We Love Film So Review Time
Damon Smith (PA) reviews the latest new releases
GEORGE FOREMAN: THE MIRACULOUS STORY OF THE ONCE AND FUTURE HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION OF THE WORLD (12A, 129 mins)
A long and unwieldy title for director George Tillman Jr’s biographical drama about the Texas-born athlete, who hit hard inside and out of the boxing ring.
Based on a script that Tillman Jr co-wrote with Frank Baldwin, the film charts the rise of George Foreman (Khris Davis) from humble origins and a troubled youth to his first taste of success with his fists at the 1968 Summer Olympic Games held in Mexico City.
Success against Joe Frazier and Ken Norton solidifies his standing as a champion until the widely publicised Rumble In The Jungle against Muhammad Ali (Sullivan Jones) where Foreman was knocked down for the first time in his career.
He subsequently finds God and becomes a born-again Christian before disproving the naysayers with a late-career comeback to claim the heavyweight championship.
Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland)
THE UNLIKELY PILGRIMAGE OF HAROLD FRY (12A, 108 mins)
Academy Award winner Jim Broadbent assumes the title role of an unlikely people’s champion in a life-affirming road movie written by Rachel Joyce and directed by Hettie Macdonald.
Harold Fry (Broadbent) is an unremarkable man, by his own estimations, living quietly in a sleepy seaside town in South Devon with his wife Maureen (Penelope Wilton).
The sexagenarian considers himself a failure as a husband and father and when he learns that dear friend Queenie (Linda Bassett) is dying, he pens her a heartfelt letter.
Standing at the post box with his missive, Harold comes to the startling realisation that a letter simply isn’t enough.
He continues to walk, out of his town and northwards, bound for Queenie’s hospice around 500 miles away in Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Harold resolves to see Queenie in person, convinced that she must stay alive as long as he keeps putting one foot in front of the other.
His walk of hope inspires people across Britain including unlikely travelling companion Wilf (Daniel Frogson) and the kindness and generosity of strangers propels Harold closer to the hospice.
Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland)
POLITE SOCIETY (12A, 104 mins)
Writer-director Nida Manzoor’s feature debut is a coming-of-age action comedy that focuses intently on two sisters growing up in London.
Muslim teenager Ria Khan (Priya Kansara) clings on to dreams of becoming one of Britain’s leading stuntwomen and she makes videos of her daredevil antics for a YouTube channel with the help of her sister Lena (Ritu Arya).
Lena recently dropped out of art school and has returned home to the chagrin of their parents (Jeff Mirza, Shobu Kapoor).
The bond between siblings is tested when doctor Salim (Akshay Khanna) woos Lena and sweeps her off her feet to the visible delight of his controlling mother (Nimra Bucha).
A jealous and embittered Ria becomes suspicious of Salim and she employs her self-taught stuntwoman skills to confirm his true intentions.
Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas)
RODEO (15, 106 mins)
Young rebel Julia (Julie Ledru) is determined to join the ranks of an illegal motorcycle gang called the B-Mores, who perform stunts and tricks on their mean machines.
The men turn a profit for their jailbird boss Domino (Sebastien Schroeder) by souping up motorcycles.
Riders including Ben (Louis Sotton) and Manel (Junior Correia) are fiercely opposed to a woman joining their testosterone-pumped ranks.
Julia meets this hostility with undiminished resolve, quietly earning the respect of gang members Abra (Dave Nsaman) and Kais (Yannis Lafki).
She also makes a powerful ally in Domino’s long-suffering wife Ophelie (Antonia Buresi), who is at the mercy of her husband’s prison cell edicts as she struggles to raise their five-year-old son Kylian (Cody Schroeder).
Released: April 28 (UK & Ireland, selected cinemas) and streaming from April 28 exclusively on Curzon Home Cinema
