A Rainy Day in New York (12)
Directed by Woody Allen
3*

IN HIS latest, Woody Allen returns to his old stomping ground of New York and romantic comedies, along with the recurring theme of older men falling for much younger women.

It centres on troubled student and avid gambler Gatsby (Timothee Chalamet), who devises an elaborate romantic getaway to the Big Apple with his college sweetheart Ashleigh (Elle Fanning), who’s set to interview celebrated Hollywood director Roland Pollard (Liev Schreiber) for a college paper.

But all his well-laid plans are dashed when Pollard takes a shine to Ashleigh, whisking her away on a thrilling adventure around the city in which she encounters his long-suffering producer and screenwriter (Jude Law) and a film star (Diego Luna) who, of course, all lust after her.

This isn’t Allen’s finest work but it isn’t his worse either, thanks in part to some cracking performances, especially from Chalamet and Fanning. The latter totally nails the wealthy beautiful-but-dim Ashleigh, who tells Pollard: “We're just Episcopalians who happen to be rich.”

It’s another case of deja vu as Chalamet, sounding like a young Allen, discusses anxieties, paranoia, death and the romantic virtues of New York in the rain in witty and elaborate retorts.

With three members of the star-studded cast apparently donating their salaries to charity in the wake of the MeToo campaign and the film itself screaming white-male privilege, maybe it’s time for Allen, at the age of 84, to call it a day.

Available on Home Premiere.

To the Stars (12)
Directed by Martha Stephens
4*

SET against the backdrop of the 1960s, this is a powerful and insightful drama about female friendship and sexuality.

It follows teenage recluse and loner Iris (Kara Hayward), who puts up with the boozy antics of her mother (Jordana Spiro) and the daily bullying from her classmates, who make her life a misery.

But that soon changes with the arrival of new girl Maggie (Liana Liberato), a charismatic and enigmatic force of nature who befriends Iris. She homes in on her untapped potential and slowly but surely coaxes Iris from her reclusive shell.

Of course, there is more to Maggie than meets the eye, but director Martha Stephens manages to keep the tension bubbling under the surface in a painstaking slow reveal.

The end result is visually arresting and captivating, driven home by two mesmerising and superlative performances by Hayward and Spiro, who steal the film and your heart.

Available on video on demand.

Guest of Honour
Directed by Atom Egoyan
3*

THE troubled relationship between a father and daughter is slowly revealed in this bizarre family melodrama-cum-thriller by Atom Egoyan.

Told in flashback, local priest Father Greg (Luke Wilson) learns what kind of a man Jim (David Thewlis), late father of Veronica (Laysla De Oliveira), was.

A stickler for the health code, food inspector Jim took his work very seriously. He was a jobsworth, as we witness during a montage of visits to different eating establishments big and small.

Veronica is forced to confront her feelings about her father and her past so that Father Greg can deliver a eulogy at his funeral.

With fine performances from Thewlis and Oliveira, it is nevertheless an odd film about love, loss, sexual abuse and injustice that doesn’t quite make up its mind what it wants to be or say.

Available on Curzon Home Cinema.

Echo in the Canyon (12)
Directed by Andrew Slater
4*

THIS is a fascinating and entertaining look at the roots of the explosive music scene in LA's Laurel Canyon in the mid-1960s through the songs and eyes of some of the key players.

American singer-songwriter Jakob Dylan (Bob Dylan’s son) interviews former members of the Byrds, the Mamas & Papas and the Beach Boys, along with Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr and producer Lou Adler, to learn about their their influences and their legacies.

Their wonderful stories and anecdotes are the major highlight of this documentary, co-written and directed by accomplished record producer Andrew Slater. A plus is Dylan getting them to play and sing some of their most well-known tracks for him.

It’s captivating stuff, which shows how well these songs have aged and how relevant they still are today. A must-see for rock-doc fans.

Available on demand from June 8.

MS Slavic 7
Directed by Sofia Bohdanowicz and Deragh Campbell
2*

FILM-MAKER Sofia Bohdanowicz explores the letters her poet great-grandmother wrote to fellow Polish poet Jozef Wittlin in the 1960s in this fictionalised drama, which you could be forgiven for mistaking for a documentary.

Her co-writer and director Deragh Campbell plays Audrey, a fictional Bohdanowicz, who spends three days at a Harvard University library analysing the 25 letters penned by Zofia Bohdanowiczowa to Wittlin. MS Slavic 7 is the collection number and hence the film’s title.

It is a very cold and emotionless film, with long and unintelligible dialogue about the meaning of the letters that is uber-pretentious and soporific, despite a real-life family party and a most unsexy sex scene shoehorned in.

This would have made a more insightful and interesting documentary instead of this boring drama that does no justice to Bohdanowicz’s great-grandmother.

It is mercifully short but not so sweet.