FILM: RECORDED DELIVERY
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Your support makes all the difference.Shooting Fish (12), Entertainment, rental, 6 April Director Stefan Schwartz tries hard to blend Four Weddings and a Funeral with Ealing comedy in this lightweight Brit-pop caper. What results is a serious plot problem. Kate Beckinsale is drawn into an elaborate scam masterminded by scallywags Stuart Townsend and Dan Futterman, prompted by their desire for a country mansion. An abandoned wedding and the appearance of Beckinsale's Down's Syndrome brother (remember Hugh Grant's deaf brother in Four Weddings?) not only dilutes the frequently funny script, but introduces a lethal dose of inconsequential schmaltz. HH
Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery (15), Fox, rental, 6 April Tired innuendos (frothing champagne, fellated frankfurters) and crass punchlines ("Shall we shag now or shall we shag later?") fashion Mike Myers' moronic Sixties spy-thriller spoof. Myers plays the eponymous uber-detective who, having been cryogenically frozen for 30 years, finds himself out of sorts with Nineties political correctness. He must also combat the depraved machinations of Dr Evil (Myers again). Strong cameos from Christian Slater and Carrie Fisher cannot compensate for the stale cast - Robert Wagner is a boss- eyed henchman, and Michael York plays the M15 bod - and the seriously deficient acting abilities of Estee Lauder belle Liz Hurley, realised in her doltish rendering of Sloaney sex kitten Vanessa Kensington. A grave disappointment. H
Maximum Risk (18), Columbia, rental, 8 April
Levels of intelligence drop even lower in this martial arts actioner in which Jean-Claude Van Damme stretches his limited talents by playing two roles. Luckily, his characters are brothers so he doesn't need to step out of customary hard-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside routine. He plays Mikhail, a Russian gangster who, in a faux-James Bond opening sequence, is thrown through a car windscreen. Naturally, Alain must avenge his brother's death, so he hurries to New York to investigate Mikhail's shady activities. The baddies can be identified by their hammer-and-sickle tattoos, though if you're still not sure, they are the ones covered in grease, wrestling semi-naked on the floor with Jean-Claude. H
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