There'll be tears before basket time

Marley & Me (PG)

3/5

Newlyweds John and Jenny Grogan (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) move from Michigan to the subtropical climate of West Palm Beach to pursue parallel careers as journalists.

When fellow reporter Sebastian (Eric Dane) plants a seed of worry in John's mind about his wife wanting a baby, the husband decides to dodge the bullet by buying Jenny a child substitute: a yellow Labrador pup called Marley.

The tiny, adorable bundle of fun soon grows into 100 pounds of uncontrollable energy.

John is compelled to put pen to paper and write a popular column about his experiences in the newspaper, to the delight of its cranky editor (Alan Arkin).

Marley & Me is a modern-day Old Yeller, which collars decent laughs with uproarious interludes as the four-legged central character runs amok in sunny Florida.

However, the script plumbs surprising emotional depths, too, eliciting strong performances from Wilson and Aniston.

Viewers should have plenty of tissues to hand.

Forget a polite, covert dab to the eyes – grown men will be reduced to sobbing and snivelling wrecks by the final frames.

Doubt (15)

4/5

IN the hermetically-sealed world of a 1960s Catholic school, Sister Aloysius (Meryl Streep) rules with an iron fist.

Trouble erupts when painfully naive Sister James (Amy Adams) confides to her ferocious superior that resident holy man Father Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) appears to have "taken an interest'' in one of the boys.

When the head nun learns that Father Flynn spent time alone in the rectory with Donald, she draws unsavoury conclusions, despite protestations from Sister James.

Flynn pleads innocence but the situation gradually spirals out of control, culminating in a devastating meeting between Sister Aloysius and Donald's mother (Viola Davis).

Adapted by writer-director John Patrick Shanley from his own Tony award-winning stage play, Doubt is a riveting thriller, exploring the shades of grey between perception and reality.

It's a fascinating game of cat and mouse, distinguished by tour-de-force performances from the Oscar-nominated cast.

The International (15)

3/5

INTERPOL Agent Louis Salinger (Clive Owen) uncovers evidence of serious infringements within one of the world's most powerful banks, and resolves to bring the institution's boardroom to justice.

He joins forces with Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Eleanor Whitman (Naomi Watts) to follow the money trail around the world, from Berlin and Milan to New York and Istanbul.

However, Jonas Skarssen (Ulrich Thomsen), Wilhelm Wexler (Armin Mueller-Stahl) and their partners are wise to the investigation and hire a hit-man called the Consultant (Brian F O'Byrne) to eliminate Louis.

German director Tom Tykwer's film is a fast-paced, action-packed work of fiction, pitting two ordinary people against a corporate behemoth.

The International is distinguished by some brilliantly-orchestrated action sequences, including a running gun battle in the iconic Solomon R Guggenheim Museum in New York, where Louis and an unlikely ally have to somehow evade heavily-armed goons.

The suspense dissipates as the plot gallivants around Europe, however, and the ending is an anti-climax.