(12A) 102mins
WHAT would you do if you only had months to live?
This is the predicament in which Mr Williams (Bill Nighy) finds himself in this gentle and smart film.
Set in 1950s London, it focuses on the monotonous life of a man who is capable of so much more, but repressed by routine and society’s expectations.
Mr Williams is a man set in his ways.
As a child he longed to join the gentlemen at the train station in their suits and hats, going to their office jobs in the capital and generally being respectable.
But now an older man, he looks back on his life and realises it’s been full of paper pushing and bureaucracy — and lacking in joy.
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Having been widowed, Mr Williams lives with his son and his soon-to-be daughter-in-law.
Neither of them seem to care about him much and they have plate-scraping dinners together where important conversations go unspoken.
At his office, new young worker Peter (played beautifully by Alex Sharp) exposes the lack of life and optimism among the rest of the staff, who are mostly chain-smoking men in suits shifting through piles of papers.
Margaret (Aimee Lou Wood) sticks out, though.
She is about to leave her job at the government-run office to work in a local restaurant, and both Mr Williams and Peter recognise her zest for life.
They are attracted to her in their different ways: Peter romantically and Mr Williams as a student of how to live in the present.
This simple story, directed by Oliver Hermanus, is adapted from the Japanese film Ikiru, which was inspired by Leo Tolstoy’s 1886 novel The Death Of Ivan Ilyich.
Nighy is exquisite as a man who suddenly has to live each day as if it’s his last.
This does not mean he is jumping from planes.
Rather, he is having afternoon tea at Fortnum & Mason instead of going into work.
Yet he grows in warmth and empathy and realises it’s better to do something that will live on after you’re gone, rather than ride out the last few months in a seemingly meaningless existence.
The film is a tender, considerate piece of work.
But with a patchy pace and a sometimes sickly-sweet predictability, it doesn’t quite live life to it’s fullest.
(12A) 121mins
YOU know a film is timely when Hillary Clinton tweets about how, well, timely it is.
The former presidential candidate told her 31.7million followers that Call Jane “celebrates the collective power of women and the strength we can find in community.”
And she’s right.
This is the story of 1960s American housewife Joy (Elizabeth Banks), who is happily married with a teenage daughter and a baby on the way.
Soon, she discovers her pregnancy is endangering her life, but she’s shocked when a board of men decide against letting her have a termination to save her life.
So Joy looks for one herself and discovers an army of women running a secret, underground service to help others have, then illegal, abortions named Call Jane.
Soon, Joy becomes entwined in helping the group, which is run by headstrong activist Virginia (Sigourney Weaver).
They grow in confidence and their ability to create change for millions of women who have been suffocated into silence.
This inspiring film lifts the spirits and faith in humanity . . . until you remember the US recently repealed women’s abortion rights.
(12A) 121mins
ANYONE who’s seen WALL-E knows how a robot can capture your heart.
And Ryan White’s documentary on NASA’s Mars Rover mission shows that even cutting-edge scientists aren’t immune to their emotional charms.
In 2004, the space centre sent a device up to the red planet to work as a mechanical geologist.
It had a life expectancy of 90 days but ended up surviving on Mars for 15 years.
At 5ft 2in tall, the “box of wires with a cute face” was named Opportunity by the boffins.
Using archive footage, past and present-day interviews and animated reconstructions, this revisit explores the bond that was forged between the rover and its family back on planet Earth.
A true celebration of geeky triumph, there are insights from the control room and heart-warming moments aplenty as those behind the mission recall the impact it had on their lives.
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Adults are reduced to tears as they proudly watch their robot child blast into the orbit in a rocket.
Lifelong careers are inspired, and the grief as Opportunity ages and eventually ceases to function is felt by all.
