The week's new films: 'The Killer Inside Me', Noel Clarke returns and Italy is going to the dogs

Tom Huddleston presents a new weekly round-up of all the week’s film releases, big and small

This week, as in so many others, our cinemas will be packed to the rafters with mayhem, sex and death. The most interesting release is ‘The Killer Inside Me’, homegrown polymath Michael Winterbottom’s take on legendary pulp author Jim Thompson’s devastating novel of small-town psychosis, with Casey Affleck reaffirming his thespian chops as a killer cop.

There are also British links in ‘Death at a Funeral’, one-time indie misanthrope-turned-Hollywood hack Neil LaBute’s reimagining of Frank Oz’s likeable 2008 comedy of outrageous goings-on at a family wake, starring big players like Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence and Tracey Morgan. And Noel Clarke, director of ‘Kidulthood’, goes girl power in ‘4.3.2.1’, a fast-moving and enjoyably daft tale of stolen jewels and scantily clad, gun-toting sixthformers.

There are more teenagers doing it for themselves, though not necessarily with the best results, in André Téchiné’s confrontational media-baiting drama ‘The Girl on the Train’ and Linda Heyman’s Liverpool-set kidnap drama ‘Kicks’, while Jay Baruchel and Alice Eve are just acting like kids in underwhelming geek-meets-goddess romcom ‘She’s Out of My League’.

A pair of Hollywood flops also make their way to our screens following lengthy delays: ‘The Brothers Bloom’, Rian Johnson’s follow-up to high school noir ‘Brick’, features Mark Ruffalo and Adrien Brody in a pacey but disappointing tale of con-men in conflict, while Kevin Spacey takes the title role in ‘Shrink’, a thumpingly self-serious slice of Hollywood angst.

In the documentary corner, the brilliant ‘Videocracy’ lays bare Italy’s addiction to shallow media culture, and the ease with which big players can manipulate public opinion, while ‘Football Fables’ takes an amateurish look at an interesting subject, as a young African man works towards his dream of soccer stardom.

Wally Hammond on 'The Killer Inside Me'
'Faithful to Thompson’s devil’s-résumé-style source text and despairing worldview, the film also occupies an emotional space of unnerving calm.'





Trevor Johnston on 'Death at a Funeral'
'Some of this is crude, much of it predictable, but it is a crowd-pleaser.'







Cath Clarke on '4.3.2.1'
A brash and ambitious play for the mainstream: girl power rebooted for anyone too young to remember the Spice Girls.'






David Jenkins on 'The Girl on the Train'
'67-year-old French director André Téchiné has said that this is his ‘action movie’, but don’t expect a hysterical riposte to ‘Transformers 2’.'






Dave Calhoun on 'Kicks'
'Lindy Heymann’s promising if uneven feature debut is a low-budget drama about two young women and their obsession with a footballer.'






Anna Smith on 'She's Out of My League'
'Baruchel mixes the beguiling delivery of a young Christian Slater with an awkward gait and a hangdog expression, but he’s nowhere near plain enough.'





Tom Huddleston on 'The Brothers Bloom'
'Any half-intelligent audience member is going to spend their time trying to anticipate the next plot revelation rather than simply enjoying the experience.'





Tom Huddleston on 'Shrink'
'Any fleeting moments of wit or insight – and there are a few – are drowned out by the monumental self-importance and grinding, humourless predictability of the picture.'






Dave Calhoun on 'Videocracy'
'The combination of terrific footage with a low, rumbling score of doom makes this a compelling horror show.'






Derek Adams on 'Football Fables'
'Baff Akoto’s 52-minute documentary isn’t especially well made, but it illustrates the seriousness with which African youngsters treat sport.'