CRAZY, STUPID, LOVE (12A)

CAL Weaver (Steve Carell) is enjoying a meal with his wife Emily (Julianne Moore). The silence between the couple speaks volumes and in the car on the way home, Emily confesses she slept with co-worker David Lindhagen (Kevin Bacon) and wants a divorce. The cuckolded husband seeks refuge at a cocktail bar where lothario Jacob Palmer (Ryan Gosling) takes pity and confidently assures Cal, “I’m going to help you rediscover your manhood.” With expert guidance, Cal seduces feisty school teacher, Kate (Marisa Tomei). Meanwhile, Jacob pursues law student Hannah (Emma Stone), who is impervious to his chat-up lines, and back home at the Weaver house, Cal and Emily’s 13-year-old son Robbie (Jonah Bobo) declares his crush for 17-year-old babysitter, Jessica (Analeigh Tipton).

STAR RATING: ****

DRIVE (18)

DRIVER (Ryan Gosling) works as a mechanic for his good friend, Shannon (Bryan Cranston). When he’s not working in the shop, Driver performs illegal jobs organised by Shannon, which invariably involve high-speed getaways from crime scenes. There are romantic complications when Driver falls for pretty mother Irene (Carey Mulligan), whose husband Standard Gabriel (Oscar Isaac) has just been released from prison and wants to rebuild bridges with his little boy, Benicio (Kaden Leos). Unfortunately, Standard owes prison protection money from his time behind bars to hoodlum Cook (James Biberi). So Standard plots to rob a pawn shop to settle the debt aided by Cook’s associate Blanche (Christina Hendricks). Driver agrees to sit behind the wheel of the getaway vehicle but the heist goes wrong, marking Driver for death at the hands of hoodlums Bernie Rose (Albert Brooks) and Nino (Ron Perlman).

STAR RATING: ****

KILLER ELITE (15)

RELUCTANT hit man Danny (Jason Statham) is pulled back into the game from his ranch in Australia when his mentor Hunter (Robert De Niro) is taken hostage. His captor is a renegade oil sheikh, who held Hunter when he refused to take on the $6m mission of avenging the deaths of his three sons, by assassinating the SAS soldiers who killed them during the secret Oman war. Danny fails to spring Hunter out of his prison cell and finds he’s been set up to take on the hits. In Paris, Danny recruits his old team, ex-paratrooper and ladies’ man Davies (Dominic Purcell) and American gadget geek Meier (Aden Young). Unaware they’re on the radar of a shadowy group of suits known as the Feather Men, Danny’s crew have to race to bump off their targets, save Hunter and get the money.

STAR RATING: ***

SOUL SURFER (PG)

SOUL Surfer recounts Bethany Hamilton’s inspirational true story, celebrating the power of the human spirit to overcome seemingly insurmountable odds. Bethany (AnnaSophia Robb) was born to surf alongside her parents Tom (Dennis Quaid) and Cheri (Helen Hunt) and brothers Noah (Ross Thomas) and Tommy (Chris Brochu). Bethany almost gives up on life when a 14ft tiger shark rips off her left arm just below the shoulder during a morning surf. Bethany also questions her faith and turns to youth group leader Sarah Hill (Carrie Underwood). She invites Bethany to travel to Phuket, Thailand, in the wake of the 2004 tsunami to help with the humanitarian effort. Surrounded by devastation, the teenager gains new perspective, realising she can make a difference.

STAR RATING: ***

30 MINUTES OR LESS (15)

DWAYNE (Danny McBride) and his pal Travis (Nick Swardson) cower in the shadow of Dwayne’s domineering father, The Major (Fred Ward), who won $10m on the lottery and has frittered away most of the cash. Money-grabbing lap dancer Juici (Bianca Kajlich) suggests a radical solution: pay hit man Chongo (Michael Pena) $100,000 to kill the old man. Dwayne hatches a hare-brained scheme with Travis to kidnap pizza delivery guy Nick (Jesse Eisenberg), strap a bomb to his chest and then force the fall guy to rob a bank for the hit man’s extortionate fee. With just 10 hours until the bomb explodes, Nick begs best friend Chet (Aziz Ansari), to help him pull off the ambitious heist and evade the cops.

STAR RATING: ***

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY (15)

CONTROL (John Hurt), the chief of a 1970s British Secret Intelligence Service unit known as the Circus, learns that Russian counterpart Karla has placed a mole within the ranks. To unmask the traitor, Control turns to trusted protege, Smiley (Gary Oldman). Soon after, Control takes his own life, leaving Smiley to uncover the intrigues of the other Circus members: Percy Alleline (Toby Jones), Roy Bland (Ciaran Hinds), Toby Esterhase (David Dencik) and Bill Haydon (Colin Firth). Aided by the young, ambitious Peter Guillam (Benedict Cumberbatch), Smiley searches for clues leading to Circus researcher Connie Sachs (Kathy Burke) and missing operative Ricki Tarr (Tom Hardy).

STAR RATING: ****

WARRIOR (12A)

MARINE Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) arrives home unexpectedly after 14 years of service, surprising his father Paddy (Nick Nolte), who has turned to religion to help him beat the bottle. Tommy asks his old man to train him for Sparta, a televised mixed martial arts fighting competition with the biggest purse in the sport’s history. Paddy agrees, desperate to rebuild bridges. Meanwhile, Paddy’s other son, Brendan (Joel Edgerton), is struggling to make ends meet as a schoolteacher. The bank is threatening to take away his home so Brendan secretly fights in the backrooms of bars for money behind the back of his wife Tess (Jennifer Morrison). Once the school learns of Brendan’s extra-curricular activities, the headmaster suspends him and the teacher’s entire future rests on winning Sparta, putting him on a collision course with his hulking sibling.

STAR RATING: ****