Emily Watson

Review: War Horse

At the screening of War Horse I attended, there were people in floods of tears. Floods. Not just quiet, reflective sobbing, but that godless, wretched honking that's usually accompanied by snot and friends who wish they were somewhere else. Me? I didn't shed a single tear – I walked out of there like Moses parting a salty sea. Bear in mind I once got a bit teary because I thought one of my cats was upset with me, and that should tell you a little about me, but everything about War Horse. It's about as manipulative a film has Steven Spielberg has ever made – a movie that's been custom-designed from the ground up to play a sad harp solo on the heartstrings; a story cynically told to invoke as many tears as possible. You'd swear it was bankrolled by Kleenex.

Review: Cemetery Junction

Ricky Gervais goes serious? Hmm. I love The Office, I love Extras and I love Ricky full stop (it's the laugh). But as his career wheel has started turning and the David Brent act has worn thin, Gervais clearly has his eye on the long game - that means cutting back on comic exasperation and showing himself capable of something with soul. Hence Cemetery Junction, Ricky Gervais and Steven Merchant's first directorial effort; a coming-of-age comedy set in Gervais' home town.

Review: Synecdoche, New York

The mind of Charlie Kaufman is a baffling place, as anyone who has seen Being John Malkovich, Adaptation or Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind will know. This is Kaufman's first time in the director's chair; he also wrote and produced the film. Much like the scene in Being John Malkovich with dozens of Malkovichs about the pl...