Film Screening 20th June, 2009

Poster for New In Town

New In Town 

8:00 PM, 20th June, 2009

  • PG
  • 96 mins
  • 2009
  • Jonas Elmer
  • Ken Rance & C. Jay Cox
  • Ren((eacute))e Zellweger, Harry Connick Jr., Siobhan Fallon Hogan, J.K. Simmons

Lucy Hill (Zellweger) is an ambitious, up and coming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, she loves her cars and she loves climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment - in the middle of nowhere - to restore a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing that a big promotion is close at hand.

What begins as a straightforward assignment becomes a life changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and most unexpectedly (apart from the fact that you're watching a rom-com), the man of her dreams (Connick Jr.).

OK, I'm going to do what I hate. At the time of writing this, this movie hadn't come out anywhere yet. So, not even any reviews to give us a clue on whether we're going to love it. Harry Connick Jr is a sweetheart (except for in Copycat). What's not to love? And given the target demographic is women, well, we couldn't give two hoots about Ren((eacute))e Zellweger. It's been a while since I've liked Ren((eacute))e Zellweger in a film. Perhaps this is the one.

Jacinta Gould

Poster for Last Chance Harvey

Last Chance Harvey 

9:51 PM, 20th June, 2009

  • PG
  • 93 mins
  • 2008
  • Joel Hopkins
  • Joel Hopkins
  • Dustin Hoffman, Emma Thompson, Eileen Atkins, Kathy Baker, James Brolin

Last Chance Harvey is a story about a guy who has nothing going for him. His soon-to-be-married daughter is estranged from him and he is on the verge of losing his job (a commercial jingle composer). When he finds out his daughter wants her stepfather to walk her down the aisle after he travels from New York to London to be there, he decides to return home and abandon the wedding. To add icing to his cake, he misses his flight home and then is told he has no job to return to.

Dustin Hoffman plays Harvey, the man who is emotionally destroyed and demoralised beyond belief. Then, during a weak moment of self-medication at the airport bar, Harvey meets Kate (Thompson), a single woman wary of romance. Through Kate, Harvey follows the path of redemption and decides to return to the wedding.

This is a light-hearted, charming hour and a half. With Hoffman and Thompson helming the show, Last Chance Harvey is more than a mindless rom-com. An absolute delight filled with mid-life comings of age, redemption and appreciating the finer things in life. Make sure you don't miss out on Last Chance Harvey, because it could be your last chance to see it!

Stephen Gillies