Sleeping with the Enemy

Sleeping with the Enemy 1991

• ·        Director: Joseph Ruben
• ·        Cast: Julia Roberts, Patrick Bergin, Kevin Anderson
• ·        Why? Roberts
• ·        Seen: Once before. Now 31 January 2026   

Laura (Roberts) and Martin (Bergin), rich, white, with a fab house on the shore of Cape Cod, perfect marriage. Except he beats her and is insanely jealous and controlling.

She fakes her own death and starts a new life in Iowa. He finds her.

It’s a bit too melodramatic and romantic but exciting and I like Julia Roberts. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Light Between Oceans

 

The Light Between Oceans

• ·        Director: Derek Cianfrance
• ·        Cast: Michael Fassbender, Alicia Vikander, Rachel Weisz
• ·        Why? The cast, and recommended by LH.
• ·        Seen: 30 January 2026   

WWI veteran Tom (Fassbinder) seeks isolation as the keeper of a remote lighthouse. He marries Isabel (Wikander) who joins him on the island.

They suffer two miscarriages and then a baby washes ashore in a dingy with a dead man. They bury the man and keep the baby.

The acting is superb, the visuals lovely, but the story is too farfetched for me and baby films do not thrill me. 

3* of 5

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Son

The Son 2022

• ·       Director: Florian Zeller
• ·       Cast: Hugh Jackman, Vanessa Kirby, Laura Dern, Zen McGrath
• ·       Why? Hugh Jackman
• ·       Seen:  28 January 2026      

       Peter (Jackman) has a new baby with Beth (Kirby). His ex-wife Kate (Dern) shows up to inform him that their teen-age son Nicholas (McGrath) is in big trouble. Peter goes to see him. Nicholas has serious mental problems. None of the three adults know how to deal with it.

       It’s an important subject and the actors struggle valiantly with the film. It doesn’t always work but as a follow-up to the director’s The Father (with Anthony Hopkins and Olivia Coleman) it makes sense. It’s worth seeing. 

4* of 5

 

  

IO

 

IO 2019

• Director: Jonathan Helpert
• Cast: Margaret Qualley, Anthony Mackie, Danny Huston·       
• Why? Sci fi
• 26 January 2026 

       Earth is dying. Space ships are being sent out to colonise liveable planets. A young scientist Sam (Qualley) stays on Earth to try to save it. She encounters Micah (Mackie) who is trying to catch the last launch.

       It’s slow, contemplative, existential. Many reviewers berate it for that but I quite like it. The two actors carry it admirably. 

3* of 5  

 

 

 

The Shipping News

 

The Shipping News 2001

• Director: Lasse Hallström
• Cast: Kevin Spacey, Judi Dench, Julianne Moore, Jason Behr, Cate Blanchett, Pete Pstlethwaite, Scott Glenn, Rhys Ifans, Lauren Gainor·       
• Why? The cast
• Seen: Once or twice before. Now 23 January 2026      

       Quoyle (Spacey) is a loser until hot and sexy Petal (Blanchett) captures him. It doesn’t last but she leaves him with a daughter Bunny (Gainor). His parents commit suicide and his aunt (Dench) shows up and whisks Quoyle and Bunny off to her childhood home in Newfoundland. The locals are quirky and he slowly starts to fit in and to live.

       The landscape is stunning, the acting is as good as expected from this cast. It’s a bit too sweet and the eccentricity of the characters a bit forced but the film has Hallström’s kindness and it’s much better than the book (not as rare as you might think). 

3* of 5

 

 

 

Suicide Kings

 

Suicide Kings 1997

• Director: Peter O’Fallon
• Cast: Christopher Walken, Johnny Galecki·      
• Why? Christopher Walken
• Once before. Now 21 January 2026 

       One given plus: Christopher Walken. One given minus: it’s about the mafia. Boring.

       A gang of young rich punks decide to kidnap the mafia boss (Walken).

       It starts out as a slapstick comedy, which doesn’t work, and ends up heavy, which doesn’t work.

       OK, Walken is good, as always, and it’s fun to see The Big Bang Theory’s Leonard as the neurotic poor little rich boy.

       Otherwise, it’s not much to brag about. 

2* of 5  

 

 

 

 

A Good Year

 

A Good Year 2006

• Director: Ridley Scott
• Cast: Russell Crowe, Abbie Cornish, Albert Finney, Freddie Highmore, Tom Hollander, Marion Cotillard·       
• Why? Russell Crowe
• Once before. Now 20 January 2026 

       Max (Crowe), an obnoxious money-hungry stockbroker, inherits his uncle’s vineyard estate in France, worth millions. He fully intends to sell it but circumstances and nostalgia cause him to stay. Romance and all that. Clichés. One expects more from Ridley Scott and a Russell Crowe character (although he does what he can with this one).

       The best part is Harry Nilsson’s songs on the soundtrack. 

2 ½ * of 5