The Intouchables
Francois Cluzet, Omar Sy - Dir: Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano

Here's a question: what's the highest-grossing movie worldwide in a language other than English? The answer? This one. According to Wikipedia it has so far taken well over US$400 million
and is still going strong.

And what a joy it is to watch! It confirms, along with Polisse (see below) that in the hands of those clever French even the most alarming sounding subject matter can be handled with warmth and humanity and turned into something really special.

It opens in Paris, with the aristocratic and intellectual Philippe, a quadriplegic millionaire, who is interviewing candidates for the position of his caretaker.

In comes Driss, a man who has no desire to get hired. He's just there to get a signature showing he was interviewed and rejected in order to keep receiving his welfare benefits. But, after being kicked out of the tiny flat he shares with his extended family he returns and is surprised to be offered the job. It's the start of a new life for both men and the film is a miracle of tone and pace, managing to never shy away from the overwhelming nature of Philippe's condition while being both very funny and upliftingly life-affirming.

Had I not been recommended The Intouchables I would probably have skipped it as possibly too depressing (I'm a sensitive soul sometimes). But I'm so glad I saw it. Forget the subtitles, forget any reservations you might have, and grab this – your life will be richer for it.

Bicycle couriers in New York city – they do it for the rush don'tcha know! That's certainly how they roll in Premium Rush , which has a whole lot of biking goin' on as Joseph Gordon-Levitt's law student drop-out peddles around like an adrenalin-crazed loon while delivering packages. It's all fun and games (and broken collar bones) until a nasty rogue cop (Michael Shannon) starts chasing him, wanting to get hold of a valuable delivery. It's a slick good-looking ride, silly and lightweight but generally fun and generously stacked with action (most of it of a two-wheeled variety).

I wasn't expecting much from Victim but, given that it stars and was written and directed by Michael Biehn, I was vaguely curious. Biehn is Kyle, a loner living in the woods. One night a panicked woman knocks on his door, running away after her friend has been murdered by the cops they were dating. Then the two cops arrive and cat and mouse stuff ensues. It's kinda like a low budget seventies exploitation flick, with arch dialogue and iffy acting. Almost 'So Bad It's Good” but, sadly, there's a restraint to proceedings that leaves it unmemorable.

Mysteria is a very low budget film. Presumably, what money they had went on the half-respectable cast (Danny Glover, Martin Landau, Michael Rooker, all wasted) because they've largely done away with sets, many scenes simply shot against walls in anonymous rooms. The story, about a screenwriter struggling to make deadline who becomes involved in some sort of conspiracy, is somewhat, er, random. Perhaps it's all a dream; perhaps he's dead. There are strange clues and omens dropped with sledgehammer subtlety but so much is either inexplicable or illogical that the only result is frustration. I'd be surprised if viewers make it past the first half hour, let alone reach the anticlimactic ending.

Polisse has some grim subject matter. Which is what you'd expect from a film based on cases from the Paris Child Protection Unit. But the film, and its storytelling, is anything but grim. This is extraordinary stuff: tough, honest, warm and unflinchingly human, focusing on a dozen or so members of the unit and following their personal and professional lives. They're a diverse bunch – funny, bitter, dedicated – and the film is rich and vibrant, and totally engrossing as we follow the team through days and nights, the mundane and bizarre, successes and failures. Rather brilliant stuff.