Larry Oliver Film Reviews

  Pictured : A 'goodie bag' for the 2025 film, ' Superman '. Courtesy of Warner Bros. ‘Look up’ say the posters. I looked up, down, left and right but could not find where to pick up my wristband for entry anywhere. Tall, gym-buffed men dressed as Superman, the DC comic book hero subject of a new Warner Bros movie, were no help. They wore their underwear outside their leggings but had otherwise not been briefed. Cast as atmosphere people, they were located on the north side of the grassy enclosure of Leicester Square. On the south side, a large screen had been erected so that Londoners could watch that other breed of superhero, tennis players, competing in this year’s Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Tournament, hopeful Emma Raducanu having just progressed to the Third Round. Nine days before its UK release, ‘ Superman ’ written and directed by James Gunn, who successfully brought Marvel’s ‘ Guardians of the Galaxy ’ to the big screen, was being launched at a ‘fan event’ held at t...

Pictured : 'What did I tell you? Essential supplies only.' Ray ( Gillian Anderson ) and Moth ( Jason Isaacs ) are lost in the supermarket in the fact-based 'walk to survive' movie, ' The Salt Path ' adapted from Raynor Winn 's memoir by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Marianne Elliott . Still courtesy of Black Bear (UK). There is a tendency for films aimed at older audiences – people aged fifty plus – to be twee and sentimental, with quirky behavioural tropes and an entirely false sense of bonhomie. These movies are generally patronising and deserve to be placed in the ‘right to be forgotten’ pile. The Salt Path , produced by Elizabeth Karlsen , adapted from Raynor Winn ’s memoir by screenwriter Rebecca Lenkiewicz and directed by Marianne Elliott , is a stunning counterpoint. Understated in performance and execution, it deals with the sober reality of houseless-ness in Tory Britain and the spirit of companionship and resilience. It certainly helps that...

Pictured :  Raphael ( Bastien Bouillon ) invites conflicted chef  Cécile ( Juliette Armanet ) to applaud his motocross skills in the contemporary French musical, ' Partir Un Jour ', written with Dimitri Lucas and directed by  Amélie Bonnin . Still courtesy of Pathé . Partir un jour ( Leave One Day ), the opening film of the 2025 Cannes Film Festiva l, co-written (with Dimitri Lucas ) and directed by Amélie Bonnin , represents the opposite of glamour. ‘Top Chef’ winner turned restauranteur Cécile Béguin ( Juliette Armanet ) returns to L’Escale, the truck stop café in rural France where her parents work after her father, Gérard ( François Rollin ) has his third heart attack. Cécile wants him to retire, as does her mother Fanfan ( Dominique Blanc ), who has been taking Italian lessons and sitting in the front seat of a mobile home (clearly, she wants to go somewhere). However, for Gérard, the café is a source of pride. Steak and frites dominate the menu, but the customers ...

Pictured :  Dr Esthétique ( Adam Lundgren ) goes to work on Elvira ( Lea Myren ), a young woman who dreams of marrying a prince, in a scene from the 2025 Norwegian horror film,  Den Stygge Stesøsteren ( The Ugly Stepsister ), written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt . Still courtesy of Mer Film / Vertigo Releasing (UK) Scaring easily, I am not an enthusiast for horror films. Fortunately, most modern horror films use digital rather than practical effects and don’t frighten me as much. However, the Norwegian film, Den Stygge Stesøsteren ( The Ugly Stepsister ) is old school, with two sequences that made me cover my eyes.   Written and directed by Emilie Blichfeldt , the film is as much a homage to 1970s horror flicks – synthesizer soundtrack, misty exteriors, raw landscapes, camp performances – as a reaction to them. It describes the futility of believing that beauty is the route to happiness. To reverse the cliché, 80% of desirable men want 20% of available women but...

  Pictured : Julia ( Kamila Urzedowska ) after a night on the town in a scene from ' Przepiękne! ' (Beautiful), a Polish ensemble comedy-drama adapted from Karoline Herfurth 's 2022 film, ' Wunderschön ' by writer   Katia Sarnowska and director Katia Priwieziencew . Still courtesy of Magnetes Pictures / Warner Bros . Przepiękne ( Beautiful ), adapted from Karoline Herfurth’s 2022 German box-office hit Wunderschön by writer Katia Sarnowska and director Katia Priwieziencew is an interesting example of Polish commercial cinema. Not only does it appear to be a faithful remake with a near-identical advertising campaign – a poster in which members of the ensemble cast appear in separate rectangles. It also illustrates Polish commercial cinema’s attitude towards its citizens. The problem is not with the state nor with society. It is with you. If only you stop being selfish, then life would be better. It is a film without same sex love, ethnic tensions, even abject poverty...

Pictured : Channelling her inner Gena Rowlands, Shelly ( Pamela Anderson ) worries about the future in director Gia Coppola 's film, ' The Last Showgirl ', written by Kate Gersten . Still courtesy of Roadside Attractions (US) / Picturehouse Entertainment (UK) I am generally suspicious of films and television series that begin with the words ‘The Last’. For every The Last of the Mohicans , there is The Last Boy Scout , The Last Black Man in San Francisco and The Last of Us . While we live in a time of absolutes – it won’t be long before there is a film entitled The Last Civil Servant , describing the US Department of Government Efficiency’s current purges of US administrative departments – generally, beliefs, races, pastimes, professions survive in one form or another. If children are no long cleaning chimneys in London, they are certainly picking through toxic trash in South America. The latest film destined for the middle of an alphabetized DVD shelf is The Last Showgirl...

  Pictured : Linda ( Rose Byrne ) in a scene from the white-knuckle comedy-drama, 'If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You', written and directed by Mary Bronstein . Still courtesy of Berlinale / A24 Films A contemporary of Greta Gerwig and Sean Baker, writer-director Mary Bronstein is a graduate of the School of Safdie, Summa cum Lauda. That’s Josh and Benny Safdie, the writer-directors of Good Time , a film whose intensity Bronstein’s second feature, the uncompromisingly titled, If I Had Legs I’d Kick You , mirrors. For almost two hours we are caught up in the whirlwind of therapist Linda’s daily routine, Bronstein fixing her camera on Linda’s face to the point where we can read her every thought. Rose Byrne gives a performance of which her work in recent comedies like Bad Neighbours does not prepare us. The film’s relentless pace, the use of sound, with horror movie-like jolts, flashbacks reached by way of journeys through time and space, the demands made of its heroine, reach a ...