Film reviews: bridget jones’s baby, sour grapes and blair witch

If you enjoyed the first films you’re pretty much guaranteed to be entertained by this one. That the canny formula works so well is thanks to Zellweger. Who remembers the outrage when it was

announced that an American had the temerity to play Helen Fielding’s quintessentially English lass? The cheek of it. Now it is hard to imagine anyone else playing the role with such great

comic timing and pathos. The cast this time includes Emma Thompson as Bridget’s brisk, no-nonsense obstetrician as well as all the old favourites, from Gemma Jones and Jim Broadbent as her

mum and dad, to Bridget’s circle of friends including Shirley Henderson as Jude. One key missing ingredient is Hugh Grant as that seductive old cad Daniel Cleaver. As someone who believes

there can never be enough Grant films in the world,I sorely missed his presence. But everything else is present and correct in a broadly pitched, undemanding romantic farce from a series

that could run and run. Bridget Jones: The Retirement Years, anyone? With Grant returning as a silver-haired fox? Don’t rule it out. HUNT FOR THE WILDERPEOPLE (CERT 12A; 101MINS) Hunt For

The Wilderpeople is a quirky delight from New Zealand that leaves a big smile on your face. It has the cheeky humour of a Shane Meadows film allied to the warm heart of animated favourite

Up, plus great performances from veteran Sam Neill and newcomer Julian Dennison. Dennison is Ricky Baker, a tubby, sullen teenager who has spent his life at the mercy of the child welfare

system. Denied love in the past, he finds himself drowning in it when he is delivered to foster parents Bella (Rima Te Wiata) and grumpy old Hec (Neill). Bella is wonderfully caring and

endlessly tactless. “Are you hungry?” she asks before adding: “That’s a stupid question. Look at you.” A change of circumstances forces Ricky and Hec to join forces and head into the Bush as

they become the subject of a nationwide manhunt. Their epic adventure is suitably exciting, silly and often very funny. A sweet crowdpleaser guaranteed to lift your spirits.  VERDICT: 4/5

THE INFILTRATOR (CERT 15; 127MINS) Bryan Cranston has landed some cracking roles in the afterglow of Breaking Bad. Sleek thriller The Infiltrator is no exception as Cranston plays Robert

Mazur, the real-life American customs agent who went to extraordinary lengths to bring Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar to justice. Mazur was persuaded that the only way to win the war on

drugs was to become an insider, with access to all the juicy details of a money laundering operation. He is sent undercover as Bob Musella, a flashy, fast-talking businessman who would

consider any deal if the price was right. Cranston is on top form as a man forced to give the performance of his life just to stay alive. Is victory worth the price of endless fear and the

sacrifice of his ordinary, decent existence? That is the big question at the heart of a solid, well-acted tale.  VERDICT: 3/5 SOUR GRAPES (CERT 15; 85MINS) Rudy Kurniawan is one of those

plausible charmers who managed to fool most of the people most of the time. His story is the basis of Sour Grapes, an entertaining, jaw-dropping documentary that feels more like an Ocean’s

Eleven caper thriller. Described by an FBI agent as a “Generation X Great Gatsby”, mystery man Kurniawan was believed to be independently wealthy and bought eye-wateringly expensive wines

the way the rest of us might purchase a can of Coca-Cola. He had an affable manner and was soon a close friend of California’s movers and shakers.  One collector paid him $100,000 for a rare

bottle and he was even selling vintage burgundies that couldn’t possibly exist. The story of his fraudulent dealings is fascinating but even more enjoyable is the way it shows up the

pretensions and pomposity of those who regard wine as a status symbol. A full-bodied, highly quaffable documentary.  VERDICT: 4/5 THE CLAN (CERT 15; 108MINS) The Clan revisits shocking true

events from 1980s Argentina, telling the extraordinary story of an ordinary family. Guillermo Francella stars as Arquimedes Puccio, the head of an unremarkable middle-class family.

Unremarkable but for the fact they are kidnapping the wealthy, holding them for ransom and killing them in cold blood. Pablo Trapero’s crime drama has all the swagger and intensity of a

Martin Scorsese film. It also captures the bigger picture of a country grappling with the legacy of dictatorship and struggling to rediscover the meaning of normality. A striking, powerful

thriller.  VERDICT: 4/5 THE BEATLES: EIGHT DAYS A WEEK (CERT 12A; 120MINS) Are you one of the lucky ones who saw the Fab Four in concert? The rest of us have the next best thing in Ron

Howard’s affectionate documentary The Beatles: Eight Days A Week which offers a breezy, nostalgic trip down a long and winding road to the band’s touring years in the 1960s. The archive

footage is stunningly assembled and blasted out in state-of-the-art sound as John, Paul, George and Ringo journey from Hamburg clubs to American stadiums during the heady days when the whole

world caught Beatlemania. A wonderful reminder of all our yesterdays.  VERDICT: 4/5 BLAIR WITCH (CERT 15; 89MINS) The Blair Witch Project inexplicably gave the whole world sleepless nights

in 1999 but the latest sequel, imaginatively entitled Blair Witch, is unlikely to have a similar impact. The plot has baby brother of the original documentarian, Heather, gathering some

friends and heading into the woods prompted by a mysterious YouTube video suggesting she may still be alive. That’s the excuse for things to go bump in the night once again as the viewer is

assaulted by random loud noises and something nasty lurking in the dark. VERDICT: 2/5