101 Dalmatians

Live-action remake of Disney's enduring classic scripted by John Hughes - and the final act is pretty much a retread of Home Alone. Pongo starts well, turning on the shower for his 'pet' human (Daniels) and engineering his meeting with an attractive member of the opposite sex (Richardson), but soon abandons any pretence of being an intelligent protagonist. The film has two main things going for it: Glenn, and Close, whose outlandish, cartoonish, monstrously coiffed performance as Cruella gives it life and breath. Plaudits are also due to McInnerny's sadly under-used flunky, a breathtaking dalmatian-powered bike chase around London, and the first-rate costume designs. Delightfully dotty in places, but mostly patchy.