directed by Valtan (Craig Bierko) and woo legal colleague Sabrina (Olivia Wilde).
STAR RATING: ***
FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS (15)
CORPORATE headhunter Jamie (Mila Kunis) woos talented website director Dylan (Justin Timberlake) to New York with a view to securing his employment at GQ magazine. She shows him around the city and quickly wins him over. Since they both have wounded hearts, Jamie and Dylan agree it would be perfectly acceptable to enjoy no-strings-attached sex without falling for each other. While Dylan’s colleague Tommy (Woody Harrelson) and Jamie’s mother Lorna (Patricia Clarkson) foresee trouble on the horizon, the pair continue with their agreement, blind to the consequences.
STAR RATING: ***
FRIGHT NIGHT 3D (15)
GEEKY teenager Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) warns best friend Charley (Anton Yelchin) the hunky drifter Jerry (Colin Farrell), who has moved in next door, is a vampire. “You read too much Twilight!” scoffs Charley, ignoring Ed’s pleas to keep a cross on his person at all times. When Ed vanishes without trace Charley wonders if Jerry might be responsible. As the teenager investigates he imperils his divorced mother Jane (Toni Collette) and girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots). But showman and self-anointed vampire expert Peter Vincent (Tennant) has some valuable tips on defeating the creatures of the night.
STAR RATING: ***
I DON’T KNOW HOW SHE DOES IT (12A)
KATE Reddy (Sarah Jessica Parker) is an investment banker at a Boston financial management firm. Kate’s architect husband Richard (Greg Kinnear) is looking for his first solo project so he can also provide for their six-year-old daughter Emily (Emma Rayne Lyle) and two-year-old son Ben (Theodore and Julius Goldberg). Meanwhile, Kate and best friend Allison (Christina Hendricks) contend with disapproving stares from the stay-at-home moms led by Wendy Best (Busy Phillips) and Janine LoPietro (Sarah Shahi). Disaster looms when Richard wins a lucrative pitch on the same day Kate learns her proposal for a new investment fund has impressed head honcho Jack Abelhammer (Pierce Brosnan) in the New York office. Suddenly, Kate’s schedule becomes far more hectic.
STAR RATING: **
THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE (15)
THE boys from BAFTA Award-winning television series The Inbetweeners have made the move to the big screen. We’re reintroduced to pompous Will (Simon Bird) as he is being berated by his father (Anthony Head), the gormless but perpetually happy Neil (Blake Harrison) packing up his supermarket shift mid-service, the ever boastful and lusty Jay (James Buckley) getting discovered by his mum in a compromising position involving ham and a heartbroken Simon (Joe Thomas), in tears as he has been dumped. As the four wave goodbye to Rudge Park Comprehensive, they decide they need a proper lads’ holiday in Malia, Crete, to reinvent themselves. Of course, nothing goes according to plan. Their accommodation is a hellhole, they wind up in the resort’s saddest club, get in scrapes, get drunk then get naked. There’s humiliation on a regular basis – but somehow the chums meet some girls.
STAR RATING: ***