Deborah Ross

Identity crisis: Nicole Kidman in Before I Go to Sleep

Before I Go to Sleep prefers creepy car parks to feelings

6 September 2014 9:00 am

Before I Go To Sleep is Rowan Joffe’s adaptation of S.J. Watson’s bestselling thriller of 2011, but whereas the book…

Angry young man: Jesse Eisenberg as Josh in ‘Night Moves’

Night Moves – the opposite of a Dan Brown film

30 August 2014 9:00 am

Night Moves is a film by Kelly Reichardt, who also made the heart-wrenching Wendy and Lucy (2008), which may be…

Daft, and sensationally innocent: the Inbetweeners down under

The Inbetweeners 2 is as filthy as a teenage boy – and it's hilarious

16 August 2014 9:00 am

The first Inbetweeners film made £45 million at the box office, and was such an unexpected smash there was always…

Doctor in the house: Alex Brendemühl as Josef Mengele

Allergic to blockbusters? See Wakolda

9 August 2014 9:00 am

Wakolda is not a sunny film for a sunny day, just so you’re aware, but as there is so little…

Moon Indigo: an all-you-can-eat buffet for the eyes - but your brain will feel famished

2 August 2014 9:00 am

Your enjoyment of Michel Gondry’s Mood Indigo may entirely depend on how much visual whimsy you can take, what your…

Obstacle on the footballing front: Natascha McElhone as Georgie’s mother

The problem with Believe is you simply won’t believe any of it - unless you’re a child

26 July 2014 9:00 am

The trouble with Believe is that, unless you are ten years old or under, which I’m assuming you are not,…

How did a New York nanny become one of the great photographers of the 20th century?

19 July 2014 9:00 am

Finding Vivian Maier is a documentary about the American nanny who led a wholly secretive life as a photographer and…

Naturalistic: Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke as Mason, junior and senior

A miracle: a three-hour film that flies by

12 July 2014 9:00 am

Richard Linklater’s observational chronicle, Boyhood, was 12 years in the making and is 166 minutes long — that’s nearly three…

The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of a Window and Bloody Well Should Have Disappeared

5 July 2014 9:00 am

If it were up to me this would be called ‘The 100-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window, Fell, and…

A hunk of the highest order: Giulio Berruti as Raf

Walking on Sunshine: the feel-ennui musical of the year

28 June 2014 9:00 am

As far as ‘jukebox films’ go, Mamma Mia! was a riot, Sunshine on Leith was tolerable, just about, while Walking…

Love story: Ansel Elgort and Shailene Woodley

A funny weepie that paints itself into a contrived corner

21 June 2014 9:00 am

The Fault in Our Stars, which is based on the bestselling young-adult novel by John Green, is about two teenagers…

Fretting about marriage: Sarah Gadon (Elizabeth) and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (Dido)

Belle has everything going for it – except for a decent soundtrack or script or plot or acting

14 June 2014 8:00 am

Belle is based on the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate, mixed-race daughter of a sea captain and…

Grace of Monaco: a big, glistening, strutting, irresistible turkey

7 June 2014 9:00 am

Grace of Monaco, the Grace Kelly biopic starring Nicole Kidman, is an absolute joy, and I highly recommend it. Unless…

Optimistic, vivacious, fun-loving and sexy: Maxine Peake as Vanetia in ‘Run & Jump’

Avoid the latest commercial juggernaut and go off-road with Run & Jump

24 May 2014 9:00 am

When you see the latest corporate entertainment juggernaut hurtling at you, what are your options? When I saw X-Men: Days…

The humans in Godzilla are so bland and dull you may well find yourself rooting for the monster

17 May 2014 9:00 am

Godzilla is from the director Gareth Edwards, a Brit whose first film, Monsters, truly put him on the map, as…

Scoot McNairy and Maggie Gyllenhaal

‘Sometimes audiences applauded Frank; sometimes they threw stuff at him’

10 May 2014 9:00 am

Frank is a music biopic, but only of sorts, as it is not at all like your average music biopic.…

Blue Ruin is unwatchable, bloody – but, from what I saw, rather good

3 May 2014 9:00 am

Blue Ruin is a low-budget yet highly accomplished revenge thriller although whether you have the stomach for it is another…

Failing the Bechdel test: Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Cameron Diaz in ‘The Other Woman’

If The Other Woman is a box-office hit, I’m going to have to top myself

26 April 2014 9:00 am

The Other Woman is not just an extremely bad film but also a wholly reprehensible one (she says, with her…

Kelly Reilly and Brendan Gleeson: on tremendous form

Waiting for Godot - but with plot

12 April 2014 9:00 am

If the very first scene of Calvary doesn’t immediately draw you in there’s every chance there is something seriously wrong…

The Double will stay in your mind, like a bit of food caught in a tooth

5 April 2014 9:00 am

I should warn you that if you go see The Double it is one of those films that will trouble…

What backing singers are really thinking behind the ‘ooh, ooh, oohs’

29 March 2014 9:00 am

Have you ever looked at backing singers and thought: what is their story? Do they or have they ever prayed…

Will she jump? Imogen Poots as Jess, the daughter of a politician

These screen suicides deserve a nudge off the ledge

22 March 2014 9:00 am

A Long Way Down is about four would-be suicides who meet for the first time on the top of a…

Vroooooooooom! Vroooooooooom! No need for speed

Are you a lobotomised teenager? Then Need for Speed is for you

15 March 2014 9:00 am

OK, Need for Speed, if we must, and we must because I sat through it (running time: 130 minutes) and…

Insanely rich but unrecognisable: Tilda Swinton as Madame D

A film to enjoy with your eyes

8 March 2014 9:00 am

The Grand Budapest Hotel is the latest Wes Anderson film and it is beautiful to look at, scrumptious, luscious, such…

I'm proud to say The Book Thief couldn't pull my heartstrings

1 March 2014 9:00 am

The Book Thief is based on Markus Zusak’s novel of the same name which, although written for young adults, appears…