Ma Ma (12A)
Directed by Julio Medem
3/5
PENELOPE CRUZ’S magnificent performance as Magda is the single saving grace of this sugar-saturated slice of celluloid opera that makes Mills and Boon at their most sentimental resemble Frankenstein.
Julio Medem’s mawkish screenplay and matching direction relentlessly wring out every tear possible from her terrible predicament after her wayward husband Raul (Alex Brendemuhl) abandons the Madrid mother and their young son Dani (Teo Planell) for a sexual fling.
Worse follows.
Asier Etxeandia as Julian — cinema’s first-ever singing gynaecologist — informs her that she has terminal breast cancer.
Magda, forced to face chemotherapy and hair loss, receives unexpected emotional respite from football talent scout Arturo (Luis Tosar). Having lost his daughter and then his wife, he brings love back into her life.
Cruz produced Ma Ma, so she must have known what she was doing with a sentiment-soaked narrative that might be deemed over-sweet even for a TV soap.
Though the story may be maudlin, she is riveting.
Review by Alan Frank

Suburra (18)
Directed by Stefano Sollima
3/5
THE CORRELATION between corrupt politicians, the Mafia and the Vatican are explored in this sleek and stylish Netflix-funded political crime thriller, which throws orgies, drugs and prostitutes into the dolce vita mix.
Unfolding over the course of seven days, it shows how plans by former crime boss Samurai (Claudio Amendola) to transform the waterfront of Rome into a new Las Vegas start to unravel when an underage prostitute dies during a drug-fuelled threesome with unscrupulous politician Filippo Malgradi (Pierfrancesco Favino).
Acclaimed director Stefano Sollima (Gomorrah and Romanzo Criminale) delivers a riveting, rain- drenched drama which shines a light on the criminal underbelly of Rome, Italian politics and government.
Based on the book by Carlo Bonini and Giancarlo De Cataldo, it’s a beautifully orchestrated thriller which ends in yet another climactic fall of Rome.
Favino is wonderfully arrogant and sleazy as Malgradi, who is pivotal to Samurai’s development deal being given the go-ahead, while Amendola is unnervingly calm and deadly as he attempts to maintain the peace among all the crime gangs while his project gets the green light.
Suburra does not reinvent the wheel but it’s a smooth and fascinating ride.
Review by Maria Duarte

Independence Day: Resurgence (12A)
Directed by Roland Emmerich
4/5
SEQUELS are almost always perfect targets for critical abuse and director Roland Emmerich shouldn’t be surprised that his follow-up to his 1996 blockbuster has been attacked as vigorously as alien aggressors assaulted the Earth.
 Indeed, when returning star Jeff Goldblum as David Levinson exclaims: “Oh, my God, it’s the same pattern!” he neatly sums up the story.
Twenty years after mankind fought off extraterrestrial invaders in Independence Day, Earth is again threatened from outer space.
So, what’s different here? Simple. Stunning, near non-stop 3-D special effects and spectacular sci-fi action drive an exhilarating, though cliche-ridden, narrative rapidly and furiously to an impressive man-versus-extraterrestrials climax.
Emmerich and co-scenarist Dean Devlin, anticipating a future female US president, abandon logic for action and performances that are largely confined to actors keeping straight faces in the face of story and characterisation.
It’s not opium for the masses. But, with intellect in neutral, it’s a splendid legal high.
Review by Alan Frank