Bonhoeffer review - flawed biopic of a saintly man of courage

★★★ BONHOEFFER Flawed biopic of a saintly man of courage

This film about the pastor accused of conspiring in the Hitler assassination plot raises more questions than it answers

The German theologian, pastor and anti-Nazi dissident Dietrich Bonhoeffer (1906-1945) was a saintly, courageous figure, of major historical significance. Those are good reasons to ensure that his story gets told and becomes better known. At a time when fanatical violent nationalism is on the rise and religion has been commandeered to support it, Bonhoeffer's work and his contribution to ideas have a renewed relevance.

Widow Clicquot review - Haley Bennett stars as the First Lady of champagne

★★★ WIDOW CLICQUOT Haley Bennett stars as La Grande Dame of champagne

How Barb-Nicole Ponsardin overcame death, war and male chauvinism

The book by Tilar Mazzeo on which Thomas Napper's film is based is subtitled “The Story of a Champagne Empire and the Woman Who Ruled it”, though one suspects that the life of Barbe-Nicole Ponsardin was a little less Mills & Boon-ish than the version seen here.

Blu-ray: The Music Lovers

★★★★ BLU-RAY: THE MUSIC LOVERS Ken Russell's audacious, OTT Tchaikovsky biopic

Audacious, OTT Tchaikovsky biopic from music-loving director Ken Russell

Discussing 1971’s The Music Lovers with writer John Baxter, director Ken Russell suggested, among other things, that “music and facts don’t mix”. They don’t always line up here, but this film does stand up as a worthy successor to the BBC’s Delius: Song of Summer and Dance of the Seven Veils, the latter deemed so offensive by the Strauss estate that it remained unseen for 50 years.

DVD/Blu-Ray: Priscilla

★★★★ DVD/BLU-RAY: PRISCILLA Disc extras smartly contextualise Sofia Coppola's eighth feature

The disc extras smartly contextualise Sofia Coppola's eighth feature

There’s a scene in Priscilla where Elvis stands above his wife, who is scrambling to put her clothes in a suitcase. Priscilla has just confronted him about a letter she found from the actress Ann-Margret, confirming her suspicion that the King of Rock'n'Roll has been unfaithful. Elvis's legs in their white trousers tower before her like the pillars of Graceland.

Rustin review - a doubly liberated American life

★★★ RUSTIN Biopic of the 1963 March on Washington's neglected gay mastermind

Obamas-produced biopic of the 1963 March on Washington's neglected gay mastermind

This is a tribute to a forgotten hero, gay black Quaker Bayard Rustin (Colman Domingo), driving force behind the 1963 March on Washington, the vast peaceful protest that sanctified Martin Luther King as his oratory seemed to lift black America towards a Promised Land.

Dance First - the travails of Samuel Beckett

★★★ DANCE FIRST Tasteful biopic of the Irish writer errs in neglecting his work

Tasteful biopic of the Irish writer errs in neglecting his work

Dance First takes its title from a line in Samuel Beckett’s most famous work Waiting for Godot. “Perhaps he could dance first and think afterwards,” says the tramp Estragon of Pozzo’s slave Lucky, who then proceeds to do both in a typically absurd Beckettian way.

The Laureate review - a romp with Robert Graves

Nicely crafted nonsense about poet Robert Graves's 1920s ménage à trois

Nowadays Robert Graves is best known for his later and least interesting works on Greek myths and Roman emperors, but at his best, in the first decade of his writing life, as a war poet (Fairies and Fusiliers) and war memoirist (Good-Bye to All That), he was a powerful mythmaker in his own right.

He was also borderline absurd, a cut-price Lord Byron whose scandalous private life – in particular the Jazz Age ménage à trois with his wife Nancy Nicholson and a charismatic American literary critic, Laura Riding – somehow overshadowed his literary career.

George & Tammy, Paramount+ review - alcohol, violence and heartache in Nashville

★★★★ GEORGE & TAMMY, PARAMOUNT+ Alcohol, violence and heartache in Nashville

Jessica Chastain and Michael Shannon reincarnate country music's first couple

Some may consider country music to be corny, sentimental and a relic of a forgotten era. If so, this six-part dramatisation of the lives of Tammy Wynette and George Jones is a reminder of how powerful and soulful the best country music can be, fuelled by raw emotions and personal turmoil.

Give Them Wings review - down but not out in Darlington

Daniel Watson and Toyah Willcox shine as a disabled man and his doughty mam

Give Them Wings is the biopic of Paul Hodgson, who seven months after he was born in 1965 was diagnosed with meningococcal meningitis. If that wasn’t bad enough, he survived his precarious childhood to become a devout fan of Durham’s hapless Darlington FC – it’s criminal that this low-budget British indie wasn’t titled Give Them Wingers.

House Of Gucci review – gloriously gawdy trash

★★★ HOUSE OF GUCCI Gloriously gawdy trash

Ridley Scott’s latest is a hot mess of cod accents and daytime drama, yet watchable

Back in 2013, Gina Gershon chewed up the scenery in the daytime movie House of Versace. Focusing on the murder of Gianni Versace, it was a tacky, cheap drama that knew what it was, and was all the more entertaining for it. The same cant be said of Ridley Scotts new drama which focuses on an equally prestigious Italian fashion house and a murder.