Broken Hearts Gallery review - effortfully entertaining

★★★ BROKEN HEARTS GALLERY Natalie Krinsky romcom tries hard & tugs us along

Natalie Krinsky romcom tries hard and tugs us along

Remember when romcoms didn't try so hard? That question kept going through my head for the first half, or more, of Broken Hearts Gallery, a film from Canadian writer-director Natalie Krinsky that ultimately in tugging at the heart but has to go through some fairly tortured narrative hoops to get to that point.

Sleepless, Troubadour Wembley Park Theatre review - love from afar in this amiable musical

★★★ SLEEPLESS, TROUBADOUR WEMBLEY PARK THEATRE Love from afar

A standard screen-to-stage transfer, but hugely welcome post-lockdown

Originally due to premiere back in March, Sleepless – a musical version of the winning 1993 movie Sleepless in Seattle – now acts as a test case for the return of fully staged but socially distanced indoor theatre, AKA Stage 4 of the Government’s “roadmap”.

Come As You Are review - a road trip with a difference

★★★★ COME AS YOU ARE Comedy about sex and disability is full of heart and laughs

Comedy about sex and disability is full of heart and laughs

At a point in the early noughties, every third film was a teen comedy about a road trip to lose one's virginity. It’s a genre most were glad to see the back of. What a pleasant surprise Come As You Are is then, which brings much needed heart and relevancy to this tired trope.

Love Sarah review - missing key ingredients

★★ LOVE SARAH Missing ingredients in cookery-themed comedy that needs spicing up

Cookery-themed comedy needs spicing up

The cakes look great, but it's back to the recipe books in almost every other way for Love Sarah, a subpar film from director Eliza Schroeder about the struggles of a west London patisserie in the age of Brexit. The emergence of Schroeder's feature filmmaking debut just now may benefit from a citizenry eager to get back out to their local baker.

A Rainy Day in New York review - one of Woody's later, patchy ones

★★★ A RAINY DAY IN NEW YORK Chalamet and other young stars keep Allen's latest Manhattan fantasy afloat

Chalamet and other young stars keep Allen's latest Manhattan fantasy afloat

Woody Allen’s filmography, like Michael Caine’s, is remorseless, accepting mediocre work to mine more gems than most. Even after his career and this film’s planned 2018 release became collateral damage to #MeToo and a revived child abuse allegation, he has kept directing. A Rainy Day in New York is a thorough résumé of late Woody flaws, but still sparks with residual brilliance.

Romantic Comedy review - a not-so-guilty pleasure

★★★★ ROMANTIC COMEDY Tough yet passionate look at joys & flaws of romcoms

Elizabeth Sankey's tough yet passionate look at the joys and flaws of romcoms

Only those who really love you can deliver the hard truths, and for filmmaker Elizabeth Sankey, that one love is romantic comedies. Better known as one half of band Summer Camp, Sankey is a self-confessed romcom expert, having watched nearly every film from the 80s onwards.

Run, Sky Comedy review - vicarious thrills for the self-isolation era

★★ RUN Vicarious thrills for the self-isolation era

Vicky Jones' ‘Run’ is a sexy, unpredictable thriller about being anywhere but home

Watching Run, HBO’s newest seven-part series, feels like off-the-rails escapism: it’s a fast-paced thriller about dropping everything, chasing intimacy and courting danger. It’s a vicarious adventure centred on a woman who has spent too long stuck at home. Run has hit our screens at the best possible time.