It may have Dallas in the title but there’s not much South Fork about Matthew McConaughey’s latest.
In The Dallas Buyers Club he’s a hard-living and homophobic rodeo cowboy knocked sideways by an HIV diagnosis that gives him just a month to live.
The Macho man refuses to accept his death sentence and begins to smuggle anti-viral drugs from Mexico to help others as well as himself.
The government and pharmaceutical companies aren’t happy, but he finds a surprise ally in the form of a self-destructive transsexual.
It’s based on a true story, and as you’d expect at this time of year is targetted firmly at Oscar-awarding audiences.
The man once dubbed McMahogany for his seemingly endless list of dull rom coms has reinvented himself as a serious leading man, and he’s in the running for a golden gong for this role.
Less demanding is Mr Peabody and Sherman, a wilfully wacky animated comedy about a dog genius and his pet boy. If that sounds crazy then look away now – there’s lots more where that came from. Did we mention the time travel?
The characters were first seen in the cult US children’s TV series The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, and in their big screen debut they serve up some suitably left field laughs.
Well, that’s what the world was waiting for – a remake of Robocop.
When Paul Verhoeven’s cautionary tale about a bionic crimefighter first aired in 1987 it was a chilling slice of special effects science fiction with an original angle.
Step forward a quarter of a century and what have you got? A warmed over version of the same story with glitzier special effects.
Like many a remake, it seems firmly aimed at those young enough not to remember the superior original, and who won’t remember this one an hour after the credits roll.