Odeon, DumfriesLonsdale, Annan

War Horse (12A) — Unless you have been on another planet you will know that this is the film version of the Michael Morpurgo children’s book that became a phenomenally successful stage play.

It is a story of rural and global conflict based on the bond between a young Devonshire boy and the horse, Joey, that his stubborn, drink fuelled father buys placing the family farm and their livelihood at risk.

With the onset of World War I, the boy and his horse are parted to experience the horrors of war and the pain of loss.

This is story-telling on a grand scale and Steven Spielberg uses rural landscapes, vivid sunsets and the mud-caked desolation of the trenches to heighten the emotional impact – but curiously no blood.

Manipulative of course, but that is the power of cinema.

Robert Burns Centre Film Theatre, Dumfries

The Help (12A) — The story of black domestic help in the southern states of America and what they really think about their employers.

It is told with wit and compassion. Tonight and tomorrow morning.

Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (12A) — Tom Cruise defies the years in an all action adventure in which director Brad Bird (The Incredibles) blows up the Kremlin. Did they ask Mr Putin for permission?

Simon Pegg gets the laugh lines as the IMF boffin while Cruise gets the tough jobs like scaling the glass heights of the al-Khalifa hotel building in Dubai.

Great fun. Tomorrow evening only.

Lonsdale, Annan

The Iron Lady (12A) — Meryl Streep gives a definitive performance as Margaret Thatcher.

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (18) — The excellent English language remake with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara as the investigating team probing the murky depths of a Swedish industrial family.

A Monster in Paris (U) — A French animated feature about a monstrous beast that terrorises Paris in 1910 but turns out to be an over-sized singing flea.