WE’RE in Melbourne and young schoolboy Jack needs a match – a bone marrow one, to be exact. Diagnosed with leukaemia, his best chance is a transplant from a sibling but he doesn’t have one – or does he?

Frantic mother Marisa discovers her husband has been having a series of affairs over several years, and so embarks on a trawl of his “other women” in the hope that he has fathered a child with one of them and therefore a match for Jack. Meanwhile, Marisa gets close to whacky Irish sailor Connor (James Nesbitt), the father of Jack’s young ward mate Finn (an excellent Kodi Smit-McPhee), who tries everything in the book to keep his dying son’s spirits high. The scenes between the two sick children are the best things here, especially their escape from the hospital in fancy dress for a day at the fairground.

It’s not a brilliant film, its tugging at our emotional heartstrings is rather too one-dimensional for that, but you have a very hard heart if you’re not just a little bit teary by the end.

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Spartacus – Gods Of The Arena (18)

IN THIS six-part prequel to Spartacus – Blood and Sand, Batiatus (John Hannah) hopes to rule over Rome with the help of his politically shrewd wife, Lucretia (Lucy Lawless), and her seductive friend, Gaia (Jaime Murray). He begins his ascent in the gladiatorial arena using his slave, Gannicus (Dustin Clare), who is a star athlete and champion of the people. Unbelievable levels of bloodshed inside the arena are matched by deception and intrigue within the city walls, pitting Gannicus against some of the most powerful figures in the Roman Empire.

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Mandelson – the Real PM (E)

WITH Labour in town for their conference, perhaps the most conspicuous absentee is Peter Mandelson, swiftly put out to pasture by new leader Ed Miliband.

This intriguing documentary – first shown as part of BBC4’s Storyville series – saw film-maker Hannah Rothschild secure unrivalled access to Mandelson as he led Labour’s ultimately unsuccessful election campaign last year.

Remarkably, the man known as the Prince of Darkness emerges as rather likeable, a workaholic and somewhat of a lonesome figure, but someone you’d want with you in a crisis. It’s compulsive viewing and you’d like even more, as we see very little of his renowned Machiavellian streak, while some perspective from colleagues would have been useful.

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