The Lucky Ones (15)
AN A-LIST cast adds sparkle to Neil Burger’s road movie with a comedic tinge, which chronicles the trials and tribulations of three Iraq war veterans as they struggle to reintegrate into civilian life. Fred Cheever (Tim Robbins), Colee Dunn (Rachel McAdams) and TK Poole (Michael Pena) are heading home to their loved ones on the same flight when some contrived dramatic turbulence forces them to head onto the road together to resolve their inner conflicts.
Veteran officer Cheever is out of the Army for good and intends to get his son into Stanford University via a trip to the Las Vegas gambling tables. Private Colee and Sergeant Poole are both on 30 days’ leave. She is heading for an emotional visit to her dead boyfriend’s parents, while he prays for a miracle so he doesn’t have to tell his fiancee that the piece of shrapnel in his groin has left him impotent.
The Lucky Ones is only tangentially a film about the war in Iraq, using the shared experiences of the three characters as a starting point for their journey of discovery. There is no obvious interest in making pro- or anti-war statements, keeping the tone light and the three leads manage to keep us watching.
Assault of Darkness (15)
KNOWN across the Atlantic as Legend Of The Bog (a much better title for such ridiculous fare), writer-director Brendan Foley’s slice of horror hokum centres on a group of strangers who become stranded in the Irish countryside and seek refuge with a deranged, gun-toting local called Mr Hunter (Vinnie Jones). He proves an ally in the fight against a dastardly denizen (Adam Fogerty) of a bog, where dozens of bodies have been rotting for all eternity.
90210 - The Complete Season 1 (12)
FOR most of the 1990s, producer Aaron Spelling didn’t just take the pulse of popular culture, he set it racing with glossy teen soap Beverly Hills 90210, chronicling the trials and tribulations of twins Brandon (Jason Priestley) and Brenda Walsh (Shannen Doherty) as they moved from Minneapolis to one America’s most desirable zipcodes.
Making overnight stars of a young, attractive cast, the show aired for 10 series. The glossy 21st-century revamp abbreviates the title and welcomes back a couple of old faces – Jennie Garth and Doherty. The central storyline involves Harry Wilson and his wife, Debbie, who move back to California with their kids, Annie and Dixon, to keep a close eye on his mother.
Harry is the new principal of West Beverly Hills High School, making his kids prime targets for bitchy rich girl Naomi. Ethan, Naomi’s on-off boyfriend, is around to catch Annie’s eye, stoking a rivalry that boils nicely as the series progresses. It’s frothy entertainment, with familiar issues of drugs, sex and teen pregnancy. The cast are all easy on the eye, with enough plot unresolved to whet the appetite for series two.
