BURIED (15)

TRUCK driver Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds) is attacked during a convoy run in Iraq and wakes inside a crudely constructed coffin. With no obvious way out, Paul discovers a mobile phone with a weak signal and hurriedly calls for help, telling the 911 operator, “I don’t know what’s going on. I’m buried in a box!” As anxiety takes hold in the cramped confines of his prison, Paul discovers that terrorists have placed him in the box and want a five million dollar ransom. The terrorist leader, Jabir (Jose Luis Garcia-Perez), is adamant: For Paul to see his wife Linda (Samantha Mathis) again, he must pay up. Dan Brenner (Robert Paterson), an officer who is trained in hostage negotiation, and trucking company rep Alan Davenport (Stephen Tobolowsky) seem powerless to help. The prospects look bleak.

STAR RATING: ***

THE DEATH AND LIFE OF CHARLIE ST CLOUD (12A)

CHARLIE St. Cloud (Zac Efron) can see the spirit of his younger brother Sam (Charlie Tahan) who died in his arms following a car accident. Consumed with grief, Charlie puts his entire life on hold to remain in limbo with the spirit and agrees to meet him at sunset every day to play baseball. Five years pass and Charlie works in the local cemetery with best friend Alistair (Augustus Prew). Charlie develops a crush on Tess Carroll (Amanda Crew), who intends to sail around the world and as his feelings deepen, Charlie must make a heartbreaking choice between the living and the dead.

STAR RATING: ***

INCEPTION (12A)

CHRISTOPHER Nolan creates another feat of wild imagination with the story of Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), a thought thief, who invades dreams to steal the secrets of the deepest sub-conscious of his victims. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Friday-Monday.

STAR RATING: ****

LEAVING (15)

KRISTIN Scott Thomas plays Suzanne, a middle class woman whose comfortable life is turned upside down when she falls hopelessly in love with a poor local builder. Showing at Clwyd Theatr Cymru in Mold from Tuesday-Thursday.

STAR RATING: ***

LIFE AS WE KNOW IT (12A)

HOLLY Berenson (Katherine Heigl) is the culinary genius behind a burgeoning catering business, with plans to expand her cafe outlet to cope with demand. Eric Messer (Josh Duhamel) is a fast-rising director for a sports television channel. While Holly and Eric might not like each other very much, they put their differences to one side to play doting godparents to Sophie, the baby daughter of their mutual best friends Peter (Hayes MacArthur) and Alison (Christina Hendricks). Then out of the blue, Peter and Alison are killed and in their will, the couple name their best friends as legal guardians of Sophie. Holly and Eric are horrified but faced with the choice of putting the baby girl into care, the sworn enemies agree to move into Peter and Alison’s home to become surrogate parents.

STAR RATING: ***

MADE IN DAGENHAM (15)

MOTHER of two Rita O’Grady (Sally Hawkins) works in the Ford Dagenham plant with good friend Connie (Geraldine James), who is a union rep alongside Alfred Passingham (Bob Hoskins). When the management, led by Peter Hopkins (Rupert Graves), shows preference to the male workers, Rita joins the negotiations and proves that she is no pushover. When her words fall on deaf ears, Rita risks her marriage to plant worker Eddie (Daniel Mays) by persuading the workforce to go on strike and taking their grievances to Secretary of State for Employment, Barbara Castle (Miranda Richardson). “If this woman gets what she wants, we’ll have to do this around the world,” rues American executive Robert Tooley (Richard Schiff), who travels to Dagenham to defuse the situation.

STAR RATING: ***

MR NICE (18)

OXFORD graduate Howard Marks and one-time teacher abandoned the education system to become one of the world’s most powerful and influential drug dealers during the 1960s and 1970s. Bernard Rose’s film charts the rise and fall of Marks (Rhys Ifans) from his teenage years to the inglorious end of two decades when Marks was at the height of his powers, lavishing his ill-gotten gains on his wife Judy (Chloe Sevigny) and three children Amber, Francesca and Patrick. “My success completely went to my head and I’ve been living off it to a certain extent ever since,” Marks admits in a voiceover. He goes on the run from the authorities and forges a professional link with emotionally volatile IRA operative Jim McCann (David Thewlis).

STAR RATING: ***

WALL STREET: MONEY NEVER SLEEPS (12A)

GORDON Gekko (Michael Douglas) is released from prison in 2008. He emerges into a world that is firmly controlled by the financial community and teetering on the brink of ruin. Gordon finds new success with a best-selling book and tour. In the audience is ambitious trader Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf), who is the boyfriend of Gordon’s estranged daughter Winnie (Carey Mulligan). When Jake’s mentor Louis Zabel (Frank Langella) commits suicide after his beloved company is taken over by vicious rival Bretton James (Josh Brolin), the young man swears revenge and enlists the help of Gordon to destroy Bretton and the people he works for.

STAR RATING: ***